PAYG or Monthly Payments?
We get asked all the time what is best…so here is what Lucy suggests.
People LOVE to buy things that are tried and tested solutions to their problems.
They like to be totally guided by us (their fitness expert) as to what they need to do to solve their fitness-related ‘problem’. Their ‘problems’ could range from wanting to lose weight, learning how to dance or lose their middle aged spread and regain the six pack of their twenties. They just want to be told what to do to fix it.
As personal trainers and fitness business owners most of us believe just the opposite.
We think that by giving our clients the flexibility of how many sessions they come to and paying as they go that they are getting greater choice and that is what they want. It’s not the case at all. People don’t seek out your services because they want flexibility.
They sought you out because they want their problem solved.
Think of it this way. Imagine you went to a doctor (another health and fitness expert, just like you) complaining of bad chest pain and he said to you, “Well you definitely have a chest infection. It’s up to you whether you take this medicine once a week or 3 times a week, there’s 3 different kinds of medicine to choose from so I’ll let you decide what you think is best. Also, although to track your recovery you should really come and see me once a week for the next month I’m not going to ask you to commit to that so you have flexibility”.
Would it happen? No, of course not. Because doctors understand they need to tell you exactly what to do and you are happily reassured and go away and do it.
If you are a personal trainer and someone comes to you saying they’d really like to lose 10 lbs in the 4 months before their daughter’s wedding and you let them come and see you whenever they like, you let them pay for sessions as they go with no commitment up front. Naturally they don’t complete as many sessions as they should because ‘life’ gets in the way. What happens?
1. Your client doesn’t get the result they want of losing 10 lbs in 4 months so they feel bad at their
daughter’s wedding and they have wasted the money they did spend with you
2. You look like a bad personal trainer. You lose them as a client and you lose your expert status as they bad mouth you to all their friends saying “I signed up with that PT wanting to lose 10 lbs in 4 months – he told me it would work but it didn’t. I won’t be using him again.”
The answer is to package up what you do into fixed term or monthly recurring programs with a set number of sessions per month.
Explain to clients this is exactly what they need to solve their ‘problem’ and that if you allowed them to train with you in any other way it will be a complete waste of their money.
When you do this there are lots of benefits for the client:
1. They get the exact result that they want and get to feel great about it
2.They don’t have to worry about remembering to pay you or when they need to as the
payment has either already been taken up front or comes out on autopilot monthly
3.They don’t have to make any decisions about when to see you or how many times they need to come.
There are also lots of benefits for you as the trainer:
- You don’t have to be a debt collector or a session “booker” juggling a constantly changing diary
- You make up to 30% more per month (with not more clients than you have now) because clients stay longer and happily commit to training with you more often
- You get on average one third more referrals because your clients are so happy with their results so your business grows faster and with less effort from you
- You know exactly how much money is coming in every month and can project your earnings up to 6 months into the future
People nowadays expect to pay for things at least on a monthly recurring basis.
Their rent, mortgage, phone bill etc. The money goes out every month and they just accept it’s a part of their monthly expenses rather than a luxury they can drop at any time.
Do not give someone the opportunity to miss out on the amazing results you CAN deliver to them if they commit to working with you consistently. You’re really doing them, and you, a massive disservice.
Your Homework:
1/ Figure out 2-3 different programs with different levels of sessions per week and give these a monthly price. Eg. once a week = £200 a month, twice a week = £370 a month, three times a week = £550 a month
2/ Promote these monthly programs to your existing clients as a much better way to get the results they want from training and offer a full money back guarantee for the first month to incentivise them to try the new system
3/ Check out merchant services such as www.paypal.com, www.retailmerchantservices.com or www.mindbodyonline.com to organise taking payments on autopilot from your clients.
Lucy Johnson, Fully Booked Expert and Coach, is the founder of the Fully Booked Formula, the only proven 12 step marketing formula that shows you exactly how to get your fitness business Fully Booked with high-paying, low-maintenance clients fast.
