Price increase letter to personal training clients
Copy it, replace the bracketed bits, send it. Below the letter: the text-message version, how much notice to give, and what to say when they push back.
Hi [NAME], You have [N] sessions left on your current block, and those stay at the [OLD PRICE] you paid. From your next block, sessions are [NEW PRICE] each ([NEW PACK PRICE] for a block of [N]). I am telling you now rather than at the last session so you have time to decide how you want to carry on. And one way to carry on at the old price: book your next block before [DATE] and it is [OLD PACK PRICE], as now. Why it is moving: [GYM NAME] has put up what trainers pay to work there, and my insurance and courses have gone up too. The early mornings and evenings are full, so the only thing I can change is the rate. If a lower cost would suit you better, two options: - train as a pair with a friend at [PAIR PRICE] each - drop to [N] sessions a month with a programme to follow on your own days We have come a long way since [STARTING POINT, e.g. "your first deadlift"]. Let's keep going. [YOUR NAME] [BUSINESS NAME]
How many customers can this price rise lose?
10% ÷ (40% + 10%) = 20%
Open the full calculator, with your prices and customer count →at the end of the current block — sessions already paid for stay at the price paid
10–15% per session
The text-message version
For the customers whose entire relationship with you lives in a phone. Send it before the visit, never on the invoice.
Hey [NAME] — heads up, from your next block sessions are [NEW PRICE] each. Book it before [DATE] and it stays at the old rate. See you [DAY]! [YOUR NAME]
Why it is going up, in words you can use
“Rising costs” persuades nobody because everyone says it. Name the actual driver in personal training instead:
- gym rent or the gym's cut of each session went up
- insurance, certifications and continuing education are annual
- the only way to earn more is more hours, and the good hours — early mornings and evenings — are already full
- many trainers are still charging the rate they started on
When they push back
You will hear these within a week. Having the answer ready is the difference between holding the price and folding on the phone.
- "I think I know enough to train on my own now."
- Agree and offer the step down: "You probably do. Want a monthly check-in and a new programme every four weeks?" A client who drops to a programme-only package is still paying you and usually comes back to full sessions before an event or after a plateau.
- "Can you keep me on the old rate? I've been with you for years."
- Loyalty is exactly what the prepay window rewards — say so. "That is why you can lock in the old price on the next block." Do not create a permanent legacy rate; in three years it will be half your standard price.
- They let the block run out and do not rebook.
- Message once, a week after the last session, about their goal rather than the price: "How's the [GOAL] going?" The price is rarely the reason people drift away; losing momentum is.
Is a price rise even the right move for you?
Sometimes it is not. Sometimes the money is in a service plan for customers you already have, or in the job you are quoting below cost without realising. Describe your business in one sentence and you will get three specific moves back — priced per month, with the arithmetic written out so you can put your own numbers in.
Free, no signup, about thirty seconds. If one of them is a price rise, you will get the number to put in the brackets above.
Give me three movesMore letters: health, fitness and wellness
Other trades
A template, not legal advice. If you have a written contract with these training clients, check what it says about notice periods and price changes before you send anything — the contract wins over any template, including this one.