When you get chatting to a new client, telling them all about you and your training style and the various packages and services is important. However, what’s equally if not more important is asking them questions to get to know them better. Not only is it a clever marketing strategy it is also very effective way of building rapport and ensuring you deliver the right training for your client.
Here are 10 questions to be asking every new client:
- What brought you here today and what are you hoping to achieve by training with me?
- What exercise are you currently doing?
- What do you enjoy about exercise?
- What have you found in the past that’s been the thing that’s really put you off track or undermined you getting fit and staying at a reasonable fitness level?
- Realistically, how much time, and effort can you put into exercise?
- Have you done this [i.e. the approach to training you’re recommending] before? Has it worked?
- Is there anything that you think is going to stop you being able, most of the time, to maintain the approach to exercise that we’ve discussed?
- What sort of a role and relationship do you want me to play in your exercise routine?
What do you want from me? Do you want someone to keep you accountable and ring you when you’re not at training or do you want me to just deliver the exercises and if you don’t turn up to training, not worry about it, because you’ll make your own decisions? - How can I best support you and how can we best work together?
- Is there anything else you want me to know about you or what you’d like from me to support your exercise efforts?
It is worth noting that this is not all the questions you should be asking and the more you communicate with your clients the more of an understanding of your role as their trainer.
