Guest Post by Callie Durbrow

According to Webster’s Dictionary the definition of a team is “a group on the same side, as in a game” and “a group organized to work together.”

I guess most people know what a team is, and honestly these definitions are kind of lame. I love the word team though- it brings me back to my days as an athlete. Team was everything; especially in college because you were truly stuck with those people whether you liked it or not.

When I played college basketball we always had to come back to campus before the other students during winter break because we’d have practices and games. The dorms were not open, just the senior apartments, so when I was a freshman and sophomore we had to bunk up in the upperclassmen apartments, like 5 of us to a bedroom or something crazy like that.

It sucked, a lot, because we were sore and tired from 3 hour practices twice a day and we had to go sleep on the floor. And we probably got into a little scrap with our teammate on the practice floor and we had to go hang out with them all day because we had nowhere else to go. After this break we were so sick of each other and a little bit sick of basketball as well because all we did was play, eat and sleep.

But in the end you know what happened?

Everyone went to battle for each other. It’s a weird thing, this teammate bond, but it’s true.

It’s so hard to put into words if you have never experienced it but it’s the coolest thing ever. Especially in women’s sports because we all know that women can be a little “testy.”

One day you hate each other and the next day you are scooping that person up off the floor when they fall, pushing them past their limits when they are tired, celebrating in incredible victories together, and crying in heartbreaking defeats.

So what is my point in all of this nostalgia?

In my personal training program I strive really hard to create the entire team aspect for my clients.

I began as a personal trainer in Boston about 6 years ago and went into it as most people do, 1 on 1 training sessions that last 1 hour. I was really cranking things out and usually trained about 8-10 hours per day.

I loved it (well… except for the occasional weirdo clients), but I realized there MUST be a better way.

I stumbled upon Chris McComb’s blog one day and it all changed.

I shifted my entire way of thinking and began focusing on creating great training systems that I carry out everyday to make my life easier and the client transition into the program that much better.

Chris’ coaching program has literally changed my life and also helped me change MANY lives in return because I have more time to focus on the really important stuff.

Keeping retention rates high is SUPER important in our business because well, the clients pay our bills.

Here are just a few of the ways that I create my team environment where clients flat out LOVE training and never want to miss a session because they feel totally left out of the loop…

Train in groups: 2-6 people that become bonded to each other as they push through tough workouts and see each other succeed and reach personal goals. They are there for each other, motivating, joking and having a great time. ( If you want to set up your groups the right way, then I highly recommend the Group Training Exploder, you can check it out here)

Phone call screening: When someone responds to my craigslist ads or calls me after seeing my website, I go through an entire phone script with them to “weed out” the people that I know will just drag the group down.

I find out their needs, wants, and desires, I find out if they can commit to 4-5 days of training both with me and on their own, and I find out if they can afford the program. Then I tell them that they need to represent the program as a walking, talking billboard and pump it up to everyone that asks. They need to be a positive member of our training community.

Complete a trial workout: After the phone call screening, I invite qualified prospects in for a trial workout. At the conclusion of the phone call I always tell them that I’d like them to tell me yes or no after the workout is completed, that way we don’t waste each others time if they want to “go home and think about it.”

We all know what that means and I really don’t care if they say no because I know that I gave them my best effort and showed them an awesome workout. It’s probably not for them, and that’s okay. During the trial workout they get to meet my team of clients, see how the training is conducted, and for some- see if they can hack it.

Put everyone on EFT: When people complete the trial workout and say “yes” to the training program, I put them on EFT right away. It’s so much easier for me to not have to collect money, make a new sale each month, and it’s also super easy for the clients because they don’t have to think about it. Also, when they don’t think about writing you a check each month, they don’t have the opportunity to think that they might want to cancel.

Referral gifts: When a client refers anyone to sign up for my personal training program, they automatically receive 2 free sessions. This is a great incentive for them because they can train more, plus I get really cool people because I know that people surround themselves with like-minded individuals.

Make the groups intense and fun: All of my training is athletic based so there are no machines, no teeny-tiny dumbbells, and no standing around. Everyone in my teams learns to squat, push up, chin up, lunge, throw medicine balls, sprint, and even push my car.

We have challenges every couple of weeks to keep people motivated such as the “400 rep workout” and “Lunges of Death,” a football field length of lunges. People love how their body fat drops, they have a blast and everyone is joking around, laughing and kicking serious butt at the same time.

6 week check-in: Every 6 weeks team members get their body fat tested and get updated with a photo. This keeps people motivated, keeps them on track and lets them know just how great they are doing (or if they need to step it up).

Send-Out Cards: This is a genius tool that I use for all new and existing clients. I set up the cards ahead of time and just send them out when needed. Here are the ones that I use:

• Welcome- this goes out to every new client the week that they join the team. It just sends a positive welcome message and makes them feel appreciated right away
• Referral- this card goes out a few weeks after they begin, telling them that my business is referral based and having great people like them will enhance my training team all that much more
• Birthday- this card goes out to every team member on their birthday
• Congratulations- this card goes out to clients on my team whenever they have a great accomplishment either in the gym or in their life- hitting a personal goal for fat loss, getting a promotion, getting married, etc. It’s all about making them feel special and also letting them know that I care about their lives outside the gym

All of these small steps have added up to become a really tight knit group of individuals who are getting into incredible shape.

It has also helped me tremendously because since implementing EFT billing and my other systems, my retention rates are pretty close to 100%.

People love coming to training because they get to have a good time, get a great workout, and feel appreciated.

Every time a client comes in for a workout you can make them feel appreciated or not appreciated… the more they feel you appreciate them the more they’re gonna like you and your workouts and the longer they’re gonna stick around… 95% of trainers completely drop the ball on this one… yet it’s so damn simple to make your clients feel appreciated.

The team members probably don’t realize all of these little things are happening and adding up into an amazing change and positive experience in their lives, just like I never really noticed all of the systems and experiences that made up our basketball team.

You become a product of your environment. After a short amount of time, everything just clicks together and we have our team.

Bonded, tested and kicking butt.

Callie Durbrow runs Boston personal training programs and is a Cambridge personal trainer

Leave Callie a comment about her post in the comment section below…