Features I Love is a blog series where trainers share their favorite Trainerize features—just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Here’s a fun fact: I’ve used Trainerize in my business since 2014! It’s been so cool having the ways I use Trainerize grow and evolve as my business has grown and evolved, and it’s also been really great to witness how Trainerize has shifted over the years and taken all of their customers’ feedback into consideration to create new features and add-ons.

I’ve used a number of different features in Trainerize over the years—Groups for when I ran group fitness coaching programs, Evolution Nutrition to help my clients with their nutrition goals, Master Workouts and Programs to keep my program design process streamlined, and I’ve filmed hundreds of exercise demonstrations so my clients feel like they’re truly getting to learn from me.

Over the years, my business has pivoted a lot! With so many different things on the go, I’ve had to really simplify my processes. Trainerize enabled me to deliver a high-quality service to my clients while allowing me to run two businesses full-time AND still have time to play outdoors and soak up all that Mother Nature has to offer!

Here’s how I used Trainerize to help me streamline my business and make things easy and effective for my clients.

Trainerize Pay

As trainers, we need to get paid for the services we provide to clients. Trainerize Pay makes it incredibly easy! I billed all of my clients—both online and offline—on a monthly basis. This not only created consistent monthly income for me, but it also made budgeting easier for my clients. They knew what they were going to be paying and when. No more having to wonder how many sessions they had left! And having their payments come out automatically meant there was one less thing for them to remember each month.

I also used Trainerize Pay to sell pre-made fitness programs and have the entire process, from payment to program delivery, automated. After creating the program (which always has a specific outcome so potential buyers know if it’s the right program for them or not), I would add it as a product to Trainerize Pay. Then, I’d set up all the automatics so my new customers got the program added to their Trainerize account without me needing to manually add it.

I ran promotions for these programs a few times a year; it was a great way for me to offer support to all types of clients. This was especially good for folks who may not have been able to afford my customized coaching (or for those who didn’t want it!). And, for me, it was great to generate some quick and easy revenue. All I had to do was send an email out to my list, and Trainerize took care of the rest. It’s as simple as that!

Scheduled Messages

Let’s be real. When you’ve got a lot on your plate, it can be easy to forget the details. Things like sending that check-in message at a specific time. Plus, when you’re busy changing peoples’ lives and bringing your dreams to life, you’ve got better things to keep track of in your brain than sending dozens of messages throughout the day! Automation is the perfect way to keep clients engaged, and save time.

I love Trainerize’s Scheduled Messages feature for a few reasons. The first is that, with the exception of those who purchased the pre-made programs I mentioned above, I was able to keep in close touch with all of my clients. I took a very holistic approach to their fitness and wellness, and I wanted to know what was going on in their lives! Regular check-in messages allowed me to see how they’re doing, and it gave them an opportunity to express how they’re feeling and what was going on in their lives. The important thing to remember is to keep the conversation going! Asking someone how they are and then allowing the conversation to drop off there doesn’t create a deep connection.

I also provided my clients with weekly prompts to journal about, meditate on, or simply think about. These are prompts that help them understand themselves better! Their goals, their productive habits, and their sabotaging habits, and identify them on a deeper level. The more they understand themselves and what drives them, the better chance we have at long-term consistency and success. I liked to schedule these prompts to go out to my clients on a weekly basis.

I used many other great features in the app. For example, adding my own custom workout videos! And assessing my clients’ progress based on the intensity levels they record for their workouts! However, I feel that Trainerize Pay and Scheduled Messages made the biggest difference for both myself and my clients. Efficiency is key—we live in a busy world these days!