1. Know your stuff
Make sure that if you're teaching a step aerobics class, for example, that you are up to date on your step aerobics qualifications, that you know the material and the music inside and out, hand signals and muscles working during each exercise and for god's sake, make sure you can do the routine before you make others do it. Things like insurance are a major factor too. Things can go wrong in a second, so if someone takes a fall and hurts themselves. You have to make sure that you're covered, firstly by screening forms given to each member when they start (now you know any prior medical conditions that that person may have) and secondly by your insurance company (now they pay for the medical bills and not you, GREAT).
2. Know your customers
Relationship building is a huge factor in the fitness industry, it can be as small as learning off each individual's name or as big as getting to know a little about each of your clients so that way you can engage them in conversation that is not fitness related. These kind of actions shows that you, the instructor, aren’t just there for the money, that you are interested in the lives of each person and that you care about them in a respectful and appropriate manner. You will create not only a healthy business relationship with each client, but also a personal relationship with them.
Consider for a second the different reasons that we train; some for fitness, fun, health benefits or even just to get out of the house for an hour and have some form of social experience that is not family or home related. Depending on which, the reason that that person came to your class can vary the experience that they seek. Some people just want to have fun with a little physical element involved, others want to just train and don’t care for relationship building. Now it's impossible for you to tailor your class to all the different niche mobs out there. You just can't have a class that is fun yet serious, high intensity yet appealing to new members or all talk yet no talk at all. How you tailor the experience depends on the type of people your aiming to train, but it is still worthwhile to try and develop some form of relationship with your clients, you will quickly learn quick who are the ones that like to talk and who are the ones there just to train.
3. Know your social media
I want you to be that guy or gal who shows support and interest and showcases their knowledge of all that the fitness world can offer, not just in class but also outside it. Why should the teacher/student relationship end of the door. Why can't we carry on this relationship with our clients via online social media. If you keep contact with a client in some way or form, and I don’t mean a tweet saying “Hi, how are you” or a Facebook poke, I mean include that individual in your class by adding them to your Facebook page or posting up a little info on that night's session and tag them in it, you are now already increasing the chance of creating a healthy acceptable relationship with a client. A client who likes you and feels that you like them and regard them as a friend, will increase the possibility of that individual coming back to your classes.
Don’t forget the power of online social media to enhance your clients experience. Why not every once in a while post something up that can have the ability to enhance that individuals well being. Take for example posting info on healthy eating or diet tips, ways to help injury recovery such as stretching or even tips to become less sedentary and more active in a busy lifestyle. You want to show the client that they picked you as an instructor because of your commitment to their well being in or out of the gym.
4. Know when to adapt, change and mix up your class
5. Know how to dress the part
Now I am not saying you have to be dressed in brand this and brand that, with a clean shaved beard (you don’t want to shave, I feel you, I got a beard too) and aftershave on, all I am trying to say is that first impressions are key to keeping potential clients. You want their first image of you to be that of satisfaction in the fact that they are already beginning to believe that the service they are about to receive is of high quality.
So lets summerize, if you want to be a better group fitness instructor and potentially increase your sales, client retention and overall customer satisfaction, I would recommend trying to incorporate these 5 tips to your work strategy. View these tips as guidelines rather than rules. I will now leave you with the motivational words of the great Shia Labeouf.