Just last week we posted an article about texting and tweeting while with your clients. We’ve come to learn that this is a pretty common practice and the wonderful world of “The Internet” has coined a phrase for this all-too-common travesty: “phubbing”. You’re probably asking yourself, “What the heck is phubbing?!”
Phubbing is the act of snubbing someone in a social setting by looking at your phone instead of paying attention. And boy, does it happen a lot!
We’ve found that an average restaurant will see 36 cases of phubbing per dinner session. That is equal to spending 570 days alone, while in the company of others! And 87% of teens today would rather communicate via text than face-to-face. These trends are now slipping into the fitness industry, and it is NOT acceptable!
We all know that guy who would rather take a picture of his bicep in the mirror than engage with his client. Or the girl who is updating her Facebook page on how well her clients are doing instead of telling them when they are right there. It is becoming a plague in gyms across the nation.
Something has to be done if we don’t want our relationships based on status updates and pictures with filters. Or, in the case of the personal trainer, only giving your clients advice in the form of emojis. Or never looking your clients in the eyes and telling them “You can do this.” In this industry, in the business of personal training, we need to be present and face-to-face. It needs to be human. It needs to be personal.
Take back your gyms and your lives! Let us know how you are helping to stop phubbing in your gyms in the comments below.
