Become a Personal Trainer
Three Numbers Tell A New Personal Trainer Whether The Business Is Working, And The Level 3 Course Has You Pick Them Before The First Client
From the FASTER syllabus: this article is taught in full in the Level 2 and Level 3 personal training course from scratch →
In short: KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators, are metrics that track how a personal training business is performing against your goals. The Level 2/3 personal training course names areas such as customer acquisition, revenue and retention, with examples like new clients each month, revenue from your sessions and the percentage of clients who keep training with you. When a number misses its target, you investigate and change your marketing or pricing. For a career changer, three simple numbers turn 'will this pay?' into something you can watch.
The short version
A KPI is a number you choose to watch so you know whether your business is going the way you planned. If you are changing career and wondering whether personal training will pay, three numbers give you a straight answer: new clients each month, the money coming in, and how many clients keep training with you. One of the things you learn on our CIMSPA-recognised personal training course is how to pick those numbers and what to do when one of them misses.
Key Takeaways
- KPIs are metrics that track your business against your goals.
- The course examples cover new clients each month, revenue and the share of clients who stay.
- A missed number is a prompt to investigate your marketing or your pricing.
What the course says a KPI is
The course text describes Key Performance Indicators as metrics used to track your business's performance and measure progress towards your goals. It calls them critical to managing a personal training business and measuring its success.
They can cover customer acquisition, revenue, retention rates and marketing effectiveness. That list sounds big. The examples the course gives are small and friendly:
- The number of new clients you gain each month.
- The revenue you generate from your personal training sessions.
- The percentage of clients who continue to train with you after a certain period.
Three lines on a page. A beginner can start tracking them in the first week.
Why this suits a career changer
Leaving a steady job for a new one brings a natural worry about money. A KPI turns that worry into a number with a target beside it. Instead of a vague feeling in month three, you have a figure for new clients, a figure for income and a figure for who stayed.
The course puts the next step plainly. If the number of new clients is not meeting your target, you investigate why and make changes to your marketing strategy or your pricing. That is a calm routine with a clear action at the end, which is a good deal kinder than guessing.
Where the numbers come from
Good numbers need records. Clients, sessions, payments and bookings all feed the three figures. A tidy record from day one means the numbers are ready when you want them.
Where PT Manager fits
PT Manager, our free software, keeps your clients and sessions in one place, so your KPIs have somewhere to come from. It opens the moment you sign up with FASTER, and adding real clients unlocks the day you pass a course. Take a look at PT Manager.
If you are new to the industry, the Level 2 and Level 3 course gives you PT Manager from the start of a career, and the course is visual, interactive, and fits how you like to learn: reading, listening, writing answers or dictating them.
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Also worth a look: PT Manager, free with any FASTER course.
See what the course covers →Frequently asked
What is a KPI in personal training?
A Key Performance Indicator is a metric that tracks how your business is performing against your goals. The Level 2/3 course gives examples such as new clients each month, revenue from sessions and the percentage of clients who continue training with you.
How many KPIs does a new trainer need?
Three is enough to start. The course examples map onto three: new clients, revenue and retention.
What do I do when a number misses its target?
The course says to investigate why, then change your marketing strategy or pricing to improve that metric.
Can PT Manager help?
PT Manager keeps your clients and sessions in one place, so the numbers have somewhere to come from. It opens when you sign up with FASTER, and adding real clients unlocks the day you pass a course.
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