Free appointment booking software for personal trainers

Why should I use software for bookings as a personal trainer?

Personal trainers tell us all the time: they chose their profession for a reason. They wanna be out and about working with their clients and not spend hours behind a computer doing admin work, (re)scheduling appointments, or creating and sending out invoices.

Automating all of those tedious tasks to a booking system is a great way to improve your own happiness, and at the same time boost your customer satisfaction. Did you know that over 60% of clients prefer booking appointments online? That’s 6 out of 10 clients that prefer to click a button than call or text you to set up a session.

Three reasons why you should work with a booking system as a personal trainer:

1. It’s easy to set up. Simple systems like Vev are up and running in about a minute. No demo calls. No credit card is needed. Just create an account and go!
2. Automate the boring stuff. No one starts a personal training business with the hopes of spending as much time behind the computer as possible. That’s why the most common tasks are automated in the smart booking tool from Vev.
3. Boost your revenue. Believe it or not, when you give clients the ability to schedule a last-minute appointment, you’d be surprised how many might take you up on that offer. On average we see a 45% increase in bookings as soon as clients get a hold of your booking link.

What is important to know before I pick a reservation system?

There are a couple of things personal trainers should know before they pick a booking system to work with. Above all, the aim is to spend as little time as possible on the ‘admin’ side of your business. Let’s say that without a system, you’d spend up to one-two hours a week on administrative tasks. That means you can squeeze one or two more clients in per week. Let’s run the math real quick here: that’s close to 80 more “billable hours” per year!

• Use a system if you prefer training over computer work. Save up to two hours a week by automating the process of rescheduling. A computer can’t take over teaching but happily takes over scheduling ;-).
• Leverage a system if you plan on growing your business. This is the number one reason we hear why personal trainers start to work with a booking system. It makes your business future-proof, and on average, we see a sharp incline in revenue 3-5 months after the system is up and running.
• Use a booking system if you don’t want to be disturbed outside working hours. Another popular reason we hear from personal trainers all over the world. A reservation page available 24/7 allows your clients to make changes whenever they like. Some clients are mindful of the evening hours and might wait until the following morning, but others will go ahead and keep texting you. Using a system like Vev will make your evenings for sure more relaxed.

How to get more clients for my personal training business?

First up, we highly advise you to work smarter and not harder. You’ve probably heard that one before, but in the case of growing your personal training business, we can assure you it’s true. Having an online booking system that your clients can access 24/7 frees you up significantly. It’s not only a professional boost you are giving your business, but you also hop on the customer trend that everything can be managed online.

Other smart ways to start growing your business as a personal trainer today:

• Start promoting your business online. Use relevant #hashtags, post and join local Facebook groups, and respond to people inquiring about where to find a good personal trainer in their community via Reddit, and places like that.
• Create business cards with a QR code. Maybe certain gyms, juice bars, local sporting goods stores, and other similar businesses will let you put down a couple of business cards. It would be a shame if those cards didn’t feature a QR code for those interested in booking a session right away. So make sure this QR leads to your booking page. If you sign up today for Vev, you can find a QR code ready to be printed right on your dashboard.
• Run ads on Instagram with a link to your booking page. Last month we ran an experiment with a personal trainer using Vev. We created two ads for her. One Instagram ad campaign led to her generic website, where people could learn more about the business. The second campaign skipped the website and went straight to the booking module. Within hours of starting the second campaign, the first (prepaid) training session was confirmed. She later asked the client why they booked right away. The answer was simple: there was momentum. The client had clicked on the ad after thinking about working with a personal trainer for ages but had never found the time and energy to give one a call. The ad was well-targeted and came down to being shown at “the right place, at the right time.” Business overall for this personal trainer grew by 40% thanks to this running campaign.

How to provide virtual training sessions as a personal trainer?

We all remember the early lockdown days of March 2020. When everything came to a halt, many businesses, including personal trainers, had to figure out a new way of working.

For lots of personal trainers, their business became a virtual one overnight. These are the key learnings from March 2020 till now:

• Be clear about which days you offer in-person training and which days are for virtual ones.
• Make sure to provide clear instructions to your clients as to what they should be wearing, which equipment they need to have at hand, and where/how to put their phone or computer so that you can see them.
• Consider charging a little less for these sessions to create a price differentiation between the two services, keeping in mind that some personal trainers deliberately choose not to do this. Decide for yourself what feels best for your business.
• Provide your clients with an easy-to-use booking system, such as Vev, where they can book their slots. It’s up to you to decide whether you want to work with a booking system for both in-person and online training sessions. Vev is capable of handling both, and even reserves travel time in between sessions so that you leave no one hanging.