Last blog we spoke about the importance of a great initial consultation. So, what makes or breaks it?
Firstly no one expects you to be faultless with communication however, it doesn’t hurt to be smooth and practiced with the questions that you’re asking and have the ability to make the consultation a conversation. 

Like any conversation, it needs to feel comfortable, so seating position is often really important to have your client feel at ease. Rather than sitting across from someone and creating an interrogation type feel. Eye contact, positive energy and body language are important as well as the ability to listen and formulate your next question based on what your client is telling you, not just what’s on your consultation form however, let’s start with the basics.

The script/consultation form can be divided up into 4 main parts:

1. Their Goals. Lose weight, gain strength and size, outcomes, target areas, timeframes and what’s got them motivate, or their ‘why’
2. Planning: How much time in each session and/or how many days they can commit to. Any potential challenges that can get in their way, what financial commitment or budget they can set aside towards their training goals and program
3. Pre-Activity Questionnaire: Are there any previous/current injuries or health and medical considerations we need to work around? Is there anything else that could affect their training or the program design?
4. Execution: What kind of training they like/dislike, what type of training/program we see working the best, what they are looking for in a Trainer, session & program, and designing something that works considering all of the above.

After you’ve extracted all the information, you can then create an amazing first session with them. One that makes the client think ‘WOW, I’d love to do this on a regular basis’. Maybe it’s an absolute beginner and you were great with your instruction and demonstrating how to perform each exercise with perfect technique, and that’s what they were looking for. Maybe it’s the opposite, and it’s an advanced client with many years of experience looking for someone to get the very best out of them; to help them work at a rate that they wouldn’t be able to on their own.

When you’re able to carry out a session designed precisely to what the client is looking for, you’ll get a much higher uptake of people wanting to train with you. Every time you sit down with someone, the thought pattern has to be “How can I deliver this client exactly what they want and help them achieve the results they are looking for?”

The final step is then taking your potential client through an individualised price presentation. Yes, of course you can have premade packages – but if you want a higher conversion rate and the ability to create a package that you know fits into your client’s time availability and budget, you’ll need to adapt slightly each time. If you master this your conversion rate will skyrocket and unlike a lot of PT’s, you’ll love doing initial consults with new clients!