It goes without saying that there are a lot of ways to become an in-demand personal trainer, but where do formalized assessments really fit in? As a newly certified personal trainer you often learn how to do them and why they can be beneficial - but what's not often talked about is how they fit into the sales process.
Or IF they fit in well to the sales process at all.
There is a lot riding on that initial free training session (taster session, strategy session, etc) and often a lot that you might be trying to accomplish with this potential client:
Get to know them as a person
Understand their personal health history
Discover what they really want to achieve from training
Get a sense of how serious they are about taking action
Uncover their personal barriers
Talk about nutrition
Create rapport and build trust in you as their coach
See how they move (assessments)
Create a plan for them
All of this often in just 30-60 minutes. It's a lot - and truthfully none of it matters if they don't say yes to get on board and train with you.
Put this together with the fact that most personal trainers really aren't that great (or confident) with formalized assessments and it's no wonder why so many trainers throw them to the wayside anyways.
This video takes a look at how and when it may better serve the initial session to take either a more formal or informal approach towards assessments with a potential client. Few great coaches would argue about whether or not it's beneficial to get a sense of how someone moves to help optimize their training - but the magic is in the delivery and the best coaches know how to adapt their approach to the person in front of them.
Enjoy,
Coach Joe