His name was Matt, and I loved him.

Matt was a trainer at Gold’s Gym when I first met him. He said hi to everyone, and he’d go out of his way to correct your form or (in my case) nag me to switch up cardio machines more often. When I decided to get a trainer, I worked with him. When he branched out and started up a boot camp program, I signed up right away. Months later, I ran into Matt when I was training for my first marathon. He was excited for me, and he hooked me up with his nutritionist–gratis–so I could get some advice on fueling for 26 miles. We lost touch sometime after that. Which is too bad, because I’d recommend him to anyone looking for a good fitness trainer.

At my current gym, there is no one that I would recommend. (My trainer isn’t there.) For the last 8 months I’ve been whipping my body back into athletic performance shape. Not one trainer has commented on my fitness, said “atta girl,” or otherwise showed that they care at all what I’m doing. And I’m in there several times a week–and I’m friendly.

Some of the staff know I’m not in the market for a trainer. But that doesn’t mean I don’t know others who might be.

It seems a cliche to say that “people do business with people they like.” But apparently we can’t say too often that business is about relationships.

Are you building them or burning them?

Photo by the U.S. Army (Flickr).