It is helpful to be aware of simple fact that a person's perception is their reality, even if that perception is incorrect. Let's use example of doctor in above paragraph. If you heard through personal references that Dr. John Smith wasn't a very good doctor, chances that you would ever go see Dr. Smith are pretty slim. However, do you actually know for a fact that Dr. Smith is a bad doctor? No - you just have perception that he is a bad doctor because that is what you heard. Do you see how your perception is your reality, and how Dr. Smith is unlikely to be getting any of your business?

Your mission is to make sure that you are always viewed as an expert in your field! Otherwise you will end up like poor Dr. Smith, and your list of clients will be short indeed, as will life of your business. However, if you have done your job and created impression that you are an expert in your field, then opposite will hold true. People will have "heard" that you know what you are talking about, and your reputation and your business will grow as a result. In order to get to this desired end result, three effective ways for you to build your reputation include media exposure, writing books, articles, or success tips for your field, and approaching any given situation from a "position of power".

Media Exposure

The most common ways to get viewed as an expert using media exposure include news programming on television, magazine and newspaper stories, and radio time. Each of these methods has one thing in common: mass exposure via a publicly accepted system of obtaining information.

Consider this point from your own perspective. If you see an interview on news, read an article about a company in newspaper, or hear about a professional organization on radio, your natural instinct is to believe that company or organization has a firm grip on ins and outs of their product or service.

Why do you think that? Is it because radio program included a long list of professional references for company? Is it because magazine article listed a passing grade by a professional review board or other certifying agency qualified to judge advertised organization?

The answer to those questions is most likely "no". Why then do you believe in company's ability to provide product or service that is discussed? The answer is simple: because you were exposed to company via a publicly accepted system of obtaining information. Whether that system was six o'clock news, your local daily paper, or your favorite magazine, chances are that you believed what you read or heard simply because of WHERE you read or heard it!

Ideally, all consumers - including professionals such as yourself - would use other additional methods to determine qualifications of a company before purchasing their product or service, but in reality, does that happen very often? No, not really. Most people believe what they read and what they hear, and as a Fitness Professional, you can take advantage of that fact. Granted, you should not profess to be an expert if you aren't, but assuming that you really do know what you are talking about, use media to let others know, too!

Writing Books, Articles, and Success Tips

Comparable to "expert" status that is afforded a company based on their mass media exposure, a similar assumed professional status can be taken on by any company or individual that publishes written works in their field.

Refer back to power of mass media that is referenced above, and you will see a very similar effect generated by published works. If someone writes a book, publishes articles, or generates a regular flow of "success tips" in any given field, it is automatically assumed by reader that author of book, article, or success tip knows what they are talking about.

Is it true that author is an expert in their field just because they know how to write or type? Of course not! However, mass media phenomenon applies to published written works just as much as it applies to interviews done on news, in magazines, or on radio. The author is assumed to be proficient in field that book, article, or tip discusses, even though there is rarely indisputable evidence of writer's expertise included with written works.

Again, it is not being suggested that you write books, articles, or success tips unless you really do hold expert status in your field. However, since "assumptions of excellence" apply as much to written word as to audio and visual exposure, take advantage of that fact and write as much and as often as you can!

As a side note, writing is also an excellent way for you to enhance your own knowledge in your field. Frequently during process of writing a book or article, you are called upon to reference sources of your information, and gathering that type of information expands your own knowledge, as well as your understanding of how to find information for similar projects in future.

The answer: everything. Remember that your clients are people first, and their status as one of your clients comes second. Knowing how to tend to needs of your customers will literally make difference between a long and prosperous career in fitness industry, or a short-lived stint that leaves you wondering what career path you should try next!

In order to assist you in walking down success path, here are six methods that you can use to "WOW" your clients on a regular basis, keeping them happy, loyal to you, and engaging in long-term prosperous business relationships. In no particular order they are: contact, date and event recognition, listening, flexibility, forward thinking, and over-delivering.

Contact

When you get a new personal training client, many people will still second-guess their decision to hire you. After all, a personal trainer can be an expensive asset, and your clients need to believe that they made right decision. One of easiest ways for you to ease their mind in beginning as well as during course of their training program is by simply staying in contact with them.

Most clients will see you at most 3 times each week, and some clients even less than that. With at least 4 days in each week when your clients don't see you, you are influencing them less than 50% of time! Many clients hire a personal trainer because they need constant guidance and support, and less than 50% could hardly be considered constant.

An easy solution to this is to send your clients a few emails a week, or mail them an actual snail mail letter once in awhile. Clip an appropriate article from a magazine and make copies of it to mail to your clients, or email them URL of a great motivational story about weight loss that you found on Internet. Forward them funny anecdotes about health and fitness, or drop them a postcard congratulating them on their latest progress.

For that matter, pick up phone! Call Suzie Client on Saturday to let her know that you just got done updating her client record and had reason to again marvel at how great she is doing with her program. You just can't pay for type of customer feedback you will get from something like that!

Stay in contact with your clients in between training sessions, and increased attention will remind them on a regular basis that in beginning you committed to a one on one training program for them, not just to stand there 3 times a week while they exercise.

Date and Event Recognition

Recognizing special dates in your client's lives is another great way to show them that you are thinking about them in between training sessions.

-Send your clients a birthday card, or even a small but thoughtful gift.

-Congratulate them on their wedding anniversary, or even send flowers or a card to their house.

-Ask them how excited they are about upcoming graduation of their child from high school or college.

-Have a special token of your appreciation sent to their home or office after a set amount of time that they have been training with you - maybe annually or semi-annually.

-Give them a special award every time they lose 5 pounds, or drop a percentage of body fat.

-Attend race or other fitness event that you have been training them for.

As you can see, possibilities are limitless. The lesson that you want to take away from this section is that you went above and beyond call of duty to recognize a date or an event that was important to your client. They won't forget that when it comes time to decide whether or not to keep working with you!

Listening

The fact that you should listen to your clients should go without saying. If your title is "Personal Trainer", please take a moment at this time to re-read first word! Too many trainers fall into familiar trap of just taking their clients through workouts. Your clients aren't paying you to workout with them. They are paying you to give them dedicated one on one service, and actual workout is only one part of that.

In addition to exercise programming, you must again think about fact that your clients are humans before they are clients. As humans, they have as many outside considerations as you do. If you are only seeing them 3 hours per week, that leaves 165 hours each week when you are not around, and lifestyle events that happen during that time will spill over into training sessions.