I am a certified personal trainer, and I am going to let you in on a little secret that will help you get the lowest possible prices at your club, the cheapest personal training possible.
Thing vary from club to club, but at Bally Total Fitness it went as follows (and this is probably similar to how other clubs do it as well):
There were four levels of training: level 1, 2, 3, and 4. All the “level” meant was different pricing. Level 1 was the cheapest; and level 4 was the most expensive, even though the actual training packages were all the same. Training packages were either four sessions, eight sessions, 16 sessions, 24 sessions or 48. So for example, level 1 eight sessions was considerably cheaper than level 4 eight sessions.
However, a trainer with just one certification could only charge level 1 prices. If a trainer had two certifications, he could charge level 2. And I think you had to have four certs to charge level 3, and more than four to charge level 4.
I had more than four certifications, but I never showed any prospects the level 4 pricing, because the prices were outrageous.
I usually presented the pricing list for level 3. There came a point where, during the consultation, I’d pull out the price booklet. I’d flip to the level 3 page and make sure that the prospect did not catch a glimpse of the level 2 or level 1 pages. The prospect had no idea that below this page was the level 2 page, and below that was the level 1 page. And the prospect would simply see prices for the five different packages. The prices were given in terms of the total, and then shown in different ways it could be broken down by monthly credit card payments, based on a particular down payment.
I’d carefully watch the prospect’s reaction. If they nearly fainted upon seeing the prices, I knew they’d never pay level 3 if their life depended on it. So I knew I had to show them level 2, maybe even 1. But instead of flipping to the level 2 page, I instead said something like, “Well…I really want to train you, and I see your reaction to the pricing. The manager is in now. Let me go ask him if I could lower the prices for you. I’m not sure he’ll go for it, though. But let me just ask him. He’s in a good mood today. I can’t lower the prices. Only he can. I’ll be right back.”
I fetched the manager and told him, “I just showed level 3 and it’s a no-go. Let’s see if we can get this prospect for level 2.”
The manager came back with me to meet the prospect. I had put away the price booklet. The manager began talking with the prospect, asking her about her goals, and then talking about the prices I had just shown. The prospect continued to express that she couldn’t afford it. So the manager would then slowly scratch behind his neck (or do something like that), and say, “Well, um…let me see now…you know, I normally don’t do this. But since you seem really serious about training with Jillita here, and she’s our best trainer…well, I’ll tell ya what. I think I can take about 10 percent off the prices.”
But instead of showing her the level 2 prices (which would blow the ruse), the manager took out a piece of scrap paper and calculator, pretended to fiddle around with it, and then wrote on the paper the level 2 prices, which he knew by heart.
A lot of times, the prospect, thinking that a special deal was cut for her, fell for this and took the deal. There were times when the manager would quote the level 1 prices. But he was not able to go below level one, since pricing was set by corporate.
If you want the best deal possible for personal training, here are the guidelines:
1) Always act like you can’t even come close to affording the prices. Chances are, you are being shown the most expensive, or one of the higher-priced packages. Act shocked at the prices, and you will be offered cheaper prices, but realize that the staff will pretend it’s a hardship to get the prices lower. Play along with this ploy. Continue acting shocked until you sense that they are giving you their lowest price possible.
2) Schedule your consultation near the very end of the month. At the end of the month, managers are desperate to get in sales quotas. Even though they can’t go below level 1, what they WILL do, out of desperation to make that quota, is throw in a few free training sessions with the package. If the manager offers two free sessions, be firm and tell him, “Throw in four, and you’ve made yourself a deal.” I can pretty much guarantee he’ll go for this, because it won’t be HIM training you for four sessions without being paid; it will be his employee!
3) However, if it IS the trainer himself or herself who is lowering the prices, still be adamant about four or five free sessions. The trainer is under pressure to make a sales quota.
More than once, a prospect caught wind of the existence of lower-level pricing, and questioned it. The easy way out of this was to tell the prospect that brand new trainers who aren’t yet certified, could only charge level 1 prices. But more experienced trainers with more certifications, were supposed to charge the higher prices. “You get what you pay for,” I’d say.
This all may make me sound unscrupulous, but it was part of my job, clearly instructed to me to do it this way, and like other working class people, I had a lot of bills to pay. I train privately now and charge everyone the same fee.
