Tuesday 6 October 2015

The Super Client

   Every Fitness Trainer needs a client like Mordi ! Mordi was one of my earliest clients. He was referred to me by Charlie, my first client. Mordi fit the bill of super client status.
   For a Fitness Trainer, all clients should be considered valuable commodities. Some will be inspired and use your expertise and knowledge to transform themselves physically. Some just show up, do as you tell them and go about their way without wanting to interact much. Others may use you as a sounding board about their lives as they do your prescribed exercises.
Few of us can afford to be selective and must adapt to all types.
 
Then there is the Super Client! This would be someone who enriches your life experience as you are pumping them up and cajoling them on the exercise bike.This would be someone like Mordi.
Here is what makes this client special .

  • Mordi admitted that he needs the commitment with a Fitness Trainer for him to adhere to an exercise program. This is never a bad thing for a trainer.
  • Mordi was a good source of referrals for other potential customers.
  • He was a great mentor for business advice being that he was an entrepreneur par excellence. For a rookie Fitness Trainer such advice was like gold.
  • Mordi was also a wise philosopher on the nuances of human existence. I like to think that I became wiser just through osmosis.
  • He was a voracious pupil in the weight room when his mood was right. His eager capacity to lift heavy weights sometimes needed to be tempered with moderation. 
  • He constantly challenged my views on nutrition and physiology. Doctor Mordecai (Mordi) had a PhD in chemistry. His science background was light years more extensive than mine. It forced me to constantly keep abreast of current fitness knowledge.

   A less patient Fitness Trainer might describe him as a potentially difficult client. Why would this be?
  • He could occasionally be a master of avoidance. A favored tactic was to start passionately arguing politics just before a planned high intensity workout on the stationary bike? 
  • Mordi made a convincing argument that the hot tub could be considered a substitute for cardiovascular training.
  • Mordi won many a battle of wills and convinced me to join him on countless post workout visits to a local pub and eatery called Joey T's.
  • He usually vetoed my suggestion of carrot juice and salad for orders of fortified elixirs and less than lean cuisine.
  • His flirtatious banter with the barmaids of Joey T's was of the sort that might draw the wrath of today's political correct whiners. The barmaids never complained. They took his tips and flirted back
   Mordi had little patience for the foolish, the lazy, the entitled and the dishonest. He did not tolerate
poor or indifferent service. He did tolerate most of my humor. In fact he said it made the tough workouts more bearable. At times when my Fitness Training career was struggling, he lifted my spirits by telling me that I was good motivator. Mordi has also been the number one supporter of my fitness blog! 

   On every visit that I make back to Edmonton, Canada, I make sure to get together with Mordi. 
The motivation that I gave him when working out he has given back in with advice and confidence building pep talks - usually over fortified elixirs and pub grub. Each visit his personna becomes more and more legendary.

   Fitness Trainers should pray for such clients! Not only are they good for business, they lift your craft to where it is more than just a job.   

   Mordi is a successful self made man - except for his massive, muscular upper body. 
I take some credit for helping build that!
Let's toast the Super Client with a carrot juice - or something stronger!

Look at those magnificent guns!
Unquestionably a super client.

Until next time,...Keep Fit

Little Bobby Strong










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