Showing Gratitude During the Holidays

Personal training is a very personal business indeed, and it’s all about connecting with your clients. When the winter holidays roll around, gift giving can be tricky. Some clients give their trainers gifts, but you never know who is going to give a gift and who is not. What if people start dropping off presents and you have nothing to give in return? And, if you do want to give your clients gifts, what should you give?

Don’t get embarrassed this holiday season. Showing gratitude to your clients is the right thing to do, from a personal standpoint and a business standpoint. Giving gifts to clients is a great way to increase rapport and enhance retention. Thoughtfully considering gifts now will set you up for success later. We’ll explore why it’s important, plus we’ll suggest a strategy for selecting gifts.

Why Show Gratitude?

Gratitude is a wonderful quality to have as a fitness professional. Your clients are the reason you have a job. When you express gratitude for this, they feel appreciated and they’re more likely to keep coming back to you. It’s worth the effort.

The benefits you gain from feeling and showing gratitude align perfectly with the fitness profession. Many times we’re busy thinking about what we want, instead of what we have. When you show appreciation, it’s contagious; your clients will spread the good feeling to those around them as well.

Every Gift Receiver Is Different

While you could give the same present to all your clients, you may want to consider giving different ones. Understanding your clients individually is part of your job. Take this knowledge one step further and recognize how to appreciate different types of clients. Not everyone expresses gratitude or receives appreciation the same way. And, everyone has a different style of giving and receiving. Generally, people give the way they like to receive. If the receiver has a different gift style than you do, your gift may not come across as an expression of gratitude.

Ideas for appropriate gifts.

For this group, there are many options, from the simple to the complex. See the list in the “Proven Gift Ideas” section below.

Proven Gift Ideas

If you teach fitness classes, stick with something small and simple for each student, such as the baked goods or newsletter described below.

For your personal training clients, you may know their preferences and can choose something that will speak to each client personally.

• Holiday card or newsletter
  Use an online newsletter generator to make a custom client newsletter. If you prefer something handwritten, pick up a pack of greeting cards and write a personal message in each one. Sending the cards via U.S. mail gets you bonus points, because it adds an element of surprise.
• Baked goods
  Bake banana bread or pumpkin muffins or make meal replacement bars to give to clients.
• Professional trade
  Find a massage therapist, nutrition professional or other healthcare colleague to trade 30-minute sessions with for the holidays.
• Gift bags
  Buy a few boxes of tea, a bag of dark chocolates and some other small items to mix and match for clients. Place two different tea bags, some chocolates and other items like lip balm, mints, gum or essential oils in each bag.
• Book
  Give each client a health-related book. Go to www.amazon.com and search for best-sellers in fitness, nutrition and sports. Cookbooks also make nice gifts. If you know your clients like to read on a Kindle or an iPad, get them a book through Amazon Kindle or a gift card. You can also gift them through www.audible.com if they like audio books or have a long commute.

Gratitude Is Good

If you’d rather source cost-free ways to show your gratitude, be assured that many of the ideas above cost next to nothing. Alternatively, keep in mind that gifts such as these could be a tax write-off. A gift of $5–$10 per client is all it takes to make an impact. If you have 20 clients, that’s $100–$200 per year.

So, go ahead and make a list of your clients and guess which way they receive love (or care) the best. When people feel appreciated, they are more likely to continue using your services. This is a win-win. Your clients stay healthy and happy, and your business does too!