The PT Roadmap

A weekly newsletter for personal trainers to guide you to become a better coach and build a better business.

Hey!

Thanks for opening up today's newsletter. I appreciate you being here.

I’m in the Emerald Isle, enjoying a week at a beach house with my wife, son and in-laws.

Being here is up there with my favourite things about staying in North Carolina. It is beautiful. Waking up to an ocean view, building sandcastles and swimming in bath water temperature is my kind of life.

It’s a bit of a change from the North Sea in Scotland, anyway 😂 

In today’s issue:

✅ One business tip

✅ One coaching tip

✅ One exercise recommendation

✅ One social post worth your time

❌ One coaching cue

Let's get into it!

Better Business

Since starting as a trainer, one of the biggest changes I’ve had in how I approach business is how I think about selling.

If you’re anything like me, you probably don’t like sales.

It’s not why you became a PT; doing it feels uncomfortable and manipulative.

Here’s how I’ve changed…

I no longer think about selling my services.

I think about explaining how my service solves a problem, and then I allow the customer to decide whether they want it.

The problem my personal training service solves is taking the guesswork & confusion out of fitness for Dad’s and keeping them accountable for their health goals.

The problem my mentoring service solves is giving PTs who feel lost direction, guidance and accountability so they can build & run a profitable business.

If I talk to someone interested in either of these services, I listen to their problem/s, present my solution (if it makes sense), and then let them decide if they move forward.

It’s become a much healthier way to approach selling.

And it’s led to better results, too.

I now walk into a consultation knowing I’m not there to ‘convince’ them to buy my stuff. I focus entirely on answering the question: “Does this customer have a problem my service can solve?”

If they do, great!

I tell them about it confidently (as I know it’ll help them) and let them decide if they want to buy it.

It feels way more human.

And I walk out at the end knowing I’ve either:

• taken on a client whom I know I can help

• or learned that this person is not someone I can help, and I’ve saved myself a world of difficulty (because we all know how hard it is to work with a client who isn’t right for your business.)

I still use confident language when approaching the ask, as I genuinely know and believe both of my services will help.

Better Coaching

Write down the important stuff.

People like people who pay attention to their lives.

I’ve got a client who has four kids. I never remember all of their names.

But I have a sheet of paper attached to his programme (I still use pen & paper) that I refer back to before every session.

I add small things to this whenever he tells me things.

His favourite football team.

His preferred snack of choice.

His music tastes.

Kid names and interests.

I write down the things I know I’m likely to forget and may want to refer to in future if I’m buying him a gift for a referral or session milestone.

You probably already do this in some form.

But it’s well worth doing if you don’t already.

One Exercise Variation

Recommended Exercise: Deficit Cross Leg Sidebends

I found this on Range of Strength’s Instagram page.

I added it as a filler exercise for a recent group session (after goblet squats and push-ups), and the feedback was positive.

You get a great stretch on the standing leg. Plus, it’s a nice exercise to introduce some spinal flexion. If you’d have asked me 5 years back whether an exercise like this was right for PT clients, I’d have said no because of the spinal flexion.

But we do lots of daily things in spinal flexion.

So why wouldn’t we want to train and strengthen it?

I programmed 3 sets of 5 on each side with a pause at the bottom.

One Social Media Post Worth Your Time

Back pain sucks.

This is a great post from Hannah Moves to reference for the next time you encounter a client who wants an MRI for their back pain. Which will 100% happen as people always want MRIs because they want answers.

Thanks so much for reading.

Until next Friday, Stuart.

Here is how I help in-person PTs like you build businesses they love:

1-1 Mentoring

I work closely with in-person PTs to help them fix & grow their business so it’s filled with clients they love, profitable and rewarding.

I'm not your mentor if you want to go online or open a gym.

But I work incredibly well with in-person PTs who want a better work-life balance, a more resilient business and increased income.

If you’re interested in chatting about how I might be able to help, ping me a reply, and we can see if my service is a good fit.