clevermanka (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
clevermanka) wrote2010-11-19 04:23 pm
clevermanka) wrote2010-11-19 04:23 pm
Entry tags:
How to fire your personal trainer
I sent an email to Trainer Chris D. Here it is:
I have been thinking about my annoyed reaction to your request for a schedule change, and my additional irritation that you offered no response to my stated feelings about the schedule change. I didn't expect any sort of drawn-out apology, but an acknowledgment of my feelings about the matter would have been very much appreciated.
From your comment about how your schedule is filling up with increased clients, hence the need for the time change, I feel my value as a client is diminished from those who see you on a more frequent basis. I am paying the same amount per session as the other clients and deserve the same consideration. As I understood it, our initial schedule change earlier this semester was due to your increased course work load. As a former student and current employee at the university, I completely understand that. Being told that my previously scheduled time is not as convenient for you because of newly increased clientele is not something I appreciate.
I feel a trainer/client relationship demands a certain level of respect and conviviality. I am uncertain about the productiveness of our remaining sessions when I feel devalued as a customer of yours. Seeing that we have only three prepaid sessions left, I am uncertain of the likelihood of rebuilding a rapport with you, and I hope you will accept what I think is a very fair compromise between my need to feel I am respected and appreciated and your need to build a larger client base.
Would you consider the following: Instead of working with me for my remaining three sessions, make up for me two more three-week workout schedules that I can do on my own time, with my own home equipment. We needn't make an appointment to review them--simply emailing them to me would be fine. This way, you are free to schedule more frequent or better paying clients while I receive my expected number of exercise programs.
Perhaps I will hear back from you this afternoon before I leave this office. If I do, and you are amenable to this suggestion, I won't come in for this evening's session or our two December appointments. You may also call me at my office: 8XX-XXXX (until 5:00pm) or my cell phone 7XX-XXXX (until 5:15pm). If I haven't heard from you before 5:15 this evening (Friday, November 19), I'll come to the gym during our appointment time to discuss this with you in person.
I don't mean for this to be a dramatic issue, but it's important to me--especially in a business relationship that affects my health--to feel I am respected and appreciated. I hope you will accept my suggestion or that we can reach an other, equal and mutually beneficial compromise to the situation.
I know I made the right decision on this, because here is his response:
I understand your frustration and I have apologized about the schedule change every time that we've been in correspondence about the schedule change. I'm also a bit frustrated by the fact that you've failed to realize how difficult it is to get everyone in the number of times per week that they'd like to train. Every trainer here is on the same page in terms of prioritizing clients. It's not personal, it's business and the other clients understand that. However, I know that by your argument that I'm still in the wrong and I'm entirely too busy to burn any more energy on this issue.
I will write two more 3-week workouts for you and send them to you tonight.
My thoughts:
Now, we emailed about this issue just twice. Once for each change. What all that posturing about talking about this in every exchange is about, I have no idea. Oh, and btw, his apologies amounted to "I'm sorry, can we reschedule?"
If all the trainers at this gym are indeed "on the same page" about "prioritizing clients" in the order of whomever pays more is worth more of their time, I am very glad to disassociate myself with Next Level. I like to think they aren't, that most of the trainers there are egalitarian and open-minded about their clients' needs and financial options.
Even if a person absolutely believes that s/he is in the right, it's not professional to say to a customer that you aren't going to spend any more energy dealing with her issues. I wish he'd simply taken me up on my compromise offer of how to resolve the situation (which he did) without adding the editorial. A simple "I, too, am sorry that there were misunderstandings. I am pleased to accept your suggested resolution" would have been a perfect and professional response. Eventually, this sort of passive-aggressive bullshit is going to have some unfortunate repercussions for him.
Frankly, I don't have high hopes for the quality of those two workouts. *sigh*
I have been thinking about my annoyed reaction to your request for a schedule change, and my additional irritation that you offered no response to my stated feelings about the schedule change. I didn't expect any sort of drawn-out apology, but an acknowledgment of my feelings about the matter would have been very much appreciated.
From your comment about how your schedule is filling up with increased clients, hence the need for the time change, I feel my value as a client is diminished from those who see you on a more frequent basis. I am paying the same amount per session as the other clients and deserve the same consideration. As I understood it, our initial schedule change earlier this semester was due to your increased course work load. As a former student and current employee at the university, I completely understand that. Being told that my previously scheduled time is not as convenient for you because of newly increased clientele is not something I appreciate.
I feel a trainer/client relationship demands a certain level of respect and conviviality. I am uncertain about the productiveness of our remaining sessions when I feel devalued as a customer of yours. Seeing that we have only three prepaid sessions left, I am uncertain of the likelihood of rebuilding a rapport with you, and I hope you will accept what I think is a very fair compromise between my need to feel I am respected and appreciated and your need to build a larger client base.
Would you consider the following: Instead of working with me for my remaining three sessions, make up for me two more three-week workout schedules that I can do on my own time, with my own home equipment. We needn't make an appointment to review them--simply emailing them to me would be fine. This way, you are free to schedule more frequent or better paying clients while I receive my expected number of exercise programs.
Perhaps I will hear back from you this afternoon before I leave this office. If I do, and you are amenable to this suggestion, I won't come in for this evening's session or our two December appointments. You may also call me at my office: 8XX-XXXX (until 5:00pm) or my cell phone 7XX-XXXX (until 5:15pm). If I haven't heard from you before 5:15 this evening (Friday, November 19), I'll come to the gym during our appointment time to discuss this with you in person.
I don't mean for this to be a dramatic issue, but it's important to me--especially in a business relationship that affects my health--to feel I am respected and appreciated. I hope you will accept my suggestion or that we can reach an other, equal and mutually beneficial compromise to the situation.
I know I made the right decision on this, because here is his response:
I understand your frustration and I have apologized about the schedule change every time that we've been in correspondence about the schedule change. I'm also a bit frustrated by the fact that you've failed to realize how difficult it is to get everyone in the number of times per week that they'd like to train. Every trainer here is on the same page in terms of prioritizing clients. It's not personal, it's business and the other clients understand that. However, I know that by your argument that I'm still in the wrong and I'm entirely too busy to burn any more energy on this issue.
I will write two more 3-week workouts for you and send them to you tonight.
My thoughts:
Now, we emailed about this issue just twice. Once for each change. What all that posturing about talking about this in every exchange is about, I have no idea. Oh, and btw, his apologies amounted to "I'm sorry, can we reschedule?"
If all the trainers at this gym are indeed "on the same page" about "prioritizing clients" in the order of whomever pays more is worth more of their time, I am very glad to disassociate myself with Next Level. I like to think they aren't, that most of the trainers there are egalitarian and open-minded about their clients' needs and financial options.
Even if a person absolutely believes that s/he is in the right, it's not professional to say to a customer that you aren't going to spend any more energy dealing with her issues. I wish he'd simply taken me up on my compromise offer of how to resolve the situation (which he did) without adding the editorial. A simple "I, too, am sorry that there were misunderstandings. I am pleased to accept your suggested resolution" would have been a perfect and professional response. Eventually, this sort of passive-aggressive bullshit is going to have some unfortunate repercussions for him.
Frankly, I don't have high hopes for the quality of those two workouts. *sigh*