If you’re a PT one of the biggest issues you probably face on a regular basis is last minute cancellations – leaving you with an unpaid, empty time slot that’s pretty much impossible to fill at short notice. So what can you do to stop clients cancelling sessions?
Have a clear, up-front policy
Make sure you are extremely clear right from the start that you have a STRICT 12-hour cancellation policy, and regardless of personal circumstances, unfortunately any cancellation within 12 hours will mean you will be charged the full amount for that session. This is because you only have a limited number of time slots in a day and if one is lost at the last minute it’s not possible to fill, and you will end up losing income. (Many facilities/services have a similar policy – hairdressers, massage therapist, hotels, air travel etc)
Be firm and consistent
The very first time a client calls to cancel within your designated period, you need to be firm on the policy. Remind them that they agreed to this policy on day one, and unfortunately you cannot be flexible on it. Be empathetic to their situation but firm on your policy. Most importantly be consistent. You can’t be flexible with some clients and not others. You can’t be flexible one time but not the next time. You must be firm and consistent EVERY time if you want to stop clients cancelling.
Ensure sessions are pre-paid
By having clients pre-pay for sessions a week or a month in advance, it’s much easier to simply deduct the price of a cancelled session from their payment. Then you can say “I’m sorry but you’ve just lost one session from this week/month”. On the flip side if you allow clients to pay as they go it’s VERY difficult (not to mention awkward) to ask them to pay double the next time for a session they didn’t even complete.
Value your time
You have invested time and money into becoming a Personal Trainer – completing your Certificate III and IV in fitness, continuing education, registration with organisations, keeping your first aid and insurance up to date, uniforms, petrol; it all adds up. Personal Training is your career. It is what you love doing, but it also pays the bills, puts fuel in the tank and food on the table. Without paying clients you cannot survive. Just like you would not expect a dentist to give you a free root canal, your clients should not expect a session for free – whether they complete it or not. Your time is money – and any lost time is valuable. If you believe this – it’s much easier to explain to your clients.
It’s policy – take emotion out of it
Personal Training is a tough one when it comes to keeping business and personal separate, because you have to become ‘friends’ to a certain extent, in order for it to be a ‘Personal’ Training session. When you become too emotional about the situation is when it becomes hard to adhere to policy. This is where it is a huge advantage to work for a company, where you can simply say “I’m sorry, it’s company policy, there’s nothing I can do about it”, and whether you work for Fitness Enhancement as an employee, contractor or franchisee – there is always someone higher up who can take the blame and pick up the phone if need be. This allows you to keep your business separate from your personal life. Fitness Enhancement has various job opportunities and Franchise options that can be very helpful in this area!
Build a brand that embodies quality
If you build your brand name to embody high quality service and only market yourself to high quality clients, then they will respect your value and adhere to your policies. You need clients who want premium service and are willing (and able) to pay a premium price for it. On the flip side if you are marketing yourself by giving away free or cheap sessions, your clients will not value your sessions because YOU do not value your sessions – and you’ll be attracting the type of clients that want or need CHEAP sessions, rather than QUALITY sessions. So if you really want to stop clients cancelling, attract the right clients from day one!
