Do you have group training programs that aren’t full?
Do you have trainers getting paid the same or less to lead group programs than they do for a private session?
Way to often I see group training programs that are so dirt cheap that the poor trainers (and yes I mean poor!) leading them get paid less than if they were training one client.
Let’s be clear on the group training model. It’s meant to be more affordable for customers. It’s meant to be more lucrative for the trainer. If you make $50 take home for a private session with a client you should make at least double that for a group session.
With the right extras for upsells you could easily make more. If it’s a specialty session in high demand the hourly rate should be even bigger.
This is such a disheartening situation for a trainer! If you are the trainer, or if you’re a director or owner (who wants to keep good staff members and prevent the cost of turnover), it’s time to regroup!
Because long term it’s going to be hard to stay motivated when it feels like you’re giving your time away!
Then, you’re conditioning your customers every day to buy time with you cheap!
This is a side note, but the thing that’s often true about a business model that sells group training for cheap is that they also have discounts and sales all the time too. No one ever buys at full rate. They know they don’t need to.
I totally understand that this rate game is a hard habit to break out of, but if you can answer yes to this series of questions:
- Do you have the best trainers (education, certification, experience, heart)?
- Do you offer the best possible customer service (you go over and above reaching out or providing supplemental information to help them succeed)?
- Do you have the best programs – designed based on what your customers want?
- Do you have really good facilities – if not newest, cleanest and up to date (notice this one is at the bottom- if you don’t have the rest this one doesn’t matter)?
Then you should be charging the value of the transformation for the customer. The answer to “why is your program so much more expensive”? should be, “because it works.”
If you can say that with confidence you’re ready to raise rates. If you don’t believe that yet yourself, then change it, build a better program until you do. Then make sure the quality of your marketing is high. You can’t make a million dollars if you don’t look like a million bucks.
The whole premise of group training is a win-win-win.
Win #1: More customers can afford it. It’s a way to offer a specific answer to a specific problem in a group program (and there’s still HUGE opportunity there as “boot camps” that are generic and offered morning noon and night have no more sex appeal because they’re so much like free group fitness classes- and if you do this… you CAN justify charging more).
Win #2: You as a trainer earn more per hour and get a big shot of energy from working with a group. The diversity is something that helps you avoid burnout!
Win #3: The business grows exponentially with group program revenue (as long as you make the offer right!) and the community within your community builds loyalty that keep clients longer.
The more programs out there and online the more opportunity for a really good program. You won’t be able to set yourself apart with a cheap one. You will earn respect with a higher value program that delivers.
You’ll be amazed how many more people will buy a $1500 program vs. a $997 program. Or enroll in a $297 program vs. a $97 program. We attach value to a price. So if everyone else is charge X, consider charging X + and watch the quality of your participants (and your delivery) go up.
You won’t know until you raise your rates. Audit your current group programs. What transformation do people get? What is distinct and over and above in customer service? What value does that transformation have for someone?