← The guideThe Paid Up Front WorkbookFill it in here or print it Blank PDF
RRiseForIt

The Paid Up Front Workbook

By the end you'll have a consult you can run tomorrow: four questions that find the gap, a line that hands their pain back in their own words, an outcome package with an end date and one price paid up front, and an answer for price pushback that adds value instead of cutting the number.

Free workbook12 pagesabout 45 minutes

What you'll have at the end

  • Your four consult questions in your own words, with a follow-up for each
  • A hand-back line that repeats a prospect's pain in their words, not yours
  • One outcome package with an end date and one price collected up front
  • Scripts for price pushback and "I'll think about it" that never offer a discount

Inside

  1. Write your four consult questions
  2. Capture their pain in their own words
  3. Turn your sessions into an outcome with an end date
  4. Answer price pushback without discounting
  5. Find your next sale in your current client list
  6. Your 7-day plan
Jason O'DellBy Jason O'Dell, founder of RiseForIt. Goes with the free guide Sell Personal Training and Get Paid Up Front.
riseforit.com/guides/how-to-sell-personal-training/workbook/Page 1 of 12
RRiseForItThe Paid Up Front Workbook

Step 1 of 5 · Learn it

Write your four consult questions

My first sale, Miss Gertrude, took about two hours of me talking and giving her the moon. When you explain before you ask, they never hear their own problem, so they have no reason to say yes.

How to do it

  1. Copy the four questions into the first column of the table below. They are already filled in as a guide.
  2. Rewrite each one the way you'd really say it out loud to someone sitting across from you.
  3. Write one follow-up for when they give a short answer. "What do you mean by that?" works for all four. Then stay quiet and wait.
  4. Write down what you will not talk about until the end: your warm-up, your split, your app, your check-ins.
  5. Read your questions out loud once. If one sounds like a script, cut words until it sounds like you.

Example: Maya, an in-person trainer in a commercial gym

1. What are you trying to change, and why now? Maya says: "What made today the day you came in?" Follow-up: "What happened that made you book this?"

2. What have you tried, and what happened? Maya says: "What have you tried before? How did it go?" Follow-up: "Why do you think it stopped working?"

3. What has it cost you to stay where you are? Maya says: "What has this been costing you?" Follow-up: "What do you mean by that?"

4. If we fixed this, what would be different in 90 days? Maya says: "Say it's 90 days from now and this is fixed. What's different?" Follow-up: "What would that look like on a normal day?"

Won't explain until the end: my 3-day split, the check-in app, macros.

Your turn on the next page →

riseforit.com/guides/how-to-sell-personal-training/workbook/Page 2 of 12
RRiseForItThe Paid Up Front Workbook

Step 1 of 5 · Your turn

Write your four consult questions

Your four questions

The questionHow you'd say itYour follow-up for a short answer

What you won't explain until they've answered all four

Before every consult

riseforit.com/guides/how-to-sell-personal-training/workbook/Page 3 of 12
RRiseForItThe Paid Up Front Workbook

Step 2 of 5 · Learn it

Capture their pain in their own words

If you can't repeat their pain in their own words after the consult, you explained too much and asked too little. Your words sound like a program. Theirs prove you listened.

How to do it

  1. Pick someone to practice on: a friend, a current client, or your last consult from memory.
  2. Ask your four questions. Write what they say word for word.
  3. When an answer is short, ask "what do you mean by that?" and wait. Write the deeper answer in the last column. The real reason is usually one layer down.
  4. Circle the one line that hit hardest. That's the line you hand back.
  5. Write your hand-back: "You said [their exact words]. In 90 days, you'll be [where they want to land, in their words]."

Example: Maya, practicing with a sample prospect named Dana, a mom of two

Why now: "My daughter's birthday photos. I asked everyone to crop me out."

What she tried: "Keto for six weeks. Lost some, gained it all back by summer."

What it cost: "I'm tired of hiding in the back of every family photo."

Dug deeper: "I don't want my kids to remember me hiding."

90 days: "Standing in the front of the Thanksgiving photo and not caring."

Hand-back: "You said you're tired of hiding in the back of every family photo. Let's get you in the front of the Thanksgiving photo."

Your turn on the next page →

riseforit.com/guides/how-to-sell-personal-training/workbook/Page 4 of 12
RRiseForItThe Paid Up Front Workbook

Step 2 of 5 · Your turn

Capture their pain in their own words

What they said

QuestionTheir exact wordsWhat they said when you dug deeper

The one line that hit hardest, word for word

Your hand-back: "You said [their words]. In 90 days, you'll be [where they land]."

riseforit.com/guides/how-to-sell-personal-training/workbook/Page 5 of 12
RRiseForItThe Paid Up Front Workbook

Step 3 of 5 · Learn it

Turn your sessions into an outcome with an end date

Sessions sell your time and cap your income, and an hour doesn't promise anything. A package sells the result they told you they wanted, by a date they can see, and that makes it easier to say yes.

How to do it

  1. Write the result in one line, in words a client would use. "Front of the family photo", not "fat loss phase".
  2. Pick an end date they can see, like 90 days or 12 weeks.
  3. List what's included in 3 to 5 short items. This is the flight. Keep it short.
  4. Set one price for the whole package, paid in full before day one. No per-session math.
  5. Work out what that price is per month, then use the calculator to see how many package clients reach your monthly goal.

Example: Maya's package

Result: Feel confident standing in the front of the photo.

End date: 12 weeks from the first session.

Includes: 2 sessions a week, a simple eating plan, a check-in every Monday.

Price: $1,500, paid in full before week 1. That's $500 a month.

Calculator: $5,000 monthly goal / $500 a month = 10 package clients.

Your turn on the next page →

riseforit.com/guides/how-to-sell-personal-training/workbook/Page 6 of 12
RRiseForItThe Paid Up Front Workbook

Step 3 of 5 · Your turn

Turn your sessions into an outcome with an end date

Your offer in one line: [result] in [time], for [price] paid up front

What's included (3 to 5 things)

Price for the whole package, paid before day one, and what that is per month

Do the math

riseforit.com/guides/how-to-sell-personal-training/workbook/Page 7 of 12
RRiseForItThe Paid Up Front Workbook

Step 4 of 5 · Learn it

Answer price pushback without discounting

The moment you discount, you tell them your price was never real, and they'll always wonder what the real number is. Someone paying as they go is one bad week away from quitting, so the price stays and you add value instead.

How to do it

  1. List things you can add that cost you little time: an extra check-in, a grocery list, a weekly form video review.
  2. Write the stakes behind your promise: what you'll do if they do the work and don't get there. This shows you're on the hook with them.
  3. Fill in the price-push script. Start with their 90-day words, add value, keep the number.
  4. Fill in the "I'll think about it" script. Ask what they need to think about. It's usually price, time or doubt. Answer that one thing.
  5. Say both scripts out loud until you can do them without the page.

Example: Maya, when Dana says it's a lot of money

Value adds: weekly form video review, a printed grocery list, a check-in text every Monday.

Stakes: "Show up to every session and check-in for 12 weeks. If you don't get there, I keep training you free until you do."

Price push: "I hear you, Dana. I'm not going to drop the price, because this is what it takes to get you in the front of that photo. What I will do is add a form video review every week. It's $1,500, paid up front, and we start Monday."

Think about it: "Fair enough. What do you need to think about? Is it the price, the time, or whether this will work for you?"

Your turn on the next page →

riseforit.com/guides/how-to-sell-personal-training/workbook/Page 8 of 12
RRiseForItThe Paid Up Front Workbook

Step 4 of 5 · Your turn

Answer price pushback without discounting

Value you can add instead of a discount

Your stakes: what you'll do if they do the work and don't get there

When they push on price

I hear you, . I'm not going to drop the price, because this is what it takes to get you . What I will do is add . And here's my promise: . It's , paid up front, and we start .

When they say they'll think about it

Fair enough. What do you need to think about? Is it the price, the time, or whether this will work for you? (Wait.) Got it. . Want to lock in ?
riseforit.com/guides/how-to-sell-personal-training/workbook/Page 9 of 12
RRiseForItThe Paid Up Front Workbook

Step 5 of 5 · Learn it

Find your next sale in your current client list

Chasing every new lead to make your month wears you out. The clients you already have trust you and have seen you deliver, so the next result is an easier yes.

How to do it

  1. List your current clients, or the last ones you trained.
  2. Next to each, write what they told you they wanted when they started, in their words.
  3. Write where they are now.
  4. Write the next result you could offer them, with an end date.
  5. Pick the one most likely to say yes. That's who you talk to first.

Example: Maya's list

Jess. Wanted: "to stop getting winded on the stairs at work." Now: takes the stairs every day. Next: run her first 5K in 12 weeks.

Tom. Wanted: "to play with my kids without my back hurting." Now: no back pain for a month. Next: deadlift his body weight in 12 weeks.

First talk: Jess, after her Thursday session. Offer: first 5K in 12 weeks, $1,500 up front.

Your turn on the next page →

riseforit.com/guides/how-to-sell-personal-training/workbook/Page 10 of 12
RRiseForItThe Paid Up Front Workbook

Step 5 of 5 · Your turn

Find your next sale in your current client list

Your current clients

ClientWhat they wanted (their words)Where they are nowNext result + end date

The client you'll talk to first, the result you'll offer, and the day

What you'll say after their session

Hey , when you started you told me you wanted . Look where you are now: . I want to talk about what's next: by . Got 10 minutes after your session on ?
riseforit.com/guides/how-to-sell-personal-training/workbook/Page 11 of 12
RRiseForItThe Paid Up Front Workbook

The plan

Your next 7 days

One small step a day. Day 1 matters most.

Your answers, in one place

Your hand-back line
Your offer
Your stakes
First client to offer

One small job a day

DayDo thisDoneNotes
Day 1Say your four questions out loud and save them on your phone where you'll see them before every consult.
Day 2Run a practice consult with a friend or current client. Write their exact words and your hand-back line.
Day 3Write your offer on a card: result, end date, one price paid up front. Read it out loud five times.
Day 4Practice the price-push and "I'll think about it" scripts out loud, stakes line included, until you don't need the page.
Day 5Bring up the next result with the current client you picked. Use your script right after their session.
Day 6Book or run one real consult. Ask all four questions before you say one word about your program.
Day 7Check yourself: could you repeat their pain in their words? If not, cut one thing you explained and add one follow-up question.
riseforit.com/guides/how-to-sell-personal-training/workbook/Page 12 of 12

Get the next workbook

A new one comes out every week. Leave your email and we'll send it.
Rather have it done for you? In the 90-Day Build we make and post your content, answer your leads and close them on calls. See if you qualify →