5 Skills Every Personal Trainer Must Develop to Enter and Succeed in Their Industry
Imagine you were
speaking to a group of would-be fitness professionals about entering and
succeeding in the fitness industry, what would you say? You’d probably
sit back and think for a moment before you responded. There’s so much
you could say but you don’t have much time and attention tends to wane
when a message is prolonged.
Have you come up with
some responses yet? I’m in the hot seat right now as you’re reading
this. You’re probably a seasoned veteran, but these skills are still
necessary for you to continue to grow and develop. So, I’m going to keep
it light and easy by diving into the 5 skills I believe every personal
trainer entering or already in this industry should develop if they want
to succeed. Here’s the list:
1. Interpersonal skills
Think of
interpersonal skills as social skills. People like sociable people.
Clients want pros to relate to them and understand that they’re human
beings with feelings. For some pros, this industry is just about the
muscle or the money; others are super smart but are almost cold and
robotic in their behavior. This industry is about the people. If you
want to learn about your client, and you absolutely should, you have to
develop some social skills. Manners and respect are in more demand these
days than ever, but few seem to even understand their value.
2. Marketing
I’ll keep bringing
this point up because it matters; you have to learn how to market
yourself and your own unique style. You also have to know and understand
your target audience. Create a plan for yourself as you move through
this industry; know who you are and what you offer, and to whom you wish
to offer it too. Next, put yourself out there. Learn the ropes of
marketing; learn how to make yourself marketable and how to actually do
it. It’s extremely important you put your name out there in a way that
respects your audience and your brand, because no one will know you
unless they see you.
3. Communication
Your skill as a
communicator will determine a whole lot in this industry. The way you
speak and carry yourself and your ability to write a proper sentence can
make or break you. Too many trainers neglect these things and they
suffer as a result. If you want to go far in this industry, learn how to
write, type, speak, and communicate your messages to your audience.
It’s not enough to learn about your audience or just know how the body
works, you have to become an effective communicator to put it all
together or people won’t relate, understand, or even want you in their
circle.
4. Educational expertise
You won’t make it
very far in this industry if you have no education on the subject area.
While some are experts in sales and marketing themselves, their
knowledge about topics relating to fitness and exercise are shabby at
best. You can’t call yourself a professional if you’ve never had any
training in fitness, it’s that simple. If you can’t get a degree, then
find another route; at the very least you should have college
certificates and/or certifications from credible sources. If you’ve done
all that don’t think it stops there. Take classes, do CEU/CEC courses,
and work on keeping yourself prepared by reading often and staying
abreast with what’s happening in and around this industry.
5. Networking
No one is an island
aloof in the ocean. You’re not making it in this industry if you don’t
develop some professional contacts. You need networking skills, so start
developing them. You need to get out there, shake hands, and hand out
business cards. Don’t push people away either, someone you know could
become your next boss or teammate. Develop a network of colleagues who
can trust you and equally who you can trust and watch your opportunities
skyrocket. Who knows, you could be leaving one institution and slide
right into the next because people in your professional network had you
covered.
While there’s so much
more I could add to this list I wanted to keep it brief. I also want to
take this opportunity to invite you to take our 2018 trends survey. You
automatically qualify for a chance to win access to our NPI-Certified
Posture Specialist program. If you win and complete the program you’ll
be on your way to a brand new certification, complete with the knowledge
to help create real change for millions of ailing people.
Take the survey here: http://www.surveyshare.com/s/AYAYHSD
If you’ve taken the
survey, thanks so much! Let me also bring you up to speed about our
premier program for learning how to safely and accurately measure
flexibility, the NPI-Certified Goniometry Specialist™ program.
Here’s the link >> |