Personal Trainer Contract – Important Tips

Becoming a personal trainer allows you to benefit in a plethora of unique ways. Many people become personal trainers for various reasons, whether it be following their passion, quitting their 9-5, or training is something they are great at. Knowing that your influence and instruction can positively impact someone’s health, being a personal trainer is all worthwhile. On the flip side, your business requires that you possess organizational skills and uphold the highest standard to your clients. The top three most important elements of transforming your personal training business are certification, marketing, and contracts. I’ll break it down for you, so here’s what you need to know: 

What Makes a Personal Trainer

Whether you are a fitness instructor, personal trainer, or yoga teacher, everybody feels more comfortable learning from someone well-accredited. Finding out which PT certification is best and tossing it under your belt of expertise not only creates peace of mind for your clients, but it gives you an edge over other competition within the space. Some of the most well-known places to obtain a certification in personal training are the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), the American Council on Exercise (ACE), and the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA). 

Marketing Should Never Be Neglected

Marketing is at the forefront of business traffic and allows personal trainers to reach new clients on a day-to-day basis. There is a certain set of guidelines you must perform when it comes to marketing your business effectively, so here are our recommendations. You can become a master of marketing and bring in new clients with these three simple tactics: Identity, Strategize and Execute (I.S.E). 

IDENTIFY:

Identifying your business’s target audience is essential as many people aspiring to become personal trainers have a hard time doing it. Knowing where to look is much more important than knowing how to coach. Without clients, your coaching skills cannot be utilized. Ask yourself this: “What kind of people need my help and what kind of value can I provide to them?” If you have already identified the types of clients you aspire to train, good for you because you’re one step ahead. 

STRATEGIZE: 

Now is the great time to ask: “How do I want clients to view me?” Personal branding is very important as the look and attitude you bring to the table will affect who comes and learns from you. After you figure out your “look” you can venture out and try to advertise your services. There are many ways you can advertise. For example, you can post short workout plans on social media and those who are interested may decide to sign up for your instruction. Other methods include Facebook ads, billboards, flyers around the neighborhood, etc. The decision is up to you. 

EXECUTE: 

This is the pivotal moment that you will take all the strategies you have brainstormed and put them to the test. It does not matter if one strategy fails because you have multiple to fall back to. If executed correctly, you’ll begin to see clients appear and take you as a trainer. Any feedback, good or bad, should be viewed as constructive. We learn from improvement. Remember, Rome was not built overnight as consistency is key to having your business bloom. 

Personal Training Contracts Benefit Everyone 

Protection from your clients as well as for your clients is very important when running your training business. A high-detailed contract that is non-negotiable and clearly states your capabilities as well as expectations from your clients leaves no confusion and reduces the number of potential problems. The less that is misunderstood between the trainer and client, the better. Sure, you may still undergo cases of incomplete payments, bad relationships, or even frequent client cancellations (make sure you have a personal trainer cancellation policy). All of the above, by the way, can be improved upon by better understanding how to collect payments as a personal trainer. Do remember, the contract is mainly meant to minimize issues and maximize transparency between the client and trainer. 

Key Additions To Your Contract

1. Address Yourself and Future Client – One obvious addition that does not need much explaining is to include the names and addresses of you, the trainer (or agency if you fall under one), and the client. Be sure to make sure that the names that are written in the contract are legal and do not include nicknames of any sort. 
2. Label The Length of the Contract – A timeline of when the relationship between you and your client begins and ends is very important. This gives both the trainer and client an expected deadline of when it is proper to stop the personal training, so no loose ends appear. However, if you and your client kick it off, but the contract is going to end soon, you should recreate another contract that clearly states the amount of time you will continue coaching them. This will eliminate any confusion between the client’s last payment of their contract and have them ready to pay for another session that follows under the newly written contract. 
3. Proposing a Payment Schedule – A payment schedule allows you to get paid on time while signaling to your client that their training sessions aren’t free. Making each payment every two weeks or even at the beginning of every month makes it easy to keep track of, and helps actually keeping clients as a personal trainer. You can find excellent payment scheduling and processing services by using Persona’s Smart Scheduling & Payment Collection [Hyperlink to app]. State in the contract the payment method the client will be going with and exactly how much each payment will be. The last thing you want is to not get compensated for the hours of training you’ve conducted. 
4. Outline The Consequences In the Case of a Breach Of Contract – Whether you are the best personal trainer online or in person, there is always the risk that your clients may not live up to their end of the bargain. Something you can add to your contract is if it ever were to be breached, you and the client will immediately sever ties and a refund will not be granted. Though your client may be the kindest trainee and you would not expect them to breach the contract, it’s always better to stay safe than sorry. 
5. Signature – A signature is one of the best ways that you can verify that your client has agreed to all the terms and conditions within your contract. If the contract is electronic, you may use services such as HelloSign or DocuSign to assure the signature is authentic and holds true. When signing a physical contract on paper, be sure to use blue or black ink. Make sure you create a separate copy of the contract for the client as well as yourself. That way, both parties can hold each other accountable for what is stated within the contract. 

A High-Detailed Contract Leads to a Higher Standard

Becoming a personal trainer is enjoyable as long as everything runs smoothly. 

By upholding the highest standard between your clients and yourself, you are sure to receive stronger results. If problems do arise, remember that everything is stated in writing and you can fall back to that. Make sure communication is well utilized when establishing the rules and regulations of your personal training business. You can check out our best apps for personal trainers 2022 article for more info on how Persona, and other apps, can help your business.