How To Keep Your Trainers for LIFE!

Over 14 years of operation at the Fitrev Studio, we have had trainers come and go, as any business experiences. However, I'm proud to say any trainer that starts with Fitrev, stays minimum 2 years and if they leave, they go onto MASSIVE things - which is kinda cool.
One guy was with me for 4 years, then got a gig in the US as a Strength and Conditioning Coach. He is currently the S&C coach for an NBA team! Another trainer who was with me 3 years went on to open up his own Crossfit Studio, and now has 3! AWESOME!

So, although it sucks to lose a solid PT, sometimes you have to acknowledge it's best for them & fully support them. 9 times out of 10 this attitude will help you hire a gun PT to replace them, as they will be more inclined to assist in the recruitment of a new PT and the transition of clients.

So, let's move forward - how do I keep my trainers happy and making more money each year?

Reward Your Staff with Pay Increases

We go by the weeks results of sessions completed per trainer. As mentioned in the previous blog, the payscale keeps the trainers incentivised and motivated to earn more each week. As they are paid each week, the reward of a higher payrate is administered weekly also. This keeps things super simple. So, if a trainer does 35 sessions one week, and only 17 the next, they will be paid in the 21-39 pay bracket (40% per session) for that week, and only 1-20 pay bracket for the following week (35% per session)

We also make sure we increase our clients training fees by 3% EVERY YEAR. This ensures our prices are going up in conjunction with CPI (the consumer pricing index) so we can cover our own rising business expenses year to year. What this also does is increase the amount the trainers get paid year to year. This is another very attractive incentive for trainers who interview with us.

Eg: $69/30 min session (x 1.03) = new client rate of $ 71.07

The NEW trainer rate is then worked out to be $28.43/session (as opposed to the $27.60 they were earning the year before)

Note: Calculations based on the trainer taking 40% of each session

2. Holidays and Sick Days

Our trainers are all contractors, meaning they have very little sick days & holiday time. If they are sick or do take holidays, they are not paid. The result: they keep themselves VERY healthy so they can work :) This is probably the biggest reason we can do so many sessions all year around. There is very little interruption in clients training sessions. If a trainer is sick, it's their responsibility to advise their clients. My role is to find a replacement trainer and juggle clients around. Like I said though, this doesn't happen too often.

The other policy we have in place is a structured holiday planning system. Each year we sit down with all the trainers and we put our holiday times in. Now, this can change at the drop of a hat, however, it's good to try to plan these things so that clients can be covered while a trainer is on break.

3. Guarantee them work

For the first 90 days we guarantee our trialling PT's 10 hours a week at $25/hour. This gives them something in return for their time and energy, and gives us a good period of time to assess if they will be a good fit for our business.

4. Always Be Hiring

Many studios wait until they have a need to hire a new trainer, instead of always being on the look out. Just like your marketing for new clients: you need to always have your poles in the water looking for new leads. This is the same for hiring. My responsibility is actively looking for new trainers to facilitate the demands for new leads. . It is work, but using this formula we will be able to grow by about 250 sessions per month. That’s another $177,000 in revenue per year. Not bad…

I have no doubt we’ll now always have at least 1-2 PTs “on deck” for when we need to hire more people to accommodate our new leads.

5. Incentives

ALWAYS have a team and individual goal!

This makes the group work together towards one goal and creates a friendly competition to see who will win that month. All PT's are competitive people by nature – most of us played sports at least through high school and we still want to win! So, I always have a team goal (now 1,000 sessions per month) and an individual goal (Fit Pro of the Month) for whomever completes the greatest number of sessions. (Please see the post on the 800 Club)

Keep in mind this will only work when you have a team of 3 people or more. However, I do place my name on this sheet as well. It also works better if you have 2 people that do around the same number of sessions. If you always do the most take yourself out of the running for Fit Pro of the Month… don’t be that guy.

Every team member that hits 120+ sessions (your goal may be different) will get a $150 bonus added to the 1st pay period after the previous month ends. The Fit Pro of the Month will receive $250. All of these bonuses are contingent upon the fact that we hit our team goal (currently 1,000 sessions a month). If we as a team reach our goal, I organise a staff social day!

(This can also be changed around so that each member has their own individual goal as well as the team goal. If you have one part-time person and one full-time person, set their monthly goals accordingly and then pay them a bonus if they hit them… you can still have a team goal.)

6. Trainer Levels

At our studio, I reward ongoing education, commitment to me and to the industry. That's why I developed our 5 Trainer Levels of Professionalism. The charge out rate of each staff member is reflected on their trainer level. Ie: Level 1 trainer is charged out at $50/30 mins while our Level 5 Trainers are charged out at $75/30 mins.

Level 1 Trainer: 1st year with Fitrev, minimum 2 years in the Fitness Industry, All first aid and insurance up to date ($50/30 mins)

Level 2 Trainer: Minimum 1-3 years with Fitrev, minimum 5 years in the Fitness Industry,All first aid and insurance up to date, 85% retention with Fitrev clients, 80% pass mark in In-house Fitrev exam. ($59/30 mins)

Level 3 Trainer: Minimum 3 years with Fitrev, minimum 7 years in the Fitness Industry,All first aid and insurance up to date, 85% retention with Fitrev clients, 80% pass mark in In-house Fitrev exam($65/30 mins)

Level 4 Trainer: Minimum 5 years with Fitrev, minimum 10 years in the Fitness Industry, All first aid and insurance up to date, 85% retention with Fitrev clients, 80% pass mark in In-house Fitrev exam ($70/30 mins)

Level 5 Trainer: Minimum 10 years with Fitrev, minimum 15 years in the Fitness Industry, All first aid and insurance up to date, 85% retention with Fitrev clients, 80% pass mark in In-house Fitrev exam($75/30 mins)

Studio Manager/Owner: Case by case scenario, but has to have reached at least Level 4 Trainer status.

7. Long-Term Growth and Security

NOTHING rocks your business more than losing a full-time PT. Trust me, it takes at least 6 months to find, hire, train, and rebuild those lost sessions. If a PT only gives you 2 weeks notice, how the hell are you supposed to have another PT ready to go when they leave? That’s why you always have to have a queue of 1-2 PTs you can hire. We have our PTs sign a non-compete, but they still may try to take their clients. We also try to transition their clients to another PT we have on staff, but if we don’t have a new PT on board within 4 weeks (we ask for 30 days if a PT leaves), then inevitably we’re going to lose 50% or so of their clients… and then they want a refund, etc. The whole thing is a disaster…

A nightmare actually.

The good thing is that because I've learnt the hard way, you don't have to. I was burned once - and that's all it took for me to redefine my systems & restructure my business model. The model I now have keeps trainers with me for on average 6 years, and 3 of my current trainers have been with me for 10+ years!

Over 14 years I have had 6 trainers leave the Studio, and only 1 has taken clients with them - we have kept 95% of them. The 5% that left, left not to train with the trainer that left too, but to train at another facility because the they had a special connection with the trainer (which we can all understand). Out fo the 6 trainers that left, 4 left the industry to persue careers in other areas, and 2 moved out of the area due to our non-compete clause in their contract.

Okay, so where was I… Ah yes, long-term security.

What does everyone want in business?

2 things actually.

1. They want to feel like they’re being acknowledged for their hard work and dedication.

2. They want to make more money.

The nice thing is, I’ve found a way to help them with both. It’s now my secret sauce for keeping my A Players.

1. My fitness manager and I send out weekly emails to the team motivating them and calling out small things we’ve seen them do that we appreciate and know their clients appreciate. People like to be RECOGNIZED. We also do a team dinner every 6 months where they can bring a significant other and we can enjoy a good cheat meal and kick back outside of work…

2. We have the tiered payrate incentive for completing more sessions per week & the payrise every year of 3% per session (as mentioned above) This gives the studio more money AND the trainer.

Everybody wins!

Check out the next article on "staff incentives done the right way" for more on this topic