What is Your USP?

personal training

Identifying Your Fitness Strengths and Using Them to Your Advantage

One of the first things you need to consider when building a fitness business is ‘What is my USP?'

USP = Unique Selling Proposition

Your USP is what you offer your clients that your competition doesn’t (or can’t), and why someone should do business with you over every other personal trainer out there?

If you don’t know what your USP is I strongly urge you to think of one, and fast!

Without a USP there is nothing separating you from your competition.

And if there is nothing separating you from your competition, the only thing you can compete on is price… and when you compete on price the only way you can go is down.

The problem with competing on price is there is always someone more desperate than you, willing to charge less than you… it’s a fast race to the bottom that nobody wins.

A USP allows you to position yourself in the marketplace as the ‘expert’ or ‘go to guy’ for that specific service or niche.

When you’re considered the ‘expert’ you are perceived as more valuable and can charge more for your services, plus there is much less competition targeting smaller markets and niches.

Let's take a Personal Trainer who specializes in working with seniors. By focusing on this specific niche, the trainer can position themselves as an expert in working with older adults and develop customized workout plans that meet their unique needs and limitations.

This expertise can translate into higher perceived value and the ability to charge premium rates for services. Moreover, there may be less competition in this niche, making it easier to establish a foothold in the market and attract more clients.

To give you an another example… 

When we were creating EPTI we wanted to make sure we stood out in the marketplace and address the problems that existed with the big personal trainer course providers.

So we made a list of the problems, then set about looking for ways to fix and improve on what was already being offered.]

 

 

Here are a few of the problems that we identified with existing PT courses:

  1. Trainers teaching students how to train clients when they are not ‘in the field’ training clients themselves.Unhappy-exerciser-with-Swiss-Ball.jpg
  2. A lack of hands-on experience. Many courses do not offer enough opportunities for practical, hands-on experience working with clients, which can leave graduates feeling unprepared for real-world scenarios.
  3. Not teaching students how to successfully market themselves and run a PT business in the real world.
  4. Limited scope. Many Personal training certification courses focus on traditional gym-based training and may not cover other areas such as outdoor or group training. This can limit the scope of a trainer's expertise and make it challenging to cater to the needs of a diverse client base.
  5. Below average training facilities in an environment not conducive to outdoor training.
  6. Many certification programs require ongoing continuing education to maintain certification, which can be costly and time-consuming for working professionals.
  7. Large fitness course providers treating students as a number.

 

And the solution:

The first thing we wanted to do was address the problems associated with poor personal training courses that we found above:

✅ All of the EPTI team of instructors are experienced Personal Trainers with a proven track record of helping clients get results AND building successful fitness businesses.They continue to work in the field, so they are up-to-date with the latest industry trends and practices.

✅ EPTI offers extensive practical, hands-on experience working with clients in real-world scenarios. Students work under the supervision of experienced instructors, gaining the necessary experience and confidence to excel as a Personal Trainer.

✅ EPTI includes business acumen course as part of all PT Diploma packages, preparing graduates with the skills to market themselves effectively and run a successful Personal Training business with tools that have been used by us and have been tried and tested in the ‘real world’ successfully! 

✅ Our Master PT Diploma covers traditional gym-based training and beyond, including outdoor and group training, giving students a diverse skill set to cater to the needs of a diverse client base.

✅ We offer practical training in well-equipped gym facilities at multiple campus sites in Spain and Malta, each with dedicated classroom space for learning. Additionally, all locations feature outdoor training facilities suitable for the outdoor training modules, creating an optimum environment for hands-on learning experiences.

✅ Unlike many Personal Training certification courses, EPTI Personal Training Diplomas do not require trainers to renew or maintain their certification. This is because vocational training provided by EPTI is robustly regulated by OFQUAL, ensuring that graduates have the necessary skills and knowledge to practice as professional trainers without the need for ongoing certification.

✅ We are committed to providing a personalised learning experience, with small class sizes and individualized attention from instructors.

Once we had this in place we put together the most cutting edge training information in our

, breaking down the course into bite sized chunks that is easily digested during the 12 weeks of theory learning.

 

Here’s a good piece of advice for figuring out your USP…

Don't just look at what everyone else is doing and copy them. By taking a different apporach, as EPTI did when setting up our Personal Training Diploma courses, you’ll often be making the smart move!

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  1. Identify your niche: Start by identifying a specific area of the fitness industry that you are passionate about and have expertise in. This could be anything from weight loss to sports performance training.

  2. Know your target market: Once you've identified your niche, research and understand your target market. Who are they? What are their goals? What challenges do they face?

  3. Analyse the competition: Research your competition and identify what they offer. What do they do well? What can you offer that they don't?

  4. Find what makes you unique: Take the time to reflect on your skills, experience, and values. What sets you apart from others in your niche? What unique qualities or expertise do you possess that can benefit your target market?

  5. Test and refine: Test out different USP ideas and see how they resonate with your target market. Refine and adjust your USP based on feedback and results.

Here is my challenge for you, get a pen and paper and make a list of all the reasons why people should buy from you and not from your competition. Then clearly articulate those reasons into your marketing material and website, you will be very happy you did when the phone starts ringing!

P.S Not seen our training campuses yet? Check out the video below…