How to Protect Your Team of Personal Trainers From Ghosting

Have you or your trainers ever been ghosted?

Ghosting became a popular saying in 2011. It’s the sudden, one-sided ending of a romance. But, it can also describe how a lot of client-trainer relationships end.

Clients suddenly disappear, miss a scheduled session, and then fail to answer when a trainer reaches out. Maybe they moved away. Or, they may have—you guessed it—ghosted.

While a lot of it is out of your control, your trainers can do a few things to keep clients engaged and strengthen the relationship.

Set the right tone from the start:

Decrease your chance of new clients no-showing by setting expectations and finding the best trainer for them to kick things off right.

• Once a client books their first session, send a confirmation email. It should include:
  • What to bring
  • What/when they should eat before
  • Where to park
  • What amenities you’ll provide for them
• Create an Instagram Story Highlight offering a tour of your space. It’ll let newbies know what to expect so they’ll feel comfortable right away.
• Make it easy for clients to pick the right trainer from the start. You can feature bios with photos on your website and the Mindbody app to introduce each trainer and their specialties. You can also create Instagram Story Highlights to share a bit about them.
• Notify clients of your no-show policy and any fees for failing to show. Many personal training businesses have clients sign an agreement detailing their policies.
• Talk about your policy for suspending a client’s personal training contract. It should only allow for a one- month suspension, rather than open-ended suspensions.

Build a solid foundation

Every time your trainer sees a client, they show them how much they care about them. You obviously want your trainers to greet clients with a smile, and ask how they’re doing. But, did you know your software could help you and your staff have that personal touch?

• When clients share exciting news, like an upcoming birthday or vacation, have your trainers note it in the client’s profile. Follow up to ask how things went!
• Use the Contact Log functionality to assign follow-ups to front desk staff members. They can check in with the client to ensure they’re enjoying and getting the most out of their sessions. It’s a good way for clients to provide feedback if they’re having difficulties with a certain trainer. It also offers the chance to move them to another trainer.
• Have staff members create a workout plan or dietary guidelines. Share those with the client via the Documents portion of the Client Profile to allow for more communication.
• Show clients how, together with their trainer, they’ve achieved results. By using the SOAP/Progress Notes functionality to record workout progress, your team can track client fitness improvements and track weight loss and/or muscle gain.

Take advantage of automation:

Automation helps clients keep on top of their sessions. It can also offer a personal touch, and you and your staff don’t even have to be in the studio or gym to make it happen.

• Set-up automated confirmation emails and/or texts in Mindbody to remind clients of upcoming sessions.
• Send your clients automated birthday emails.
• Enable automated anniversary emails to celebrate clients and remind them how hard they’ve worked.
• Create “Just Checking In” and “We Miss You” emails that send automatically when clients haven’t come in for a certain amount of time.

Make a plan:

It’s harder for clients to stop coming in when their next session is booked already.

• Offer to book clients for recurring sessions for a day/time they are generally available. If you set up routine, weekly meetings, it’s difficult for a client to fall off.
• If a client comes in who doesn’t have another session booked, offer to help them find a time that works for them.
• Sell training session packages offering a bulk-buying discount (and make them non-refundable). Or, offer a contract providing a certain number of sessions per month, which bills monthly at a discounted rate per session compared to buying in 10 or 20 packs.
• When you reach out to the client who may be trying to ghost, ask a specific question. It increases the chances they’ll respond.

Lean on your community:

We all know how important is to have a workout buddy keep us accountable. Your clients are no different.

• Create a client referral program. Consider offering free or discounted sessions in exchange for referring a new client who buys a package.
• Have an option for semi-private sessions. It’s harder to ghost your trainer AND your workout buddy.