The relationship exercise professionals have with their clients is a vital element of their clients’ success and the practitioner’s ability to build and sustain a business. A practitioner can have all the knowledge of exercise science and anatomy in the world, but if their clients don’t feel connected to them and have a positive and enjoyable experience during their time together, client retention will be difficult . Here are five strategies exercise professionals can use to build those relationships, starting with the very first meeting.
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Build relationships and use empathy
Relationship building is about building relationships and showing empathy. This is especially true with newcomers to the facility, who may walk through the door with trepidation and doubt. Rapport building, defined as a relationship of trust and mutual understanding, is an ongoing process in any relationship, but is especially important during initial sessions with a new client.
An exercise professional can achieve this early on by having positive and thoughtful interactions based on empathy, which involves understanding another person’s experiences from their perspective. All of the strategies below tie back to this first one and will help create these positive interactions.
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Connect customers’ goals with their values
Connecting physical activity to a client’s values can be challenging, but it can make a huge difference in that client’s relationship, their perception of training together, and their long-term commitment to the program.
Imagine, for example, that an exercise professional has a client whose primary goal is to lose weight. By asking why and digging a little deeper, the practitioner discovers that weight loss is important to them because they have a family history of heart disease, recently welcomed their first grandchild, and are anxious to keep up with an active toddler. two years. Now, instead of a vague weight loss goal and a somewhat distant health-related fear, the exercise professional can focus their training and cues on the ability to pick up a growing child, get up and off the floor and perform other movements related to that underlying value. This is a much more positive and empowering framework than one that focuses on the distant threat of heart disease.
Additionally, the practitioner has gotten to know the client a little better and now has a topic of conversation that can lead to a better relationship and a deeper connection.
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Use the ACE Mover Method™ and the ACE ABC Approach™
Positive client-personal trainer relationships are its foundation ACE Mover method and ACE ABC approach. These two resources were developed to help exercise professionals empower their clients to make healthier lifestyle choices, and that starts with building relationships and taking a truly personalized approach.
For exercise professionals who work one-on-one with individuals, the ACE Movement Method is implemented through the use of the ACE ABC Approach, which begins with the understanding that clients are their own primary experts.
With this in mind, the ACE ABC approach begins ONEasking open-ended questions. Powerful questions can elicit thoughtful responses from the client that allow you to understand them—and why they chose to work with you—a little better. Step 2 includes siRemoving barriers, which is achieved by asking probing questions to discover what obstacles may be preventing the client from achieving their goals. Finally, step 3 includes dothey work together to set SMART goals and establish action steps to achieve these goals.
This collaborative process is absolutely vital to the client-practitioner relationship, as it can empower the client to take ownership and become more invested in the process.
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Use OARS to improve your conversation skills
OARS is an acronym for a conversational skill set that consists of asking THEpen questions, offer ONEcertificates, Reffective listening and smallrecapitulation, which can be used to elicit the client’s motivation and wisdom. The goal is to leave the decision to change behavior in the hands of the client, rather than the practitioner directing them what to do.
Here’s a quick example of how a practitioner might use OARS during a practice session:
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Open-ended questions: Ask questions that cannot be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Good opening questions include: “What…”, “How…” and “Why…”
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Certificates:Recognize a client’s successes, strengths, abilities and positive efforts.
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Reflective listening: Tell the customer what you heard them say and give the customer an opportunity to clarify and/or provide more details.
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Summarizing: Summarize two or more ideas or thoughts shared by the client as you understand it.
Never overlook the importance of fun. Nothing gets you excited and wanting to get back to the gym more than having a good time. Opportunities to laugh, smile, and connect can foster a sense of camaraderie between practitioner and client, as well as between the client and other practitioners nearby. Small efforts in this area can pay off big as the client becomes more comfortable with both the exercise professional and the gym. So an exercise professional should never be afraid to add a little humor and keep things light even as they encourage their clients to push themselves and work hard.
