Are you concerned that some clients will stop training over the summer?

I speak to NYC personal trainers all the time, as you can probably imagine.  At this time of the year, I often hear the same complaint.  Summer is coming and so many of my clients leave the city for 2-3 months.

For many personal trainers, that can be scary. Losing two or three clients for that long can be the difference of thousands of dollars.

While you can’t keep your clients here and make them train with you, there are a few things you can do to close the revenue gap a bit and still enjoy the summer, professionally and personally.

First, look at the glass as half full.

You still have clients that are here.  Those clients might be looking for an extra training session or maybe they missed a session earlier in the year that you want to encourage them to make up.  No matter how you frame it, offer them this extra session at a reduced rate at a different time than your regularly scheduled session.  This way they understand that this is not normal and you can maintain the integrity of your training rate.

Second, lots of other people are still here.

Again, keeping with the glass half full.  Plenty of people still have yet to fulfill their fitness goals.  It’s never to late to get in shape, right?  Your muscles don’t care about the what season or holiday is around the corner.  Offer them a special summer package.  Establish a rate that is especially for the summer season and at specific times.  Hey, baseball teams and broadway shows are tiering their prices.  You can, too.

Getting 50% of what you normally make is better than missing out on 100%.

A veteran personal trainer recently told me, just train.  Some income is better than no income.

Now, some trainers may say that doesn’t interest them or maybe they can’t drum up the business.

Here are two more things you can do to get more out of the summer.

Think a step ahead.  Use the extra time to gain some experience in areas that you want to learn more about that will help you grow your personal training business in the future.  Work at a community center, assisted living facility or a day camp just to name a few. Working with children or adults who could benefit from supervised physical activity.  These opportunities may be volunteer or for pay, but the main reason you do them is to gain experience working with a special population that you’ve identified as direction you want to take your business.

Finally, if none of that is appealing and you just want to enjoy the summer, try moving a few of your clients around so you can have three or four full days of training and take an extra day for yourself to hit the beach or travel.  Even full time employees have more flexibility in their schedules during the summer.  Offices have summer hours, kids are away at camp, etc.  They may welcome the change, too.

Let me know what you liked or didn’t like here.  Drop me a line.  Whatever you do, make the most of your summer, personally and professionally.  Enjoy the summer!