Building his Book of Clients Through the Pandemic and Beyond

As many gyms of all sizes have lost clients or closed their doors completely, and people have quickly grown bored of Zoom classes, OPEX CCP Coach Benny Evien has taken advantage of the pandemic by using it as a time to show people the value of having a personal coach in their corner. 

Prior to the pandemic, most of Evien’s 40 clients were personal training clients, which he trained out of a facility in Silicon Valley, California. When the pandemic hit, the 30-year-old quickly shifted them to individual program design, which he had been conveniently learning more about since starting the Coaching Certificate Program (CCP) in January.  

The CCP helped him become way more effective at assessing his clients and building programs that made sense for their individual needs, he explained, all the while taking more time to truly get to know them. 

“I have gotten a lot better at the emotional aspect and building rapport. I have built a lot more rapport with my clients during the pandemic,” said Evien, who has been coaching for five years. 

A second game changer for him has been being introduced to the CoachRx app.

“I didn’t know about CoachRx before starting the CCP, but it has made it really easy to communicate with my clients. They have kept progressing, and without CoachRx, it would have been a lot easier for them to regress during this time,” he said. 

He added: “It has made it so much easier to keep in touch with them all, even the ones who still aren’t back at the gym yet, and who I haven’t seen in person for a while. They’re still open with me about everything that’s going on in their lives and that wouldn’t have been as easy to do without CoachRx.”

Possibly the most useful growing point Evien has made in recent weeks, however, is learning how to dig deeper into his clients’ lives, especially during an initial consultation with a new client, which he also said he learned through the CCP. 

“We always talk about their goals and why they’re wanting to get fit, but now I also try to dig more into the root cause of why they came to me, instead of just the superficial ‘I want to lose weight’ answer,” he explained. 

Doing this has gone a long way in his ability to understand people more effectively.

“The CCP has really helped me see that it’s more about a lifestyle thing for people,” he said. He admitted he used to program in a way that prioritized his goals, which didn’t always line up with what the client wanted or needed.

“Another thing I have learned about my clients, especially with less disciplined clients, is that sometimes you need to make it a bit easier for them to do (the program) when they’re on their own. If they see something they don’t like or don’t want to do, they’ll push it off until later and sometimes won’t do it. But I have learned that if I keep it simple, and throw in movements I know they like to do, then their (compliance goes up),” he said. 

Evien added: “In general, I have learned the more we talk about things, and the more I communicate with them, the more likely they are to do the things they need to do.”

Finally, switching from working so many hours on the floor as a personal trainer prior to the pandemic to being a remote individual program design coach has also helped Evien figure out what he really wants in his own life. Half his clients are now back at the gym, and he does enjoy some on-floor time, but ultimately his goal is to retain and grow his remote coaching business. 

“Individual program design has definitely switched my mentality, and it has opened up more opportunities to make additional income without having to spend so much time on the floor,” he said. 

Evien’s message to other coaches: “I have done a lot of good certifications, but the CCP is the only one that teaches you how to be a really legit, well-rounded trainer,” he said. 

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