The 10(ish) Commandments for Professional Personal Trainers

by Ryan Hogan | Monday, August 30, 2010

Over the years the Network crew and I have seen a huge explosion in the personal training segment of our industry. Personal trainers are now a mainstay in small and large health clubs. The personal training courses have become more professional, and the quality of trainers has never been higher.

In analysing the professional behaviour of the most successful personal trainers out there I have come up with what I believe to be some really clear guidelines for professionalism. This list doesn’t cover topics on how to be better at programming or training, it simply reflects what I believe the behaviour of a professional trainer should be.  ...read more

Customer service says no – how does the fitness industry measure up?

by Oliver Kitchingman | Monday, August 16, 2010

When I first arrived in Australia ten years ago, I remember being impressed by several incidents of good customer service that I received, and it was not uncommon to hear Aussies singing the praises of the quality customer service that was part and parcel of everyday life in this wide brown land. Either my impressions were some way off the mark and the locals were harking back to a bygone era, or something bad has happened in the past decade, because according to new findings, customer service ain’t what it was – or what it should be.

A recent survey by American Express World Service Australia has found that Australia’s reputation for customer service is languishing in the doldrums – in joint twelfth place with the UK out of twelve countries surveyed (behind the likes of the US, France, Canada, India and Holland).  ...read more

Will new PPCA music fees bring about a two-tier club system?

by Oliver Kitchingman | Monday, August 02, 2010

The Network Blog recently posted the topic ‘One word to describe the reality of teaching with PPCA free music – fine!’, which generated a considerable response. The comments made by numerous instructors, and the occasional participant, clearly illustrate the differing opinions about the issue.

The fitness industry has spent a huge amount of time, money and energy fighting the PPCA through the courts, in a bid to prevent the massive price hike from $1 per class to $15 per class. However, the music industry won, and the fitness industry has responded by moving, largely, to a PPCA-free model whereby many clubs are now using exclusively non-original-artist music.  ...read more