Insurance for Fitness Trainers

Do not fitness train without insurance coverage!

   I live close to downtown. I just bought a new mountain bike. I believe in the basic goodness and honesty of mankind. That being said, do I leave my mountain bike outside without attaching a good lock to it?
Does Hillary trust Bill at the Palace of Erotic Dance?
Does Maria trust Arnie to drive the maid home? 
Does Elin trust Tiger with the cocktail waitress from the local bar? 
It's a short ride from the post where I lean my unlocked bike to the nearest pawnshop.
Goodbye mountain bike!
    Even if you believe that mankind is fair and decent you can still get your butt sued!
 If you Fitness Train then you need liability coverage. Otherwise you are hovering like a fly waiting for the windshield on the freeway. You just may get squashed.

   There is a step-by-step process that Personal Trainer's should follow to protect themselves from legal repercussions. The steps are:

1. Verbal Consultations: Get familiar with the client. Determine goals and objectives. Ask the client about any health concerns.
2. Medical Forms: (In Canada the form is the Par-Q- Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire) This screens the client for possible health concerns. If the client answers 'Yes" to any Par - Q questions, they must be referred to a medical doctor before they can be prescribed any exercise program or perform any active portion of a fitness evaluation..
3. Waiver Form: This is to absolve you of any blame in case of injury or ill health of the client.
4. Fitness Evaluation: Take client's resting heart rate and blood pressure. Determine baseline fitness levels. Abnormally high heart rate or blood pressure can further screen the client. Severe under- performance in the baseline fitness level tests should also raise a red flag.

Even these steps may not be sufficient for total protection. The unexpected things in life can still get loose and wreck havoc:

• The client may hold back information in the verbal consultation.
• The waiver form does not protect the trainer in the instance of negligence.
• The client may have a hidden health issue that evades being noted in the medical form.
• In rare occurrences the active portion of the fitness evaluation can set off a medical emergency such as a heart attack.
•  A Fitness Trainer can guide the clients through a work out using proper technique with safety as a priority. You can minimize risk as best as you can but accidents can still happen!

   Many of the major Fitness Training certifications come with insurance coverage. The National Strength and Conditioning Association certificate even has an insurance policy that has coverage for sexual abuse and molestation. Hopefully none of you are planning to use your power in this way  but also keep in mind that

people can make false accusations! In such a case you are often considered guilty no matter what!

If you work for a fitness center then you may still be required to supply your own coverage. If you are considered to be an employee the fitness center may have you covered under their policy.
Read the insurance policy thoroughly! You may only be insured while you are on the premises. For example if you take the client outside for a run and an injury occurs you may be liable.

Be aware that if you go beyond your scope of practice your liability protection may be null and void!  For example, a Fitness Trainer without specialty training may not be insured to work with special populations.

For those trainers with their own business, further protection comes with incorporating your business.
Once incorporated only the business can be sued, not the personal assets of the Fitness Trainer.
(I'll discuss this more in further blogs.)

A distracted trainer plus a client misstep can spell trouble. A waiver may not
protect for negligence. Liability insurance is a must!

Always be insured!
Don't get sued!
Lock your mountain bike! 

Until next time,..........keep fit!

Little Bobby Strong

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Referral Madness - Marketing Fitness Training

   You can market your fitness skills in many ways. The internet opens up many new and exciting possibilities. There are still the old standard methods such as T.V. commercials, radio ads, the yellow pages, the classifieds, and community papers. There is another tool that sometimes gets overlooked but it is one of the most effective methods of marketing. I am referring to a good old reliable one- the client referral!
   A referral is when someone speaks about you, or RECOMMENDS  you, to another person.    If you provide quality service, clients will mention this to family, friends or co-workers. This type of referral comes with a ready-made character reference. The client has likely pumped up your skills, your fitness knowledge, your personality,, and your motivational abilities. Any of these acquaintances that approach you about your services will be more eager to sign up.
   Charlie,a super client of mine, was a master at sending referrals my way. He was in the real estate business. Charlie rubbed shoulders with many people. He always kept open ears and eyes for opportunities that might benefit me. Situations like this have the potential to snowball as successful referrals and can lead to more referrals.
   The majority of my clients came by this word-of-mouth method. One of my clients even referred his ex-wife to me for a fitness consultation. (He did stipulate that he would prefer that I not train her at any close proximity to his work-out schedule.)
   Some of the more proactive Fitness Trainers will request leads from their clients. Many are successful at this. However, you do not want your clients to feel like you are squeezing them. You also don't want to leave the impression that you are pestering your client's friends and relatives. Subtlety is probably a good trait to work on improving. However, some of you can pull off the aggressive sales routine smoothly. Good for you if you can!
   Many fitness centers will insist that the Fitness trainers working there actively seek and follow-up on referral leads generated by existing customers. That is an accepted practice. The potential downside is that you can wind up in a pressure cooker situation in which the hustle becomes the primary focus rather than your skills as a Fitness Trainer. Once again, this depends on the philosophy of the Fitness Center and the type of environment that they expect you to work in.Will they assist you in generating leads or will it be all on you?  If you work for yourself, you will certainly want to work on client referrals at whatever level of assertiveness that you feel comfortable with.
   In summary, providing quality fitness services can be your best marketing tool by getting your clients to speak highly of you to others. Client referrals are also free of cost!

 
Until next time,.........keep fit!

Little Bobby Strong

"That Little Bobby Strong is such an awesome Fitness
 Trainer. We should sign up the whole whole clan and tell our
 neighbors!"

"The guys next door told us about this super Fitness Trainer  named  Little Bobby Strong.We should all give him a try! "

Word of mouth advertising is a great marketing tool!

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Free Fitness Consultations

   Fitness Trainers sometimes offer 'free' fitness consultations. Few other professions offer anything similar without charge. Doctors and dentists bill for the first visit. Barbers and hairdressers expect compensation from someone occupying their chair. I know that lawyers may provide an initial consultation without charge  but  they historically make up for it financially, and then some with many 'billable hours'. Certain sales jobs are almost entirely dependent on free 'demonstrations'.  For similar reasons, unpaid work is often considered an expected part of the Fitness Training business.  Free consultations provided to potential Fitness Training clients fall under three categories:

1. The potential client has an agreement to purchase a package of Fitness Training sessions.
2. There is an expectation that the potential client will purchase Fitness Training sessions.
3. There is the hope that a free consultation will interest the potential client in making a purchase.

   The Fitness Trainer can use the consultation to determine the potential client's goals, objectives and even their baseline fitness levels. A free consultation can give a prospect a taste of your Fitness Training skills and promote further interest. Conversely, too many free consultations can mean a lot of field labor without a harvest. If the prospect doesn't buy sessions from you, no money comes your way.
   If you have your own Fitness Training business, your consultations will almost always belong to the first two categories. The potential client has already shown a certain level of commitment. Your chances of signing them are greatly increased or they may have already signed.
    Some Fitness Trainers are in the enviable position in which they can charge for an initial consultation. Potential clients seek them out because of their reputation. More power to them for making every hour count. That is a good level to aspire to and aim for!
   If you work for a Fitness Center, there is a good chance that you will be expected to provide an initial consultation free of charge. There is also the possibility that many of these consultations will come from category three; the uncommitted that you hope to sign. The sales people at some Fitness Centers will often use the free consultation as a tool to sell a membership. Therefore the trainer may get a number of people showing up to collect their free quirk with no real intention of purchasing fitness training sessions. They have just forked out good money for a club membership. They may resent someone else trying to milk them further. I have had instances in which the consult got angry when I finished the session with my own sales pitch. Since each consultation takes about an hour of your time, this can add up to a lot of unpaid work. Meanwhile, the membership sales person gets a commission off of your dime.
    The counter argument might be that this is a great opportunity to make a sale. Some trainers will excel in such a scenario. For sales mortals, such as myself, this is a pressure situation. Remember, the Fitness Center likely takes a piece of the action for any successful signings that you get. What if your signing percentage is lower than expectations?  You would like to believe that the Fitness Center  management will be patient with you because you are an honest, technically competent, reliable worker. Sure they will and all of the politicians will give up their bribe money to distribute to the poor! 
   Why do you think many of these clubs are constantly advertising for new Fitness Trainers? It's not usually because the demand is exploding. It's mostly because the previous ones quit or got sacked. I should emphasize that not all Fitness Clubs operate in this manner! Just beware of the ones that do!
You can waste a lot of time that could be better spent building a clientele in a more supporting environment or doing your own thing with your own Fitness Training business.
   The preferred scenario is one in which management, the membership sales staff and the trainers work as a team. Some places sell membership packages that include a few fitness training sessions. It is easier to re-sign a satisfied, existing client than to sign someone looking for a freebie. There is a new fitness chain that actually has someone with the title of 'Fitness Consultant' that sells the fitness training sessions for the Fitness Trainer.

What do you mean "Do I want to sign up for paid sessions? "
 The sales guy said this was a free consultation!

    If you decide to work for a Fitness Center, do your research. Make sure that you will be part of a collaboration rather than just being cannon fodder. You deserve to be more than just the unpaid help.

Until next time,........stay fit!

Little Bobby Strong

 




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