So you’ve been coaching for a really long time and as much as you love helping brand new clients with bodyweight squat progressions, working with CrossFit athletes training for the Open on increasing their max rep kipping pullups is what makes you want to get up in the morning. You’ve got some clients who are pro athletes and helping them in the off season is far more interesting to you than working with the overweight, middle-aged woman who needs help working up to a respectable pushup. There’s only one problem, though. The classes you coach are filled with beginners. The folks coming in for personal training often need a lot of assistance with the basics, too. And if you’re a gym owner, you’re noticing that everyday joes make up the overwhelming majority of your client base, so it’s imperative to accommodate them if you want to keep the lights on. What’s a coach to do?
 
Let’s start by going over what not to do—though it’s probably pretty obvious. You’ll want to avoid ignoring 90 percent of your client base because what they’re working on is just not as interesting. It sounds like a no-brainer, but you don’t have to just walk away from a personal training client mid-set or start texting during a group class when you should be coaching for them to wise up to your obvious disinterest. If you think working with a chunk of your clients is a proverbial shit sandwich, you’re probably giving off a lot of subtle cues that people can pick up on.
 
Here are some options about things you can do instead.
 
Option #1: Stop coaching non-athletes
 
You know you should want to help them, but you just don’t have it in you… so why pretend? This is a great option if you have very specialized skills that you’ve honed over a long period of time that make you uniquely qualified and highly sought after by high-level athletes, usually in a specific sport. As long as you have an appropriate number of clientele with a funding source (because, let’s face it, a lot of athletes and aspiring athletes are waiting for their big break and/or relying on sponsorships) you should be all set.
 
If you’re working at a gym with other coaches, you can always split up classes (or clients), with them focusing on fundamentals and you focusing on advanced offerings. Otherwise, find someone local to refer people to so you can set them up with good coaching after you switch focus. (And if you’re truly no longer invested in working with them, let them out of their contracts, or at least give them the option to move on, too.)
 
Option #2: Have different offerings for different levels
 
If you know you’d love to focus on your star performers, but don’t want to neglect everybody else, creating separate classes seems like a no-brainer. Sure, you might secretly look forward to working with the 10AM class, but at least you’re fully present for all of the attendees at the 6PM one…whose goals are not as sexy but are just as important to them and arguably make a bigger difference in their lives.
 
If you’re focusing on personal training, you might be able to divide your day or week in this way also, creating a combination of clients’ skill levels that keeps you engaged and focused no matter who you’re working with. And who knows? Your preferences may shift over time.
 
Option #3: Bake progressions into your regular classes.
 
If you mostly do group training and get frustrated that students can’t keep up and just give them alternative exercises on the fly, you’ll want to spend a bit of time in advance going over progressions that actually make sense. Yoga teachers do this all the time, so why can’t you?
 
Option #4: Offer different tiers of training
 
If you know you’re going to offer your top competitors, professional athletes, etc. additional services (changing their workouts on the fly, doing assessments more often, and so forth), it’s perfectly acceptable to charge more for that. Then other clients who don’t pay for those additional services and arguably don’t need them won’t come in with that expectation, so long as they’re aware of the different options ahead of time.
 
Option #5: Rotate your focus areas throughout the year
 
Most people are pretty understanding if you spend more time focusing on a specific group of people, as long as it’s not pervasive and all-year-round. It’s perfectly acceptable to run additional classes or modify current group classes to focus on competitors the weeks before a tournament, for example, so long as you switch your focus area to the beginner/intermediate students that you’ve neglected once that tournament ends. Sidelining a good chunk of your students for months, on the other hand, is a totally different story.
 
Fake It ‘Til You Make It
 
It’s pretty obvious to your clients when you give other people priority. They don’t have to go online to see that your Instagram is filled with pics of all of your pro athletes and competitors. Even if they’re very confident in their abilities and their goals, they’ll still probably notice if you don’t really want them there.
 
If you don’t want them to feel this way, it’s going to take a lot of work on your part. You may need to spend time tracking your day-to-day activities to see how this is expressing itself in ways you might not realize. Pay attention to who you spend time focusing on in class (and why), which emails you respond to first, how much time you spend addressing concerns, and so forth.
 
Communication is Key
 
It’s not easy to create an environment where all sorts of people feel comfortable. It’s something you have to make an ongoing commitment to, as well as checking in regularly to see how you’re doing. You can do this in many different ways: checking in with people individually (in person and privately is often best), sending anonymous surveys via email, or having a suggestion box are just a few ideas. Of course, there will be people that complain no matter what… just like there will be people who think everything is great no matter what. Just put a little effort to keep your finger on the pulse and make adjustments as necessary.
 
Not only will these improvements help the majority of your client base be happy and committed, it’s likely to create a better environment for everyone else as well.