Relationships, whether they be romantic or family oriented, are not always easy to maintain and can require a lot of work from both parties involved to be able to continue to establish a sense of trust, understanding and love for one another. But what happens when that trust becomes lost? What happens when that sense of understanding turns into more of an annoyance and feelings of frustration? And what happens when that feeling of love develops into a feeling of loathing and hatred? Well, what usually happens is that the two parties either work harder on building and saving their relationship or decide to separate and go their own ways.

The Professional Relationship

It might sound silly, however I’m currently involved in dozens and dozens of relationships. The relationships I’m speaking of though are neither romantic or family oriented. The relationships that I’m referring to our strictly professional and are the ones that I have been developing with our clientele for over a decade. Now, I know what you’re thinking – I can’t be in a relationship with my clients! I don’t love my clients nor have I made a life long commitment to them through some type of vow – So how can I compare my relationship with them to one of a husband and wife, or the relationship between a father and son? Truth be told that even though I may not be able to compare the significance of my relationships with our clients to the ones that are shared by family and friends, I can still comprehend and understand the significance of building a trusting, respectful and solid partnership, that benefits both parties, both in the long term and the short term.

School’s Out for Summer! – Not This School! 

As I write this blog, the calendar has turned to the month of August. Historically speaking August is one, if not the slowest months of the year for Personal Trainers and Group Fitness Companies alike. Most of our clients are either away on vacation or are spending more time outside enjoying the nice weather rather than inside a hot, damp, dark and smelly gym. However as I mentioned in my previous blog, this year seems to be different. So far, August has been incredibly busy for us. I personally have been working in the gym with clients for a minimum of 5-7 hours a day, 7 days a week, for the past two weeks. One could argue and say that because the weather here in Vancouver has not been so nice, that more people are prone to stay inside and workout. Hence, why we are so busy. Others might suggest that the reason we have been so busy this summer is because more people are taking their holidays during the cooler months to get away from the winter rain in Vancouver and stay in town while the weather is warm. You can argue and say whatever you like however I believe the reason as to why we are so busy this year is because we have built a solid foundation over time with our clients.

Building a Foundation

The majority of our current clientele have been working with us for almost an entire decade. Over 80% of our current clientele have been referred to us from our own clients. And overall, 95% of the clients that purchase a training package with us, continue to renew their package once their initial one has been completed. As a business owner, I am extremely grateful to have such loyal and dedicated clients. We’re very fortunate to be in a position where we are so busy with our business, and therefore understand the importance of maintaining and continuing to build upon the level of service that we provide and that our clients have come to expect. And just like any relationship that you wish to grow, it takes hard work, trust and dedication from both parties involved. Hard work on our part to make sure that we provide the absolute best and most effective workouts, trust on our clients’ part to ensure that they they feel confident with our level of knowledge and expertise, and dedication from both client and trainer to ensure that target goals are achieved and that new ones are constantly set.

What Happens When the Honey Moon is Over?

Occasionally, we will have the odd client that decides that they no longer wish to work with us. Whether it be for financial reasons, work related stresses or other outside factors, is not what’s important. Ofcourse we do care if a client decides to leave our company because of something we did or did not do. In this case, we ask our client how we can improve upon this so that it does not happen again with future clients or if it’s not too late, to try and repair the current situation with the client who is leaving. For whatever reason a client decides to leave, it can be difficult for us to always be able to understand and comprehend why in fact they are leaving. Regardless, it’s not up to us nor is it professional of us to get upset with the client for leaving and therefore we can only wish them the very best moving forward.

Don’t Burn Your Bridges

Because we provide a customized service to our clients, we can’t help but form a somewhat personal relationship with them. And although we do try our best to keep our relationships with our clients as professional as possible, we can’t help but get emotionally invested with them when something good or bad happens within their own lives. Therefore when someone decides that they no longer wish to train with us, we do take it personal, but we also understand that there might be more going on within this person’s life, and their decision to no longer work with us may have nothing to do with us whatsoever. For this reason we NEVER end any of our relationships with our clientele on a sour note. In fact, I’m still in contact with a few of our clients who we no longer work with. And by contact, I don’t mean trying to seduce them back into training with us with emails full of cheesy marketing gimmicks and sleazy sale tactics. I’m straight forward with them. I contact them to see how they’re doing, both in life and with their fitness. I let them know that I’m always available to assist them in anyway with their diet and/or training. I keep the lines of communication open. I don’t do this in hopes that our client will return, I do this to acknowledge them and show them that I appreciate all the business they have given us over the past few years. Life is too short to hold grudges, or walk around angry and upset with others. And I’m too old to be walking around stressing about situations that I cannot control and worry about what other peoples’ thoughts and opinions are of me and the way the I conduct my business.

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

Break-Ups are difficult to get through. But at no point will you see me binging on a box of chocolates or sorrowing my sorrows over a few drinks at the local bar to help me cope with the loss of a relationship. Instead I prefer to turn the negative experience into one that can be positive and look for ways on how I can become an even better and more knowledgeable trainer to our clients who do want to work with me and for future clients who will work with me for years to come.

“Don’t burn your bridges. You’ll be surprised by how many times you have to cross the same river”
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Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance