What do clients look for in a Pilates teacher?
What is your potential client looking for? Why are they even searching for Pilates? If we knew what clients were looking for in a teacher it would make things so much easier.
When I first started teaching Pilates I remember just being worried about the client doing Pilates longer than I had been teaching or throwing me a question I didn’t know the answer to at that time. I remembered a bit of my anatomy but, I would break into a sweat if they pointed at some body part and asked “what is this? Why does it hurt? What does it mean if I feel this as I do this?”. No one asked me where I learned Pilates, or anything on my education or who I studied with. There were so few teachers and studios that figuring out how and where to get clients or what they were looking for never really seemed to be something that was a conversation or even a thought.
Fast forward to today and many more now think they know what Pilates is and they are exposed in so many ways with the internet, Instagram and Facebook. It can be confusing for the potential client. They also are hearing different words to describe Pilates from Contemporary to Classical, Pilates based, Pilates fusion and so on.
Does any of that even matter is the question when they are searching for you or on google. It is just as confusing for the client so, if we can know what they truly want and are looking for then we just made it super simple for them, right? We also made it super simple for you, the teacher.
Here are 5 things clients are looking for when they start the search for Pilates and a teacher
Confidence in the work- They want to see a teacher that is confident. That takes charge and can really guide them. They aren’t searching for where you got trained or what school or how many hours. They simply need to see that you know and show you got them! You got this work!
Feeling Safe- Pilates can be scary with all the apparatus and positions and they want to know that they will be safe, physically and emotionally. Pilates has them on their back for long periods of time, sometimes doing some things that can bring a bit of fear for the client. To have that feeling of this teacher has me, that is key for the client.
Feeling heard- Everyone wants to be heard and this is their workout, They searched for you and in that hour they want to be listened to. They want to feel as if they are the one and only in your day. They are not interchangeable with the next person in your day or the one before.
Being challenged- They want someone to show them what they can do and show them the way.
Feeling accomplishment- They want to leave feeling that they did something they didn’t think they could or that they can feel and see a change for themselves. Everyone wants to feel good about themselves right?
When it comes to what that potential client is searching for it is important to remember as you train them not only in those first sessions but as time passes. Those needs that brought them to you as a teacher will never change. So let them know you got them!