Fitness agents.

[pt_tom]

Hi, i was wondering if anyone has had any experience with fitness agents? i have just been offered a position pt'ing with them and wanted to know of other peoples experience with them, the monthly rental is fixed at 500 a month with a 6 week rent free period, my sessions will be 30 pounds an hour, which would mean i would need to use that 6 weeks to build up to about 20 clients a week, im only just qualified so i have no experience, however fitness agents have issued me a 'private mentor' to help me market myself, get clients etc. anyway, just wondered what you all think?
cheers,
tom!!!!!

[pthub]

hiya

i havent heard of them before
which clubs are they charging you that amount for?
maybe well worth your while seeing what the club themselves charge as i dare say theres a commission here
if you lack experience, id suggest negotiating the 6 weeks rent free to 6 weeks rent free then maybe 4 weeks at 50% etc
it will be tough building up 20 new clients that fast unless you have sales experience

good luck either way :)

[brennan_fitness]

Fitness Agents are probably the leading agency around at present, and are supplying a high number of PT's to Fitness First and LA Fitness.

If you have your eye on a particular club, it's always worth trying to join them direct as you may find they will recruit in not using FA. You may find the rent cheaper and easier to negotiate.

The supply of a mentor could quite easily be from the club's Fitness/PT Manager (who should have a decent level of experience) if you decided against FA.

Chris' statement re. trying to negotiate a discounted rate after the six week period is also a great idea.

Either way, good luck with your first steps into PT. :)

[BtDt Got the t shirt]

Hi, i was wondering if anyone has had any experience with fitness agents? i have just been offered a position pt'ing with them and wanted to know of other peoples experience with them, the monthly rental is fixed at 500 a month with a 6 week rent free period, my sessions will be 30 pounds an hour, which would mean i would need to use that 6 weeks to build up to about 20 clients a week, im only just qualified so i have no experience, however fitness agents have issued me a 'private mentor' to help me market myself, get clients etc. anyway, just wondered what you all think?
cheers,
tom!!!!!

just been taken in by fitness agents, and I owe them nearly 400 pounds for nothing.
As soon as I reviewed the stark figures I got out as soon as I could.
when you are interviewed for this role what is really happening is a
sales pitch, you more or less have the job already its just now about seeing if they can convince you to stay longer and part with more money

The reality is that they saturate gym floors with PT,s
the new products they claim will pay your rent for you,
are hardly being used by any one,
they are careful to say that the club training web site is a tool not a solution
but never the less
you will be advised to promote their products/website etc and to be fearless in your pursuit of clients approaching as many people as possible to hit your desired goal of at least 10 to 15 sessions a week.

When you arrive you will find your behavior unwelcome by all, and your fitness agent less than interested in your figures encouraging blind optimism as a solution.

In truth it is possible to build a business in about 4 -5 months but in the mean time you will have to find the rent by direct debit.
Its a lot worse than LAPT

*** EDITED - SOME TEXT REMOVED AT REQUEST OF FITNESS AGENTS ***

Once you are in you will find all their figure,s are way off compared to actual club foot fall, *which i checked at reception*
and the client base growth potential was less than they had stated.

they then begin charging you half gym rent by direct debit 4 week,s into your time at the club, despite saying you get 6 weeks free.
the following calender month it will be full rent.
its not really relevant to most new starters if the money leaves your bank account on the calander month it just aint 6 weeks free if you have to pay something by week 4.
avoid, avoid avoid, unless you are a new qualified pt and your mum and dad don,t mind lending you about 3k
these guys prey on the inexperienced or the lost and hopeful don,t get sucked in like I did.

[BtDt Got the t shirt]

hiya

i havent heard of them before
which clubs are they charging you that amount for?
maybe well worth your while seeing what the club themselves charge as i dare say theres a commission here
if you lack experience, id suggest negotiating the 6 weeks rent free to 6 weeks rent free then maybe 4 weeks at 50% etc
it will be tough building up 20 new clients that fast unless you have sales experience

good luck either way :)

respectfully I suggest you find out more about them I am not a huge fan of fitness agents personally.
see my post

[Nick Aish]

Cowboys, plain & simple!

Haven't got the space here to go into all the details but highlight of my 4 week stay included:

-refusal to let me advertise in club as didn't want to upset the other PT who was paying a higher rent.

- blatant lies regarding the number/turnover of previous PTs at the club.

- Refusal to escalate my issues until I had paid them some money, this was after a admition if initially escalating the issue to herself!

Seriously after being in recruitment for years I thought I had seen it all, then there was Fitness Agents!!!

[Neil_Fitness]

Thanks for the advice. I was about to go for an interview with them but now not so sure!!

[BigBaz]

I’ve just had an interview for a club in Cardiff with Fitness Agents. The club was great, and during the interview the manager took me on the gym floor and showed me how to pick up new clients. We got 5 booked already for when I start. BEST INTERVIEW I’ve attended by miles!!
I also spoke to 3 of the trainers there (privately) and they all said that they had tuns of support from their Fitness agents manager and that they all doing well. Not sure were talking about the same company!!

[FA_cowboys]

Big Baz Your message looks like it could have been writen by the manager of FA in south wales himself, your writing styles match up so well and I've had experience of working with mr ***EDITED - NAMES REMOVED*** so i should know.

a few points about FA

1), at first when you go for an interview you are more or less going to hear a sales pitch.

2), when the going is good their your bestest buddies but if you wanna leave or are having problems then bam their your worst enemies.

3), the make promises they never intend keeping (they say they wait for 1 trainer to get established before putting others there but weeks later you find a few more lined up)

4), check out thier find me a trainer page. they have over 900 trainers on thier books, then look how many are listed as leaving thier clubs and wait a month (still 900 pts there) the turnover of pts is huge and they really dont give a $hit for thier current trainers (thier already getting your cash)

5), i know atleast 5-6 former pts with FA who were glad to finish thier association with them. They are a bad bunch of people stay clear of them.

6), when you start you will be told the clubs member base (you'll be like OMG 3000 members) then go to the gym and after the first few weeks you'll have seen the same 600 people (they convieniently forget to mention the members who sign up on a whim and never use the gym)

If you can help it dont go with them, they will take your passion for PT and rip it into little pieces.

why pay whatever it is a month when you could be taking that cash home with you (you could train clients at your home, in the park and posibly even at a council gym)

[Johnhill.inspiringfitness]

Hi guys, great discussion and it's a difficult as all PT organisations want to make the proposition sound attractive. I would say that anyone who wants to join any organisation like FA or other similiar opportunity should really research the company and the market before proceeding. I believe trust and clear expectations are important so if you have doubts over these two areas, I wouldn't proceed with anyone.

Cheers

[Func PT]

Hi guys

Alot of mixed reviews here. lets set the record straight. ive been working at cardiff DW for the past 2 years and have experienced no problems at all.

Having worked closely with fitness agents over this period i can assure you that the support i have recieved is first class. Speaking from experience and having seen alot of trainers COME and GO all this negativity seems to be from trainers who couldnt make it work. the fact of the matt er is we're working as self employed trainers here so the lazy, negative and not pro avtive trainers blame everyone else but not themselves!!

At the end of the day the clubs are booming with clients and fitness agents provided me with the business support that my PT course only brushed upon.

30 HOURS PER WEEK BABY!!!! :eek:

[DiC]

Let's have reality check guys to stop all these handbags flying as someone might get an eye out.

Lets look at the bigger picture to try and understand what is happening in our industry. Some trainers opt to stay working as a level 2 instructor even though they are qualified at level 3, often to build confidence or for fear of the risk of running their own PT business.

Some trainers work in health clubs as employed trainers, they don't pay license fees and the club takes a big cut of the money. Some trainers operate their own businesses in health clubs, pay license fees and take a bigger % of the profit.

Other trainers work from home, their own and other peoples or in Parks. But many qualified trainers don't even make it into the industry...fact

Which ever sector you operate in there will be success stories and failures. If you are happy then you are no doubt a success and have your self to thank. If you are unhappy then you are either in the wrong sector or have been before, you may even be in the wrong industry and again you have yourself to thank.

Whatever your opinion our industry is still very much growing and is built on positivity, so if you are a true ambassador - button your bitterness and get over it.

There is room in all sectors for success and its your choice what works.

[PuckBuddy]

Have you noticed how all these negative comments are from trainers who worked for them, FAILED, and then slag them off.

I’m a PT in one of their clubs in the West End and it p**ses me off. The support and opportunities I have had from Fitness Agents have been fantastic BUT my criticism of Fitness Agents would be that they put some of these crap trainers in our clubs who start, never do any work, and then leave slagging off the management and club to members, rather than just admitting that they were lazy and not up to the job.

PT’s are then left with the bad press that these guys leave behind which effects our business. I know Fitness Agents are told by the clubs to recruit more trainers BUT PLEASE be more picky about who you put in the clubs

Thank God Func PT, DiC and JohnHill have added some constructive feedback here. The PThub is one of the best forums at the moment and is supposed to be used by professional trainers to share ideas and market themselves. It is not supposed to be used by a failed trainer with a grudge against someone who uses it to bad mouth them. If you had put as much energy into building your business as you have into this hate campaign I’m sure you would be doing really well. Grow up, get over it and doing something to promote our industry rather than putting it down.

[BigBaz]

Mr BtDt or FA_cowboys (clearly the same person) I am not Mr ***EDITED - NAMES REMOVED***, but I think it shameful that someone use a forum for a personal vendetta against an individual just because they didn’t make it in a club.
I would actually like to thank this person because their bad feedback made me research the position even more and I spoek to almost every trainer at the club and they ALL gave great feedback about their manager and Fitness Agents. The only negative feedback they gave was about new trainers who started and then did not do anything and then leave blaming the club and slagging it off to the members just like Puckbuddy complains about.

[FA_cowboys]

BigBaz, What club you going to mate. When you starting. Hope it all goes well for you. If things dont work out for you, you'll see what I mean.

And Puckbuddy what you said about crap trainers going into clubs, thats the problem, they flood the places with trainers, some good some not so.

They really should give the newer trainers more time to settle in before putting newer ones in. And starting 2 or more at the same club on the same day is totally unfair in my opinion.

[PT4Life]

If you want to find out about working for anyone, speak to a current employee not one that has left on bad terms. I now work in a PT studio which is the best job I’ve ever had BUT I got my experience by being a freelance trainer in a health club. My advice is get at least 1 years experience as a freelancer in a health club before setting up a studio. I didn’t work for Fitness Agents but I know trainers who have and they give them very good feedback and they did earn well. Trust me though a PT studio is the best way to go but if you don’t know what your doing and you don’t have experience as a freelancer you can lose a lot of money. If you can, get a job with Fitness Agents, or another PT agency get everything you can out of them and make as much money as possible and then think about a studio.

[GeordiePT]

Hey PT4Life, Is the money better in a studio?

[PT4Life]

The money is actually worse because your overheads are huge but the studio is your own and you don’t have to put up with all the crap that you do in a club. You will have to raise a lot of capital to get enough to set up the studio and buy equipment which is why I say get you should spend at least 1 year working for someone like Fitness Agents, make as much money as you can out of them.
Also remember, if things are bad in a health club you can give 1 months notice. My notice period on my lease is 12 months. If your studio fails you cant blame anyone else like the trainer who started this topic!!

[DomCom]

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH PT4LIFE. Just use your time as a freelancer as a stepping stone into a PT studio rather than along term career. I’m with Fitness Agents, and they definitely pay the best but I don’t plan to stay long with them. I’ve been with Fitness Agents for nearly 7 months and I’m clearing between £3-4k per month after rent. I’m using them for my own purpose and saving like crazy to go back home to South Africa where your money buys you much more when it comes to a studio.

[GeordiePT]

Thanks Buddy

[Neil_Fitness]

Thanks for the comments BigBaz. I finally went to the interview and I got the same good experience. The manager taught me how to get clients during the interview rather than just asking me questions. He didnt do a hard sell. In fact he even warned me not to be come a freelance trainer unless I was prepared to put in the work. I spoke to 4 trainers and they all said the job was great. I start in December

[Aspire2PT]

This topic has been very interesting to read. There has been some good advice in this forum but also some very emotional comments and some very non-factual statements. I run my own studio and I also lecture for a training company. Over the last decade I have been a Club Manager for Fitness First and David Lloyds and I worked as a Personal Trainer for LA Fitness.

My post may be long but I aim to give a non-biased factual account of PT rather than an emotional one. I am not selling anything nor trying to recruit anyone, and I certainly don’t have a grudge against any company or club. To help those reading this I will keep my comments 100% factual.
Finding a good PT job is not easy. There are so many options out there and many companies who will look to entice you to work for them but much of the problem lies with the source.

As a lecturer for a training company I have a good insight into the current UK training companies for PT’s and a lot of the problem lies with some of these courses. Education for PT’s has become big business and more and more PT’s are being qualified each year and sent into the industry. The problem is that most of the larger training companies don’t interview or screen their students. The only condition for being accepted on a course these days is ‘can you afford it’. With government funding also available it is now an easy option for almost anyone. They also allow trainers to resit exams as many times as they need to which means that students are technically guaranteed a pass. Because of this the standard of PT’s now being sent to clubs is lower than several years ago. Many training companies also fail to tell their students about how tough the industry is because this would scare them off signing up for the course. The truth is that training companies are producing a lot of trainers who are simply not up to the job and are unprepared for what lies in store.

Freelance PT used to be reserved for the best of the best but now it is available to any new graduate. This is one of the reasons why the success rate is lower. Being a freelance PT is not easy and should not be entered into lightly.

My training company prides itself on producing higher quality trainers rather than mass production. I keep in contact with many of my graduates and the majority of those who work for Fitness Agents are very complimentary.
All health chains that run PT do so for profit. Each year they have revenue targets to hit for personal training. The 3 companies I have worked for all had monthly PT targets they had to hit and especially for Fitness First this involved putting more trainers in the club.

David Lloyd, Esporta, Virgin, Total Fitness, Nuffield and Fitness First all recruit their own trainers. Other companies like LA Fitness, GLL, Serco and DWS Fitness use agencies to recruit for them (all of these companies have offered my students jobs and have done presentations to them)
David Lloyd, Virgin, Nuffield and Virgin all take over 50% of your PT income and you have to do a lot of hours to make it worth your while. What is good is that they do sometimes offer gym hours while you are building you business to help supplement your income. This is good for brand new PT’s but maybe not as attractive to experienced trainers.

More and more companies are now running a freelance model such as Fitness First, LA Fitness, DWS Fitness, GLL and Serco. These models are much more profitable for the trainer but they do require trainers to be more independent.
Fitness First recruit freelance trainers but do not us an agency. They offer one of the lower license fees but the hourly rate is also lower and they do have more trainers in their clubs than most competitors. During my time at Fitness First we had a much higher turnover of trainers than at any other company I have worked for.

With regards to the comments made about Fitness Agents. As a course tutor I refer graduates to Fitness Agents and I have had lengthy discussions with one of their managers so I would say that I have a good insight into the practices of Fitness Agents.

What I know as fact is that Fitness agents do not set the number of trainers at each club or set the license fees. These are set by each club owner and then given to Fitness Agents to achieve. Fitness Agents continually negotiate with the club owners to offer the lowest license fees possible as this makes it easy for them to recruit. At the end of the day though this is up to the clubs based on how much money they want to make from PT.

My training company has seen a considerable increase in companies who offer outdoor based training wanting to present to my students. From student feedback, the home based training option is actually harder to build a client base and the gym based trainers can do back to back clients as it is the same location which you cant do this with home based trainer. You cover your license fee with less than 1 hours PT per day. You will waste considerably more time travelling between clients with home based so this is not a more profitable model as many profess. Home based training does have more independence and outdoor training gives you more space and the ability the train groups (not always possible in clubs) Remember that what you pay the clubs is not really for usage of their gyms, it is for access to their members. These clubs have a database of 1000’s of members and it is this that the clubs charge for.

My advice (for what it’s worth):
1) Do not become a freelance PT unless you are 100% committed and prepared to work hard. If you are looking at a position then research it well and speak to all the trainers at the club you are applying for. Ask them how many sessions they are doing and what their take home pay is (after the club takes their cut). This will allow you to truly find out the potential at the club.

2) I have sent dozens of trainers to Fitness Agents and the feedback has been very positive and I would say if you are looking for a freelance PT job in a health club then they are probably the best in the industry. BUT do not take my advice or anyone else on this forum. Investigate each club and company with an open mind and interview them as much as they interview you.

3) PT4Life has given one of the most sensible pieces of advice for setting up a studio. First do 1-2 years as a freelancer in a club. This will give you the necessary experience in business, sales and marketing to start you own studio. It is also true what PT4Life said about costs though. A studio is NOT a goldmine and should be done for the right reasons.

4) Home / outdoor based training can seem like a cheaper option but it is often a harder one as you have to source you own database of clients and this is also costly.

5) For the trainer who left Fitness Agents and has been giving a very derogatory reviews under various names. You have posted comments on a number of threads but seem immune to the advice given back and the fact that most do not share your views. I would NOT recommended that you attempt a freelance position again (and certainly not a studio) until you accept that the reason you were not successful was nothing to do with Fitness Agents or the club, but due to the fact that you did not do the right things. As soon as you learn this, you can take control and empower yourself to move unto new opportunities. I wish you well.

6) To all negative posts; stop using a great forum like the PTHub to bad mouth trainers and companies who are trying to help build it. This is not YouTube where any idiot can come on and post offensive comments without any responsibility. Any idiot can destroy something but it takes an educated person to build something. As PT’s we should all know this and work together to improve opportunities for trainers. I would invite PT Manager, Training Companies and PT studio owners to come on and post details of things that work and concepts that trainers clients are getting great results with. This will benefit PT’s far more and will make the PTHub somewhere to go for inspiration rather than to vent anger and frustration.