If you haven't raised your prices in over a year—this is your wake-up call. It's TIME!

Let me preface this by saying that I understand you didn't enter the Health and Fitness Industry to get rich. Since 2011, I've worked with thousands of Fitness Professionals who, almost without exception, are genuinely good people passionate about health and fitness because it has changed their lives, and they LOVE helping others change their lives too.

This post isn't about how to price-gouge people so you can buy a Lamborghini.

This is about being able to charge what you're worth so that you're not overworked and underpaid, not burnt out and starting to feel resentment toward the profession and your clients—and interestingly, helping your clients achieve better results. (More on that in a moment).

Why Trainers Don’t Raise Their Prices

Fear of Seeming Greedy

Nobody wants to seem greedy, and based on the trainers we’ve interviewed in the past, one of the top three concerns expressed to us is that you're often worried that your clients will think that you're not interested in them or their problems, that you're only interested in their money.

While these are common limiting beliefs, I can tell you based on nearly two decades of experience that this is almost always a logical fallacy that you’ve created for yourself.

When you start to gradually raise your rates, almost all of your clients will say, “It’s about time!” “You’re totally worth it.”

If there are any that don’t, I’d be willing to bet they’re the difficult clients you wish you could get rid of anyway…

Just sayin'.

Confusing Low Price With Good Value

Many trainers I’ve worked with say that they set their prices low because they wanted clients to feel like they were getting good value.

This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the difference between price and value, driven in part by advertising for things like your local supermarket stating, “Bananas - Only 99 cents per kilogram: That’s Incredible Value.”

This has conditioned many to think low cost equals good value when, in fact, it couldn’t be further from the truth.

VALUE is calculated and assigned, often subconsciously, using a complex combination of heuristics and cognitive biases.

Using the previous analogy, what if I told you that you could now choose from two different types of bananas?

Type 1 $0.99/kg - These bananas are picked before they’re ripe, flown in from a long way away, and ripened using a special gas in an artificial ripening chamber. Type 2 $2.99/kg - These bananas are organic, picked ripe, and grown ethically. They don’t use any pesticides, and the farmers that grow them get a fair share of the profits. They also look and taste better.

Which one seems more valuable to you now, given this background information?

The answer is, it depends. If you’re on a very tight budget, you’ll value the lower price as being more important.

If you’re more interested in things like organic food and fair working conditions, then chances are Type 2 will seem more valuable to you.

Value and price are not always synonymous!

Understanding Value

Perception of Value

People you train for free often don’t value what they’re getting. We’ve all likely had that experience of training a friend or family member at no cost. It usually doesn’t go well. They tend to be flaky, show low commitment, are more likely to cancel last minute, and frequently achieve poor results.

Why? The stakes aren’t high enough for them.

Think about this: have you ever signed up for a free online course that you never started? Probably. Now, have you ever signed up for a course or program costing over $1,000 that you didn’t start? Likely not.

If they have no skin in the game, they have nothing to lose if they don’t put in the effort.

This applies to you as well. Charging $1,500 for a 12-week program means you’ll hold yourself to a much higher standard than if you charge $150 for the same period.

Perception of Quality

Imagine swirling a glass of wine, savoring the aroma, and taking a sip. It's delightful! But what if I told you the price you were quoted actually changed how much you enjoyed that sip? A study by Caltech professor Antonio Rangel revealed the surprising influence of price tags on our taste buds—and brains. Volunteers tasted five wines, each supposedly differently priced. Interestingly, the same wine with a higher price tag triggered more activity in the pleasure center of the brain, and volunteers rated it as tastier.

This wasn’t just about appearing sophisticated; brain activity measured with an fMRI machine showed increased activity in the pleasure center correlated with the wine’s perceived price.

When presented with a bottle of wine priced at $90 versus one at $10, participants enjoyed the $90 wine more, confirmed by their brain scans. It was, in reality, the same wine!

Reassuringly Expensive

Let's consider a hypothetical situation.

Suppose you have poor eyesight and decide to get LASIK surgery. You research and find one clinic offering the procedure for just $399 per eye, prominently advertising its affordability. Another clinic charges $1,500 per eye, focusing on the surgeon's extensive experience and successful track record, supported by numerous patient testimonials.

I don’t know about you, but I’d opt for the surgeon with the more reassuringly expensive price tag for such a critical procedure. Right or wrong, this likely boosts confidence in their skills, and your clients will exhibit similar biases.

Charging $1,500 for a 12-week program while another trainer charges $500 instantly positions you as the higher quality, more experienced, more prestigious, and premium option.

It may not be fair, but that’s just how human psychology operates.

Fear of Losing Clients

One of the other main concerns expressed when we interviewed trainers was, "I'm afraid I'll lose clients."

Raising your rates doesn’t necessarily mean jumping from $50 to $100 overnight. It can be much more reasonable than that. Even a small increase of $5 to $10 makes almost no difference to most of your clients individually. But it will make a big difference to you!

If you’re charging $50/hr and have 10 clients who train twice a week, that’s 20 hours of work each week (not including all the in-between work that you probably don’t count or charge for currently). So, that comes out to $1,000 per month in revenue.

Let’s say you increase your rates to $70/hr (not saying you should do this, but also not saying you shouldn’t), and you lose 20% of your clients (which I’ve never seen happen in over 17 years in the fitness industry). Now you have 8 clients paying $70/hr.

Now you’re making $1,120 a week and working 20% fewer hours... Sounds pretty good to me!

But, let's be more realistic.

If you haven’t increased your rates at least once in the last 12 months, then you should consider doing it this month. If you haven’t raised your rates in over 2 years, then you have to do it, like yesterday.

Why?

Firstly, because of inflation. $1,000 today is not worth the same as it was two years ago. In fact, $1,000 in 2022 is now only worth $933.70 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index.

That means if you’re not raising your prices at least once a year, your purchasing power decreases with each passing year.

Secondly, we have to consider increased overheads. I own a gym in the town where I live, and at the beginning of this year, our lease was up for renewal. Our rent alone increased by 13.4%, and that’s not factoring in the increased cost of things like utilities.

The cost of living has gone up; if your prices don’t, you start to get squeezed more and more. It’s a sad reality, but it is reality nonetheless.

How much should you raise your rates by?

It depends on how long it’s been since you last increased them.

My recommendation would be at least 5% per year to stay in line with inflation as a bare minimum.

If you’re the type of trainer who is constantly investing in improving your skillset by doing continuing education, then you should consider a bigger increase of 10-20% for existing clients and 25% plus for new clients.

Let’s break that down.

Let’s say you currently charge $50/hr and train 10 clients twice a week. If you raise your rates by 5% every six months, your clients will only be paying an extra $2.50 per session. Then in 6 months, you add another 5% so that the client is now paying $55.

This is not a big jump, and it's not going to be a dealbreaker from the clients' perspective. If someone is willing to leave over $2.50, then honestly, good riddance, I say.

The difference to them is negligible. $50 to $52.50 is essentially the same amount of money.

But for you, $2.50 x 20 sessions a week increases your income by an extra $1,300 over the course of the first 6 months and by the end of the year, you’ve generated an extra $3,900. Just by raising your rates $2.50 every six months.

What would you do with an extra $3,900 in your pocket this year without having to work more hours?

How To Price Your Personal Training Services

Hours versus Outcomes

Imagine a prospective client sitting in front of you, and you've asked all the right questions. They've shared that they're really unhappy with their appearance. Every summer, they want to swim with their kids at the beach but feel too self-conscious to wear a bathing suit.

They've tried various diets, but nothing has worked. They're fed up, frustrated, and have decided enough is enough. They want to make a change.

Based on your years of experience in helping people solve this problem, you estimate it will realistically take about 9 months to achieve their goals.

"I can definitely help you," you say with confidence.

The client looks thrilled.

"Okay, great," she says. "How much is it?"

"Training is $60 an hour, or if you buy a block of 10, it's $500."

The client agrees and buys 10 sessions.

While this might seem like a great outcome, here's the problem:

If they opt for hourly sessions, you've inadvertently agreed to perform additional work for free. Program design, nutrition advice, follow-ups, and any adjustments you make over time are not 'billable hours.'

Furthermore, if the client misses a session or discontinues, you don't get paid.

Even worse, selling a block of sessions creates a subconscious endpoint in their mind. The 10 sessions have now become an implied endpoint, one they'll likely expect dramatic results by.

They've shared their overarching goal, and you've offered a solution with a block of sessions. Now, they might mistakenly believe these sessions alone will achieve their goals.

Here's a more effective approach:

Selling the outcome.

Explain to the client that, based on their goals and starting point—coupled with your years of experience—you estimate it will take about 9 months of training and habit changes to meet their targets.

Outline your plan for those 9 months in broad strokes; you don’t want to overwhelm them.

Once you've outlined your plan, ask, "How does that sound?"

Now, sell the outcome.

"Great. So our 9-month package for training, nutrition, accountability, etc., is $4,500. This includes everything we discussed, plus up to two training sessions per week. If you’re on vacation or can't make it to the gym, that's not an issue. In fact, it's perfect because what we’re focusing on here is building your skills and new habits—and that’s real life. Sometimes we can't make it to the gym, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still work out and work towards our goals. I'll design some workouts for you that can be done at home or in your hotel room or gym while you're away. How does that sound?"

After presenting the comprehensive price, you can soften the impact by offering payment in three-month blocks, or if they're hesitant about the cost, break it down into monthly or even weekly payments. Just ensure you're not communicating an hourly rate because there's a lot more to training clients than just the time they spend in front of you.

Increasing Prices For Personal Trainers: A Step-by-Step Guide

To effectively price your services as a personal trainer, it's crucial to start by reverse engineering your financial needs based on several key factors: your monthly overheads, personal income goals, taxes, and savings. Here’s a structured approach to setting your rates:

Step 1: Calculate Your Monthly Overheads

Begin by adding up all your recurring monthly expenses such as gym rent, insurance, phone bills, and any other operational costs. For instance, let’s say your overheads total $2,000 per month.

Step 2: Set Your Personal Income Goal

Decide how much you’d like to earn personally each month. For this example, we'll target $5,000.

Step 3: Factor in Taxes and Savings

Include a realistic percentage for taxes (e.g., 25%) and a prudent amount for savings (e.g., 10%). These percentages will ensure you are covering your tax liabilities and building a financial cushion.

Step 4: Determine Your Client Base

Decide on the maximum number of clients you can manage each week without compromising the quality of your service. In this example, assume you are comfortable with 15 clients, each training twice per week.

Step 5: Calculate the Rate per Client

Add your monthly overheads and personal income goal to get a total required income. For the example given:

• Total needed per month (Overheads + Personal Income): $7,000

• Divide this by the number of clients (15), resulting in a base rate of $466 per client.

• Add 25% for taxes, bringing the rate to $582.50.

• Add 10% for savings, adjusting the final rate to approximately $640.75.

Round this figure up for simplicity—$650 per client per month would be your starting rate.

Building Confidence with Your Pricing Strategy

Gradual Increases

If you're currently charging $300 per month per client, jumping directly to $650 might feel daunting and could be a tough sell. Instead, consider gradual increases. Start by raising the rate to $350 for new clients. Once you're comfortable and have successfully signed on a few clients at this rate, consider another increase.

Each incremental raise not only brings you closer to your financial goals but also helps build your confidence in the value you provide. This step-by-step approach makes the transition smoother for you and more acceptable for clients.

Communicate Value Effectively

When introducing higher rates, especially for existing clients, emphasize the enhanced value they will receive, such as more personalized attention, additional services, or improved facilities. Explain that these changes are designed to help them achieve their fitness goals more effectively.

By using a structured approach to pricing, you can ensure your financial stability while maintaining a high standard of service. This method also provides transparency to your clients, who will appreciate understanding how you’ve determined your rates.

Conclusion

In conclusion, raising your rates as a fitness professional is not just about increasing your income—it's about valuing your service, maintaining a healthy business, and enhancing client results. By understanding the psychological impacts of pricing on perceived value and quality, and strategically planning your finances with a clear structure, you can confidently adjust your pricing to reflect your worth and expertise. Implementing gradual price increases helps ease both you and your clients into the new structure, ensuring sustainability and satisfaction. Remember, effective pricing is crucial for your business growth and personal well-being in the competitive fitness industry.