personal trainer at Bally's

[member]

im a trainer at ballys, and i feel i know my shit as far as training goes, but i cant sell for a damn. First off Bally's charges a TON for pt and no one can afford it and when they tell me that i just say ok. therefore i make no money. what do i do?? i looove training but need more $$
thanks

 

[Hahnb]

This is the reasons that Ballys is always hiring, because the turn over rate is so high. If you can't sell yourself then you're in the wrong business. Being successful in that industry is 99% selling yourself.

 

[Isaac79]

How did you get hired even? I have a few certs, and I'm in very good shape and Bally's never hired me. I tried for 2+ years already. The only reason I can think of is I have no work experience as a personal trainer, but how do you get experience if no one will hire you?

I'm sorry you didn't have success at Bally's, but I think it depends on the location, some Bally's get tons of members to sign up for personal training sessions, while others barely get any.

 

[bodyphat]

I belong to ballys and everytime i go in there there's new personal trainers and some others are gone. every single day. I asked about pricing one day.. WOW. expensive as HELL..it's ridiculous there.

 

[bluetwistedsteel67]

Screw Bally's and 24 Hour Fitness. If you are a personal trainer or desire to go into that field, do it right. You'll never make a living (at least a good one) at either of those. There may be some people interested in PT at those gyms but if you want to make some money AND establish a great client base go to a personal training studio. People that come in are LOOKING for PT. Those gyms most of the time don't even allow working out without an appointment with their trainer. I managed a 24Hour Fitness for 7 years and never saw a trainer make more than 35k (and the ones that did were great salesmen and decent trainers). I have a friend in Santa Rosa that has 2 personal training studios and his average trainer makes 50k and he has quite a few making 60-70k per year. There are alot of different programs out there and if you want to make it in that business you've got to go to where the money is. The best money is with the professionals that don't have a ton of time but have some spendable dough. They are people that don't have any desire to compete in the local BB show but want to be in shape and feel good. The best program I've seen for these people is simple circuit training 3x per week, It doesn't matter if you do the "super slow" program or any other. The key is to get them in and out in 30 minutes. You can get results with this amount of time (great results actually) and by keeping the workouts short you will keep your clients. Many of them don't have an hour or hour and a half.You charge 30.00 per session and line em up back to back. You try to get 10 clients M-W-F which will give you 900.00 per week. Then you get another 10 that only want to train 2x per week and you line them up t and Th. That gives you another 600.00 per week. Now you're at 1500.00 per week (6k per month) It's not easy but if your good you'll get there faster than you think. The best part of this type of situation is it is mostly referral business. These people are going to come in asking for you and already planning on a PT program. The biggest key is to not sell "PT packages" Sell it as an ongoing program that doesn't ever end. This all beats the hell out of Bally's method of taking new members for their free orientation and then trying to "slam" them into a PT package. You will have to pay between 300-500 per month "rent" to be able to train clients at a PT studio but if you talk to the owner and he thinks you'll be successful many times they will carry you while you get established. I'm telling you, I've been around this business a long time and this is the best method for someone like yourself to build a carreer as a personal trainer and make good money. Best of luck.

 

[thelion2005]

I was a Member and Trainer at Vic T*nny's many moons ago. Ha Ha. They became Bally's. Vic T*nny was about the only "gyms" to go to then. They weren't spa's yet.

If you traveled to the Detroit area and wanted to work out, you went to the Vics on Michigan ave. The pro wrestlers on tour would come there to work out.

They were owned by a mystery group in Chicago who sent each employee a Christmas card.

As a Member, you tried to get the cheapest "life time" membership you could and go in to train at least 4-5 times a week. The company hated these Members because they really got their money's worth. We used everything in the place.

As a Trainer, I was a SALESMAN. Get them to sign up for the most expensive membership they would go for, nurse them through the first month to lock in the contract, then hit them with a workout that would devestate them. That is how we made money.

 

[member]

blue that was an amazing post thank you so much very informative! i would love to get into a studio, but right now i got about 3 semesters left till i get my degree so im gonna stick with ballys and do some side business. so far i got about 9 clients each about 2x a week soo its alot better now than when i originally posted. thanks guys

 

[steig]

I'm not a personnal trainer but I have had to work at selling myself before as a science tutor through college. I know that if you get women as your clients and get them results they will tell all their friends and business will grow much faster than if the client is a male. Just an idea

 

[Cableeb]

I am a Bally's personal trainer. One thing you have to realize is that Bally's is struggling right now as a corporation. However, they are about to roll out what they call the "New Club Model" which will help new trainers. Anyone in any position at certain Bally's is available to train. While not training, the employee can sell memberships and get commissions and just swipe cards at the front desk. Another thing you should remember is that as a corporation, Bally's respects degrees much more than certs. While certs are good, degrees show a definite commitment to the fitness industry. It does take several (4-6) months to build up a clientel large enough to make any kind of money, but after only 4 months at my Bally's Sports Club, I have started making drastically more money than I did before. The selling aspect of the training is the only downside, but with a good PT director, you know which First Workouts to try to sell to and which ones not to. On average, I have been averaging 100 or so sessions sold per month, so with the right managment it's possible to make money.