trainer
The other day I received a message from a close friend of mine.

Has this ever happened to you….

See below

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Hey Sam! How are you?

Hey quick question.

I need to know how to deal with something on an
emotional level and maybe you can help me.

Over a year ago I had a really great trainer.

He worked with me for probably about a year and a half.

He left, opened up his own place, solicited all my clients on FB
and has been shmoozing them getting them into his business.

I give 100% to everyone with follow ups, emails, good fitness content,
texts, FB messages, phone calls, lunch dates, etc.

Some more than others, but I give it my all.

Some of my clients graduate from my program which
I get and then I find out they are with him.

Some even leave in the middle of my program and go to him.

I’m a girl and I’m sensitive so it hurts.

Throughout the years I have gotten stronger and way better
about people leaving, but going to him it bothers me so much
and makes me feel like I’m not good enough.

I do my best to let it go and know that
I helped them even if they had to move on.

I try to stay positive, but sometimes
it’s just SO hard because it’s HIM.

My clients become a part of my family.

I just found out another couple that were my clients
who I became close with, we played softball together
on the team I put together and we did a lot of fun
things outside of training.

They ended their program, got weird and then I found that out.

How do I deal with that? Do you have experience with that?

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My answer…..

I am so sorry to hear that.

dollarI wish I had a dollar for each time this happened.

It hurt me the first hundred times.

The first time it hurt me so bad.

It felt like the first time someone broke up with me.

Which sounds like the case here.

Let me explain something to you.

Unfortunately personal training profession is commodity profession to begin with.

Here is what I mean…

Basically, anyone that can find a corner can claim they are the best trainer/boot camp instructor in the world.

Like my man Steve Cabral said before

It’s a very low barrier or no barrier of entry profession.

Simply that you don’t need a lot of money to become a trainer.

In some cases NONE.

Find a park and call yourself

Insert your town [fitness expert]

Best bootcamp in the worldI mean is there a personal training governing body? Police?

NOPE

Have you ever heard of a personal trainer going to jail for practicing without a license?

NOPE

You can’t practice physical therapy, dentistry, chiropractic or medicine without a license.

It’s considered a felony.

So here is what you need to do in a profession that is a “commodity”

Specialize. Educate yourself and be a specialist not a generalist.

Offer unparalleled service. Nuff said

Go the extra mile. For some reason everybody talk about it but no one does it.

STRIVE to have a better relationship with your clients than ANYONE of your staff. This is CRITICAL.

STOP looking at his D***. Ok, I was just making sure you’re paying attention. Don’t be concerned about what someone else is doing. Keep doing what you do best.

Treat your staff like GOLD. Always praise them and let them know you appreciate them in a genuine way. If someone is truly values your friendship, they (hopefully) think twice about stealing clients and competing with you.

They say that when you’re a commodity, you have to compete on price. I STRONGLY disagree. You can overcome that by providing world class experience.

Coffee is a commodity. Starbucks is NOT.

STOP acting big. Big companies are trying to get more personal. That’s your only competitive edge. Seriously….

I saw a trainer with 60 clients send an email from CustomeService@NameOfTheBootCamp.com

Really, Really…. REALLY

Makes sense.

I hope this helps,

Sam,

PS- See you soon at the Weekend With Sam