Personal Trainer Business: Letting Go Of Difficult Clients
You’ve tried everything. You’ve bent over backwards to keep this client happy, from taking calls at two in the morning to rescheduling appointments to letting him delay his payment just one more week – over and over and over again. You’ve tried writing a policy document, which the client was willing to sign, but he’s still not complying with your rules. He’s taking all your time and energy, and you’ve had enough.
It’s time to let go. What are your next steps? How to go about terminating the relationship with this client depends on your personality.
The Direct Approach
If you’re the direct type, you might just tell it to him straight. You’ve got your list of complaints, so just lay it out there. Tell him that he’s taking all of your time, that he’s not paying on time, and that you’re losing money on his business. If you haven’t had the conversation before, he might try convince you that he’ll pay tomorrow. It’s up to you whether you’ll give him that one more chance, based on your history. When and if you decide that he’s out of chances, you might want to tell him that he’ll be receiving a final invoice or statement in the mail. If he still owes you money, you want to track that down.
If you opt for the direct approach, it helps to plan your conversation out in advance. If you have a list of things you want to say prepared, you’ll make sure you cover all your bullet points. Nothing makes your brain stop functioning quicker than that rush of fight-or-flight adrenaline, which is bound to happen if the client gets argumentative or defensive.
The Indirect Approach
If you’re not so direct, you might struggle with a conversation like this. Maybe you don’t want to hurt his feelings. Maybe you’re afraid that you’ll fold if he asks for that one more day, and you really are done with the guy. If this sounds like you, then you might consider asking that tough office manager on your staff to do the dirty work, since she loves that kind of stuff anyway. If you do it this way, it’s even more important that you plan the conversation and give the office manager your bullet list of discussion points.
Put It in Writing
Whichever approach you choose, consider sending a follow-up letter. Summarize what you discussed. This just makes it official and covers you legally. You could also enclose your final invoice or statement along with the letter.
Depending on your relationship with the client, you might consider just sending a notice of service termination in the mail in the first place. This is a convenient approach, because you take all the time you need to say what you have to say exactly right, and you can get second and third opinions on your letter from trusted friends.
How to Use Your New-found Extra Time
You’ve lost a client, but he wasn’t really earning you much anyway. You can focus on marketing his open spot. Or if you want to earn real money for little effort, try filling that time using some of the strategies in the Personal Trainer Business I call the Secret Weapon.
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