Good Clients vs Nightmare Clients — What Every PT Needs to Know

Welcome back to PT Launch Lab everybody. Remember like and subscribe and welcome back to another brand new podcast. And if you didn't see our latest podcast, they are now on our channel so you can see episode one and episode two. So, how are you doing, Mike? Oh, good mate.

All good. We've um feel like we're making good progress with with this podcast. I know everybody's sort of like following this journey with us. So, thank you for everyone who's who's watching, especially who's subscribing or or sharing the post as well. It does mean a lot to us.

Um, we're just going to keep keep covering more and more topics. And if there's anything that anyone would like us to cover, uh, whether it's about your personal journey or uh, additional clients or you want to tell us a story about you've been or even maybe get yourself on the podcast as well, make yourself known and we'd love to have you on as well. Absolutely. And the thing is as well, we want to hear your suggestions every single week about what you might topics like might to cover or something you want to talk about, something you want to go over because again, this podcast is for you. If there's some type of subject or some type of conversation you want us to have, let us know.

We're going to start off today with quite a fun topic actually. So, we're going to do what makes a good and bad client. We did what makes a good and bad PT last week, but we touched on that anyway. And there's definitely more to say on each topic that we do, but we're just going to we're going to have a little bit of fun with that today and cover it. So, what what do you think makes Let's start with a good good client.

Yeah. What makes a good client? So, so this might be different for everybody, but I think the best clients are the ones that are actually wanting to be here. I think in our history of PT, you always see like two different types of clients. Clients that feel like they need to be here and clients that feel like they want to be here.

You know, usually need to be here are the ones that are getting married in a couple of months time or, you know, maybe the doctor's recommended them or they feel really uncomfortable and stuff like that. They're the hardest ones to convert because they see exercise as like a punishment like and when they have a conversation with you like, "Oh, I need you to kick my ass. I need you to get me in the gear." And the only problem, it's always good to have milestones, but the only problem with shortterm goals like for a wedding or for a holiday, it usually ends there. Yeah. There you go.

That's um one of the unfortunate things you need to try pre-plan. This is for anyone who who has been a PT right now or just getting started is you've got to pre-plan for after and start creating not just the goal after this, right? What's the six-month goal, what's his yearly goal, and really try and get them invested in in in what you're trying to give them. Yeah. because you want to create a little bit of a pathway. It's good having a six week.

So what you don't want to do is get trapped in this six week transformation specialist sort of person because once you get to that six week there's no continuation. Now when you start working with someone you say right this is our six week goal. What happens after that goal? Well when we achieve this we move on to this because you want to implement the idea that this is going to be a lifestyle. Um you don't want to work in six week blocks like you have that six week get to your wedding finish your wedding put all the weight back on.

I'll see in six months time when the the conditions worse. Um you want to build a little bit of momentum, give them that early stage of confidence and transformation. So I'd say like that's the most aggressive period where you try and get them the best results possible you can in that six weeks. But then comes the rest of it where you're building a lifestyle to maintain get better. Absolutely.

But yeah, with a good client, I'd say in the time that I've always been PT, my show of a good client is just the ones that want to be that are friendly. You end up building a bit of relationship with and they end up selfm motivating. Like there's nothing I love seeing more than a client who takes themselves to the gym as well. Um outside of your sessions, they take what you've talked about, what you've done, and actually want to implement that and actually use it as a lifestyle. Yeah.

Um the yeah the enthusi enthusiastic client that keeps asking questions, wants to know more, wants to know how to progress and is already asking you right what what are we looking to do after this so many weeks or what do we do after this? When do you think I'll be able to move this weight or when do you think I'll be able to reach this level of fitness? And the one that you see is really really involved and not wants a quick goal but sees different achievements. Yeah. So multiple achievements where it might be to run his first kilometer and then it might be I'm I'm actually training to do a 10k and then after that it talks about half marathons or the progressive client that really um gets hooked on it and gets motivated like you said then the self motivation which is what I actually tell my clients when they first come in because they'll say I need a diet I need a this I need that.

And the first thing I always say is just make sure whatever you're doing, whatever you choose, do the thing that you enjoy doing most. Again, we touched on this last time. The thing that you enjoy most, you're going to maintain and you're going to do for a longer uh period of time. And then from there, then you'll start going, "Oh, well, if I'm doing all this training, then I need to start eating better. I need to start doing this more.

I need to start doing that." And that's where the self motivation comes. uh until you actually get the ball rolling. I feel like if I'm if I'm training and dieting when I've just started and then all of a sudden I have a bad day diet, that means me training is going to take a hit. I'm probably not going to go to the gym if I've had a rubbish breakfast. And then same opposite way around. So if I've missed me training, it's probably not going to make me want to eat me healthy healthy dinner.

Does that make sense? No, it doesn't. And the good kind of clients will actually understand what you're trying to say to them. So, as a PT, you want to communicate what they're going to see to start with, cuz everyone wants the physical transformation. They want the to look better in the mirror.

All these measurements. The first thing a client's going to see if they're working with you is mainly psychological and physiological changes. So, we're talking about their recovery is going to be a lot better. Their sleep might improve, their actual strength levels might improve. So, something as simple as climbing the stairs, you get a little bit tired out.

By the second floor, you might be feeling a little bit better. you can go a little bit further and implementing these little changes to him. This is what you're going to see first. That's what's going to get the ball rolling with him, get the motivation going because yes, it's good to have the body transformation, but that's a byproduct of the things that you're doing and it's usually the last thing that changes as well. A good a good client is the one that trusts the process. Yeah.

And that actually listens. The one that believes in what you're telling. They've come to you for a reason. Put your faith in me. And and that's what you need.

You need that 100% dedication. and they would come in give you the word just do as I say whether it's starting if maybe the ultimate goal is to do fat loss right so let's get them on the diet's very important obviously other people might be small lifestyle changes all right so like we spoke about you've got to be a chameleon with each person so you've got to be able to adapt to each person and you have to decide there which is the best method to get them where they want to be for the goal if they're doing something short and they want to lose weight or they want to hit I don't know lose a stone mark quick and right let's see how we can get to that if they want to do something as a lifestyle change let's make small slight lifestyle changes so it don't it's not overwhelming then from someone who's done 30 years eating rubbish and takeaways and they might be uh quite a big set then it's going to be quite a lot to them then and then once they do have a have a moment of weakness where the willpower sort of gives up on them and they eat something wrong it can spiral massively out of control and then they feel embarrassed they don't want to come back into train even though we'd say, "Look, not a bad meal is a bad day. Not a bad day is a bad week. Not a bad week's a bad uh plan." Do you know what I mean? So, it's about keeping them on the right path. Again, being honest with them there, saying, "Look, if we all make mistakes, that's life.

Sometimes things come up and it's unavoidable as well." Um, and what the client that keeps coming back and keeps trusting the process for me. Yeah, absolutely. And I think the biggest quality you can look for in a client, and don't get me wrong, I'd say 80% of the people you're going to meet are going to be in this mindset. You're going to very rarely find that someone doesn't share that mindset cuz the end of the day, when someone comes to you as a client, you're usually the last resort. They've tried everything else.

They've tried everything from all these fad crash diets. They've tried all the exercises. They bought all the equipment off the site sort of all the ads that they've done and they bought the fat loss pills. They've done this and they feel like that they're at their ropes end. And what you need to teach them is that it's a lot simpler than you think.

It's more about the time. The more time you put into doing something well, the better the results will be, the better the cats will be. And it's more about just letting your client know you're doing everything right. You've just got to do it long enough. Because I think everybody gets set into this mindset where everything can come, these results can come nice and quick.

But remember, as quick as it comes, it can go just as quick as well. Do you think a good client can overtrain in early stages? Yeah, of course. Especially if they come see you. So I had a couple of instances where a client come see me.

They were seeing me three times a week and then they were also running and then they said they were swimming and then they were going to Zumba and then they were eating no carbs and then you know and then they've got families. They've got jobs all around this. I said I give it a wess before all that comes falling down. Yep. And this is goes back to my self motivation.

This is something that I try and install straight away into bead. The ones they can almost be their own worst enemy. So they beat themselves that you've said they want to do this, they want to do that. It's great. Like you can't ask for any more.

Like I love that they're in that mentality, but it's not always sustainable at the beginning as well. You can't always No, you always keep up with it. You you'll be aching more than usual. You're probably eating less than usual as well. So your body's going to feel it.

So what again what I say if I've set a program sometimes, let's use example like 10 press ups, 10 squats, 10 sit-ups, right? and they might say I felt all right so I did 15 I did 15 of each and I did three sets in or I did four sets it should have been three and the thing with that is then it might affect the workouts laid out line or they might be then stiff for a couple of days and then miss a workout whereas if they're just stuck to it what happens is at the first when you get when you get the doms and you're not used to it it's the worst thing ever and it feels like it's going to last forever you're never going to heal and then all of a sudden this weird thing happens where you don't ache and you're like Right. Well, I need to chase it. And then you start wanting to ache. And that's what we're looking for. That's what you're looking for when you start actually chasing it then.

So, not hurting at the beginning. It's shock to the system. Oh, what's happening? I've overdone it. When will I stop aching?

I get them messages all the time. When am I supposed to stop aching? And then when they've when they've just overdone it and then after so after so long, how do I up it? That's really where you want them to be. That self motivation and also where they want to start being able to push the body bit more to the max.

And also the body's allowing them to push that little bit more as well. 100%. Because you need somewhere to go. I think one of the biggest lessons we teach, not only on the course, but in the PT Launch Lab as well, is when you bring on a new client, you don't want to throw everything at them because they've got nowhere to go. What we ideally want to do, start them off on a lower basis, you know, let's say two, maybe three sessions, that's progressive room. Yeah.

You want to see how they respond to exercise, to the length of the workouts, the type of workouts that you're doing, and see how they recover because we were talking about linear progression. We want to over time implement increases in intensity, volume, time. Like over time, you want to build it up. If you're starting already with five days a week, they're already going to burn out. They might plateau.

So plateauing is a very common thing. And that's usually because you're doing too much and you've got no way to scale it. You know, if we think about it in terms of driving a car, if you redline it from the off at 60 and you absolutely run it out as best you can, where you going to go from there? Your body is like an engine. If you run it at red line from the off, wear and tear comes into place, burnout comes into place, you're not going to get the best performance.

So, starting off on a lower scale and gradually building it up is the best method. And I think active recovery is the most unre under underrated exercise that there is. Well, you know it yourself as a boxer what active recovery actually means as well. Yeah. Just slow steady state train and there's also knee calories non exercise activity thermogenesis if you want to sound really smart.

Uh but they're the calories when we're not active. So they might be your step count. So people like to track the steps trying to a step count goal. It's really good really manageable. And say if you get to end at day and your target were 10,000 and you're on eight, it might encourage you just to go out on a walk if that's sort of what your goal is.

But the the calories and the steps that are involved in training add up to a calorie breakdown as much as anything else. 100%. So the best part about this bit is we can use some uh some examples, some of your history. What would you say is a bad quality in a bad clinic? There's so many. not paid on not not pay that time. Yeah.

My example is um you won't you won't go get your shopping and then say how can I pay next week? Yeah. Do you know what I mean? So that's what that's one of them sometimes it's not always taken quite serious as a as a business. This is our as lifestyle and but that being said it swings in roundabout.

It's understandable. It is a luxury to have. Obviously if you can afford it then do it. Maybe knock a session off or whatever. Uh try and make it affordable.

Try and not make it more complicated. as it is already. We're doing our job trying to uphold your part. Um, sometimes it happens like well I like to be really close friends with with my clients as well. Sometimes can I pay you like one one of my clients I use as example he pays me on Thursdays he trades Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and then he pays on Thursday. No problem.

We've got that agreement. It's set in stone. You can do it on a block booking basis. Anything like that. Obviously for me a bad client then is someone who will argue what classes as a missed session.

So say if they've canceled the day before but it's not really like maybe the night before and I'm training them in the morning. It's not even 24 hours. There's no way no way am I got enough time to get another person into that slot. So now I've lost that that place. So, you've lost a uh a number off your block booking and that's always seems dead fair to me and it should be understandable and sometimes it can be questioned and that's when it puts you in a bit of an awkward position.

I've I've upheld my bit. I booked that slot in for you. I give you that privilege to be in there. So, just try to return that favor. Be fair.

It's my business and I I shouldn't have to I shouldn't have to stress about it. Yeah. And I know things happen and you know some situations happen, emergencies, illness, whatever. Um, but a lot of the time what you'll find is with these certain clients, it's a regular thing. Um, it's very very very rare that you might get the odd client like I'm really sorry, I can't make it in the morning.

And there that's where you give them the benefit of the doubt, but if it's happening two, three, four times, it gets to the point where you have to question whether it's worth continuing with this client. And this is the hardest part of business as well because all business is good business up until you actually are not financially benefiting. And sometimes it feels like you're working for free with that person. You know, they buy a block book of 10 and they're stringing it out over a two three month period. You're already you've spent that and it's gone and now you're working for free.

So this is where you come into bringing some policies and some boundaries saying look if you're buying a block looker 10 you got time on these you know absolutely we um I would just sorry I was laughing at myself so anyone who's watching now I just sort of almost giggling to myself uh while you were talking so I'd love to just do a podcast and some of the excuses that we've actually had but I'm not do I'm not going to today but there some some of the excuses we can make a different series just based on excuses. Yeah. No, sorry that's all I that's all I were laughing about. But I I agree what you're saying. So I used to do the um like a client client form at the beginning.

Obviously you do like your your parq for example, but then you'd sort of do a client assessment contract and make sure they're signing that. Make sure it covers everything from your price um how it works for your cancellation policies and stuff like that. um anything with block booking, how many sessions per week that they need to do and then each time when they book that slot, right, this is when it starts and this is when it ends as it would a membership. Yeah. And it's dead clear though. It needs to be super clear.

Like obviously the human error is involved. I've I've been in the position many of times when I I used to do phrase I'd never had anyone have an issue and then I'd had a new new person in. I'd never given him the form, just old old errors that I've made and mistakes in the past and and it always seems to be that person then that comes under under the pressure with it. So yeah, it's usually the case. It does.

It does happen and ideally for you out there who are actually going on this journey, it's going to happen a lot less. Uh, I find it happens a lot less in the commercial space because usually nine times out of 10 they're already members of that gym anyway and it's a little bit but when you're doing it privately or self-employed, you get to know these people enough where you see how big their commitment level is. And then that that goes on to my point where I want to make what a bad quality in a client is is ones that don't implement any advice that you give them. So everything that you do inside the session, they're great. They turn up, they get it done. a night.

Let's say for instance that they have a real issue with hydration and we say right well try some electrolytes on the morning do this go away try that and you know you only need a couple of days to implement that you come back in so oh do you feel any better you tried this no I've not started that yet right okay even in diet wise even asking for a three-day food diary and then you come they come in 3 days later and there's nothing and what you supposed to work off from that yeah and even to the ones that are working on a time limit as well I've done this before where you know they're were on holiday in 3 months time and the first two months have done exactly the same thing like how was your weekend? You know, did you get any steps in? Did you go? Well, I went out with the girls and we had a takeaway and then got home and then we just at crap all day cuz we're all over. Like, okay, but what are you doing different?

Well, I'm coming to the gym. Says, yeah, you're doing the leg work, but it's the same as putting money in your savings and then using your savings to pay for your shopping. Yes, you put it in there, but it's not staying in there. Absolutely. And yeah, it's just a commitment level, I think.

I mean, PTS are expensive. And if you're going to go out your way to get a PT or online coach and you're not going to be self motivated enough to imply and implement the changes that they're giving to you, you're wasting both their time and your money. And you know, and then sometimes I've had it in instances where I've worked with these type of clients where they blame you for the no results, saying, "Well, I've been with you for 3 months and nothing's changed." Well, Linda, yeah, you know, cuz you've been at the all all you can eat Chinese buffet every Friday night and I've told you not to. Are you implementing those changes? And you know, it's not a gripe.

Everyone's got a lifestyle. But if you're actually trying to implement a change where you've said this is what you're going to have to do to get to that point and you're not doing it, you are harming yourself and you're not doing yourself any favors. So that's that's what I think a bad client represents. My last one on that, this is very rare as well, by the way, uh would be an a not understanding client or one that makes you feel quite awkward if so. For example, I do even still now, which I wouldn't recommend, I'll do 10 to 12 onetoone clients per day and I'll I'll not miss this client for 10 weeks in a row.

They might cancel, I'll get other people in, no problem, no issue. But then if I have to cancel a session, no reply or dead blunt message or just no understanding in that. And like I said, this literally does not happen to me anymore, but what used to bother me in the past is that I felt guilty even having a holiday or having a night off or, you know, like see me seeing me kids for the night instead. And because it's and I understand it's their training time. It's their slot.

It's it's the luxury as you've just said, but we are still we're still humans as well. And we still got as families and yeah, the the unsociable hours in the PT are probably the one of the worst of all industries. So yeah, as as I did yesterday, I got here at 7 o'clock in the morning, didn't actually finish at 7 o'clock at night. In that time, that's all the way through the day. That's before me kids go to school.

And then also, I miss them getting after school. And then just as they're going to bed, I'm getting home. Yeah. And I think no one really appreciates that, especially when it's your own business as well. You have to put yourself in a position, especially in the early stages, and this is the realism of being a PT in the early times.

If you're wanting to make any progress, you're gonna have to put in the hours. Unfortunately, they do come into unsolicited hours, unsocable hours, hours that naturally you'd finish work at 5, go home and do nothing. We're still here. People are coming in, they've finished work, they only got to do this and get to go home, wearing till 8, 9. I think I've worked till 10:00 at night before.

And you don't have to do it forever, but establishing a baseline and actually establishing yourself. Sometimes you got to put in those nose hours. It's it's how it's how far you want to go and and how fast you want to do it really as well. Yeah. Obviously, everybody's life's different.

People in different situations. Someone might just come out of school, college, and want to be a PT. You've got um an experience disadvantage. People might not take you as serious, but you've also got a massive massive time advantage on anybody else. Um if you haven't or if you haven't got a job, then you can put your entire life and focus into building your own brand.

Whereas if you're someone who's already got kids or you're looking to get out of a job that and you might be already still doing a shift pattern, then you have got that limited time, but you've got to make it worth it. And then you are going to be really stuck for time and dead unsociable. Anybody is in your small circle of family is going to have to be really understandable. You got to try and make time for them. The work life balance gets impossible to do.

Yeah. So someone's always mad at you, I think. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. you feel like sometimes you can't win. Um, and I think we all do feel the same.

It comes the more successful you are. What happens what I found with being a personal trainer from struggling when I was younger early on when the first three years of PT were really really hard. Uh, this is why I love doing this so much. Hopefully that it makes it a little bit easier for people. But you get addicted to to working as many as many hours as as humanly possible.

So if I used to have I don't know I might have had sessions from 8 till 1 and then 2 till 6. Let's as example that little gap in between that 1 hour gap I'd work it. I won't have I won't want dinner break. No I'd eat between clients. And over the years then even now I've got a family I still stir into that same habit where I'm looking to fill that gap.

If someone's canceled I'm like oh. And I'll put it into the members group that we've got or the community group and I'll just say session just come available at 6 o'clock tonight. That could have been me getting nearly finished. And sometimes then I'll feel guilty because I'm like, well, maybe I could have got home early and see been spend more time with my family, but also then who's I'm still got to look after and provide for him at the same time. So, you're very torn between it.

So, these are just situations, circumstances again from experience. That's why we're doing this. It's just little things to be aware of and I think um I think and hope that it'll be uh it'll be good to to listen to. Yeah. And end of the day, this is just our experience as well.

Um, I just think we've got a good amount of situations and stories where people can understand the reality and you can take something away from that and it's worth having that to put into your own plan of right here's what I can avoid, here's what I might not be able to avoid. It's just all about having those little tears of little bit of knowledge where you can go with it. Yeah. But yeah, thank you everybody for watching this. Please like and subscribe.

New videos coming every Saturday. See you later.