Transition from one on one training to semi-private
I do offer small group progams, but I prefer one-on-one. I make more money on the small groups as each participant in the group pays a fraction less than my one-on-one fee, but the total is higher. As an example (not my actual pricing, just easier math) 1 client – $100, 2 clients – $180, 3 clients – $240. But I spend just as much time preparing programs for each client, contacting their physician, going over their paperwork and history, etc. So, it pays less per actual hour spent on the group’s program and I don’t get to spend as much time helping each person get where they want to be. It takes the “personal” out of personal training. This is also one of the reasons why I do not market online training. It isn’t professional, it is just a profit scheme.
I know I could spend a lot less time outside of their hour with me on how I approach that hour, but that would make me less of a professional. And their program less effective.
Hello Pete Lyons,
I charge the personal training rate for small groups under five; because, this is still personal training with many hours of work away from the clients. I charge less for each client when the group is five or more which is group training without the lengthy consultation.
I hope this helps you.
Take care,
Natalie aka NAPS 2 B Fit.
I price it so that each additional person is $20 an hour, with a maximum of 3 people. I spend the same amount of time planning for a partner / trio class as I would spend for one on one, and they know up front that there is a trade-off between price and customization.
I don’t do semi-private training as often as small group training. The difference, in my gym, is that semi-private training is a guaranteed session size with a known workout partner. Small group training is a guaranteed maximum class size, with less customization, and with varying participants. When I do semi-private training, the pair has always been friends who are of similar fitness level, and results have been good; some people do very well in a group setting because they push and motivate each other.
It helps to have all of your rate and service offering written down for clients to choose from. To switch them over you’ll have to give them some kind of discount from what they are currently paying, but of course make sure that the new rate adds up to more than you were making off of one.
Here’s an example:
Private training $100
Semiprivate training with 2 clients: $75
Semiprivate with 3: $65
Or just $75 for semiprivate regardless of the number.
This also gives you the “liscence” to increase your private training rate if you are so inclined.
Now for selling the new offering: explain the them the benefit of having training partners. We all have them for our personal workouts and they help with motivation, friendly competition and increase attendance. I had a group of 3-4 clients that I trained for years who really pushed each other to radical heights: leg pressing. 1000+, pull up contests over 25 reps, chest pressing 100 lb Dumbbells and the like. They maintain relationships even today.
Partnered training truly does bring more value to the clients workouts as long as you have good partners.
Hi Pete,
Offering a small group training can be as rewarding as personal training (1-on-1). I like the small group training as much as the 1-on-1 because I can train more people at once and make more per hour. Training up to 4 clients at a time is not that much more challenging from training one person at a time (at least for me). Yes it might require some extra work but the rewards are far better than 1-on-1 (mostly financial and time wise). I always like to challenge myself and training more than one client at a time makes me think more efficiently and makes it fun as well. As far as fee structure, I usually charge about 20% less per hour/person when I do groups up to 4 people.
Best,
Harris