At the start of my personal training business, I remember thinking there was no way I could ever create a sustainable, repeatable income for myself.
A client would cancel or reschedule a session, effectively pushing back their next payment.
Shit. My car payment is due.
There was always low-grade anxiety in the back of my mind when it came to client payments. I was never quite sure when I’d get paid or if a client was going to renew another package.
“I have no idea what money is coming in or when. This is no way to live.”
After a few years of this financial nonsense, I got serious about my financial stability, stepped into my business owner era, and recreated my entire business model so that I could design a business that gave back to me as much as I gave to it.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Clients paying per hour or per session will be the death of your financial stability
When I first started, clients would pay for a block of sessions up front for the month.
This sounds like a membership type model, but without specific payment parameters, you’re in no better spot than charging per hour.
Even if clients are paying up front for a block of sessions, the math equation still checks out as:
$xx per sessions x # of sessions
We want to move away from that and we want to add additional language to clear up the payment logistics.
Example:
Client A pays $300 for 4 sessions per month.
You will also need to define:
- What happens if they cancel or reschedule a session?
- When is each payment due?
- What is included within each month?
- How many sessions do they get if there are 5 Mondays in that month?
2. Define the minimum length agreement
Instead of taking all the time to on-board a new client, only to panic about resigning them for another month or block of sessions at the end of each month, define the minimum length agreement for all packages upfront.
My first personal training package started with a 3-month minimum agreement.
There were no discounts given for a longer agreement. Your time does not become less valuable because a client wants more of it.
A minimum-length agreement can give you the financial visibility you need.
Can clients discontinue in the middle of an agreement? Yes. It can, will, and does happen. But not always.
By knowing which payments are coming up, when, and for how long, you’ll be able to see when you’re about to have an opening, need to fill a few more spots, and how much money will be coming in over the next several months.
3. Create a membership model
This is where most of my financial stability and success was hiding- on the other side of a company-wide membership model.
This doesn’t just work for small or large group classes. This also works for 1:1 clients.
The terms are as follows:
- This is how many sessions you get each month for this price
- Use it or lose it
- Auto-renew on the 1st or 15th of the month
- Minimum length agreement set
Instead of keeping tracking of cancelations and reschedules (effectively screwing up your time and your money), you put most of the onus on the clients by turning your services into a membership model.
It can work like this:
- Decide when payments will be due (I did 1st and 15th. The client on-boarding process & payment agreement gave them a space to select one of the two date options.)
- Create membership tiers*
- Pro-rate the first month based on the date of sign-up
- Set-up auto pay
- Give clients a public-booking link and make them responsible for booking their sessions
- Enforce a use-it-or-lose-it policy
Creating Membership Tiers
It can look something like this:
Tier 1: Basic. 10 training sessions to be used in 12 weeks. $350/month for
Tier 2: Preferred. 16 training sessions to be used in 12 weeks. $500/month
Tier 3: Premium. 12 training sessions to be used in 12 weeks + semi-custom programming. $600/month
These are random examples. Plug in your own number of training sessions, weeks, and price.
Strong boundaries, clear communication, and a solid understanding of how you can best serve your clients is a must. A membership model can be exactly what helps you create financial stability in your personal training business!
Want help creating this inside your business? Book a call here!