When they want it, you want to help them, but they say they can’t afford your personal training program, what then? If money weren’t an issue… Here’s the program components Which part of that means less to you that you’d like to cut out? When someone can’t afford your personal training program you have options. You could provide a “scholarship” for all or part of services. You can do a “trade” with a client based on thinks you truly need done and skills they possess. That’s in addition to the aforementioned solutions.  The key to making this work is practice.  This has to feel natural. If you've never said it before, and you're not used to having a fluid  conversation related to the best program option for a customer you can't expect it to feel anything but awkward when you do it first.  Other good questions to ask: What could you afford?  What did you have in mind today when you came in? What would make this a no-brainer for you?  Are you (as the trainer) open to a payment plan? You may decide no,  or want to collect the money up front before training. Often that's not possible because you want someone to start now, not in two months when they're paid. I've found that unless you use a collections agency, paying over time really is not usually a good plan... unless:  you work with professionals (lawyers, doctors, realtors). If you have a large ticket item, (more than $5000) then yes, you should at least divide payments in to two.  Know Your Customers Decide your target market before you start. When you know who you're dealing with you know how you can support them best and what price positioning you want and need to do.  Your model may be many people for a lower price, or fewer people for a higher ticket item.