Connecting With Your Clients
- 1. By Lindsey Volk 5/15/16 Portland State University Connecting With Your Clients
- 2. Overview ● Goal Setting ● What is your why? (activity) ● Understanding Your Clients ● 3 types of reactions to exercise ● Stages of building the client trainer relationship ● Building Rapport ● Stages of Change Model ● Self Efficacy ● Strategies to maintain client motivation ● Personality clashes ● Common Setback in fitness ● Activities/discussions
- 3. What do we do as Trainers? Coach Councilor Teacher Role Model Friend
- 4. Goal Setting Set your clients up for success by working together to create realistic goals that they can obtain and maintain. Discuss- Scenario 1: A client comes in for personal training and is very vague about their goals. They want to tone their body and lose some weight but don’t say anything else. Scenario 2: A client band new to the weight room is stoked about personal training and wants to start working out 7 days a week for 2-3hrs.
- 5. Understanding Your Clients ● Why might someone seek personal training? ● Increased Interest in becoming healthier ● New Year’s resolution ● Upcoming event (wedding, class reunion, summer, etc.) ● A recent health scare ● Keep in mind your clients reasons for choosing personal training ● Each client will have a different comfort levels, previous gym experience, how they process feedback, learning styles, etc.)
- 6. Understanding Your Clients Continued 3 major personality types have been identified pertaining to how individuals react to exercise and are formally classified as: 1. Autonomous 2. Control 3. Impersonal Fitness professionals will need to find ways to work with all three types of clients. ● How do you know what type of individual you are dealing with? ● Ask open-ended questions such as: 1. What are your fitness goals? 1. Why are those goals important to you? 1. What type of exercising do you enjoy? 1. What type of exercising don’t you enjoy?
- 7. Autonomous Client 1. Autonomous: People who seek opportunities of personal choice or valuing what is occurring, based on their goals and interests. 1. Intrinsically motivated and accountable for their own actions. Observe their behavior in the fitness center. Examples: Follows the same workout every time (don’t like change) They walk on treadmill the same speed and same amount of time every workout. (routine) They will do the same exact strength training exercises in the same order each time. Never progressing their program.
- 8. Control Clients 1. Control-oriented individuals focus on rewards, gains and approval. Examples: They start focusing on their New Year’s resolution or they suddenly have the urge to run a 5K race in a month. Shows great enthusiasm at the beginning of an exercise program, but can fades after goal is attained. The person who loses 10 pounds only to put it right back on a month later.
- 9. Impersonal Clients Examples: Tend to avoid the fitness center altogether If they do build up the courage to come into the fitness center, they are the ones who feel they’ll never be able to get in shape, or they’ll get hurt exercising. Building rapport is very important for these types of clients Impersonal individuals: motivated in orientation and can be characterized by anxiety and their abilities. Amotivation: the inability or unwillingness to participate in normal social situations.
- 10. How We Trainers Can Help Our Clients Autonomous Client: Get them started on their program right away. Show them how fitness is beneficial to their particular interests or values. Control Client: Establishing and monitor goals Remind them fitness is a journey Establish new goals once the previous ones are met Impersonal Client:
- 11. Activity: Group Discussion Without naming names Think of 2 of your clients: Think about: Their goals Their relationship with fitness Their learning style Which one of the 3 exercise types may fit into? How do these 2 clients you picked differ in each area listed above?
- 12. What’s Your Why? Ask yourself what are your goals? Why are those your goals Why did you decide to become a personal trainer We must understand our own why so we can help clients start thinking about their why. Sometimes clients don't even know their own why Activity: Partner A and B share with each other a current fitness goal you have and why it’s important to you. Do the same but for personal training. Share with each other a goal you have set for yourself as a personal trainer and why it’s important.
- 13. Stages of Change model 1) Precontemplation Stage 1: Person has no intention of changing, does not exercise, has no intention to exercise in the next 6 months. 2) Contemplation Stage 2: Person is thinking about becoming more active in the next 6 months 3) Preparation Stage 3: Person exercises occasionally and plans to begin exercising more regularly in the next 6 months 4) Action Stage 4: Person is active and exercising, but has not yet maintained the behavior for 6 months (most vulnerable to relapse). 5) Maintenance Stage 5: Person has maintained change for 6 months or more
- 14. Building a Good Client Trainer Relationship Trainers need to be able to gain social, communication, flexibility, confidence, motivation skills, etc. The greatest impact a trainer can have on clients Change bad habits and establish a positive relationship with exercise. Rapport: Winning a client’s trust and maintaining on- going communication are so critical to your success as well as theirs. Trust, Empathy, Kindness Consultation: Create a comfortable environment by meeting in a private and quiet area (pt office) Look and act professional but also let your personality shine through Maintain eye contact Pay attention to your nonverbal signals; have good posture and show interest by leaning forward Smile and take genuine interest in their life not just their fitness goals.
- 15. Activity 1. Think of a client that you have had in the past where you just clicked well. 2. Why do you think you matched together so well? 3. Turn to the person next to you and tell them your experience with a client (no names) you have or had a great relationship with and why you think you made a good match. 4. Remember not to share names (be general)
- 16. Overcoming Setbacks Common reasons for relapse: Too busy Bored with their workout Too tired Fear of trying something new Lack of a support system A bad relationship with food or the gym Too expensive Discouraged with the process Self loathing Unhealthy lifestyle temptations What are some ways we can help our clients that are having setbacks in their lives? Be able to help your client identify triggers that could lead to relapse Create a plan with your client to counter those relapses if they should occur. Have a plan B Don’t give up on them and don’t let them give up on themselves. You can’t want it for them, they have to want it more than their trainer
- 17. Clashes With Your Client Possible reasons for conflict between trainer and client Communication barriers: (shyness, language barriers, trust issues, etc) The trainer may not have the credentials or experience the client is seeking The client loses interest in personal training /their goals Personalities don’t match well. (in life you won’t get along with everyone you meet, same is true as a trainer) Solutions: Ask client if their expectations for personal training are being met. If not what we can do to remedy the situation? Don’t ignore the conflict Offer them options if yo you aren’t what they are looking for. Remind them of their goals and offer support if they lose interest Check in with 1 or 2 friendly reminders if they stop showing up to sessions.
- 18. Activity 1. Think of a time you clashed with a client in some way shape or form. 2. Why was there a clash? 3. How did you handle the conflict 4. What was the outcome 5. Is there anything you think you you could have done differently as a trainer?
- 19. Intrinsic Vs Extrinsic Motivation Trainers essentially become training wheels to keep their clients moving in a safe and effective manner. In time, hopefully you will be able to take your client to the point where the training wheels come off, and the client is intrinsically motivated by the many benefits of being physically active. Bringing a client to the point of being intrinsically motivated is a fitness professional’s biggest challenges, even for veteran trainers. 1. Intrinsic: Motivation when we act without any obvious external rewards. We simply enjoy an activity or see it as an opportunity to explore, learn, and grow. 1. Self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments 1. Extrinsic: Motivation to perform activities for known external rewards, whether they be tangible (e.g., money) or psychological (e.g., praise) in nature."
- 20. Maintaining Client Motivation Considering that more than 50% of all people who start an exercise program drop out within the first 6 months, Learn about the psychological and emotional aspects of training not just the physical aspects. Be patient: It can takes anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks for clients to experience the mental and physical benefits of physically activity. Studies have shown that people who have had a positive relationship with physical activity are more likely to to stay with an exercise program.. To enhance your client's’ feelings of enjoyment and accomplishment, consider the following: Provide consistent and clear feedback Check in with the client to see if they like their programs Create a workout environment that is pleasing Design programs, supervise workouts, and implement progressions that match each client’s current health, fitness status, needs , and personal goals. Implement relapse strategies
- 21. Summary 1. Remember why you wanted to be a trainer 2. Establish a good relationship from the start 3. Rapport is key to their success and yours 4. Never stop learning and growing as a trainer 5. Share your idea with each other 6. The 3 types of reactions to fitness: Autonomous, Control, and Impersonal 7. Praise, feedback, and support 8. Go the extra mile for your clients, show them you care 9. Not every trainer is going to be right for every client and that’s ok. 10.Change the world one life at a time
- 22. Activity Time 1. Act it out: 1. Get into teams of 2. Decide who is partner (A) and (B) 1. Partner (A) will draw a random scenario and will be the client acting out the given scenario 1. Partner (B) will be the trainer helping the client overcome whatever challenge they are facing 1. 4-5 minutes to talk it over and create a small skit 1. We will go around to each team to share their skit