Here you stand (or sit perhaps), a well-educated Pilates instructor. You attended a respected teacher-training program. You observed and practiced under the guidance of one or more highly regarded Pilates mentors. And now you are a talented teacher, passionately working with clients every day and teaching them what you know. But do your clients realize just HOW much you know? How much education and training you’ve received? Or does it matter?
Clients really only see a fraction of what you know and what you are capable of as a Pilates teacher. While they DO see some of it in how you are currently teaching them, your education and expertise goes well beyond that. And there is a benefit in clients knowing this!
When clients can more fully see your knowledge and expertise, they can better see and understand the value that you bring to them. They have a greater appreciation for how you can help them and improve their physical wellbeing. And they are more confident and excited about working with you.
But who really wants to brag about how much they know to their clients? That sounds so pompous and conceited. And that’s not characteristic of the Pilates teaching community at all! This professional community is humble and focused on learning, not bragging. So how can you ‘show off’ your education and expertise to your clients in a gracious and humble way?
Use your continuing education activity.
Clients know that an initial teacher-training program is required to become a Pilates instructor. They may also know that studio teachers have hundreds of hours of training and perhaps that a Pilates elder was involved in the training program. But details beyond that start to become too abstract for most clients to understand or find relevant. So it’s not incredibly compelling to reference our primary instructor training experience as evidence of our education and expertise.
But clients know that continuing education is different. They know that it goes above and beyond the basic requirement. And it’s something that not all instructors do…or do to the same degree. Clients can see that instructors who engage in more continuing education have learned more, which contributes to becoming a better instructor. And it’s easy for clients to see the benefit in that!
It’s like Miss Janet Jackson said in her 1986 hit song, “What Have You Done For Me Lately?” Clients love seeing what you’ve done or LEARNED for them lately! [Note: feel free to pause here to enjoy a little Janet Jackson dance break!]
Continuing education is compelling to clients because they can easily see you doing it, in real time. They see you investing your time and money to learn more, which they know benefits them! This is education and expertise that feels really relevant to them.
Now, you engage in continuing education is to become a better teacher. But you can also leverage it to SHOW your clients how knowledgeable you are, in a way that doesn’t look like you’re bragging about yourself. Here are a few ways you can show clients how well educated and trained you are, using your Continuing Education efforts.
Whenever you engage in a continuing education activity:
- Write up a summary about what you did and learned, and email it to your studio owner to share with studio clients via email newsletter, in-studio bulletin board, and social media. The tone of the write-up can easily be humble and enthusiastic as you share how excited you were to participate in such great activity or event, and how you will be bringing this new experience to your clients!
- Create a special workshop for your clients based on what you learned. In the marketing materials promoting the workshop, mention the continuing education activity that inspired it and reference it during the workshop as well. BONUS: Create a short video tutorial centered around what you learned to share with studio clients. Highlight key lessons from the continuing education activity and if relevant, include exercises that clients could watch or practice at home to enhance their learning experience.
- Keep your bio updated with all of your continuing education events and efforts. Don’t limit yourself to listing just the big workshops and events. Mention the more routine activities you engage in as well, like weekly classes you take from other teachers or independent study efforts (i.e. personal research, reading, online training videos). BONUS: Create a website for yourself as an instructor where you can have an extended bio and share more detailed information about your ongoing training and education.
And overall:
- Reference your continuing education and training whenever you have ‘teachable moments’ during your sessions and classes. Think of it the same way you would cite your sources if writing a paper. Whenever you pause your clients to teach them an important concept, lesson, or new exercise that you remember learning from a workshop, conference, or colleague, cite your source. This not only honors the person who taught you, but is shows clients how you’ve been continuing your education!
Having your clients know the extent of your education and expertise is beneficial for both you and them! And while you can’t (and don’t want to) just brag about how much you’ve learned or what an expert you are, you can use your continuing education efforts to show clients how much you know in a more subtle and gracious way. Doing this will help your clients fully appreciate and value all of the expertise you bring to them!
About Dana
Dana Auriemma has been studying and practicing marketing for 12 years. With a marketing degree from Penn State University, she launched a successful career in marketing and sales working for Fortune 500 companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Bayer, Merck, and TimeWarner. But wanting to use her business expertise for something she was more passionate about, Dana left the corporate world to become a Pilates instructor and open her own studio.
Dana’s professional business background was a tremendous asset in building her studio over the years. She loved teaching Pilates and running a business, but saw many other owners and teachers were not as comfortable with the business-side of their studios. So upon moving out-of-state and selling her studio many years later, Dana decided to help teach studio owners the marketing and business skills they need to reach their greatest potential.
Dana now works with studio owners all over the world, helping them optimize their studio operations, analyze their profitability, improve staff relationships, build better marketing programs, and more. Dana offers custom consulting and online business courses, and writes articles that have been published by Balanced Body, MindBodyOnline, PilatesStyle Magazine, Pilates Intel, Pilates-Pro, PilatesTree Magazine, Pilates Pal, and Yogi Times.
Learn more and read more at danaauriemma.com.