RhinoFit Guide to Gym Membership Sales
Owning a gym can be a tough task. You open your gym, get your initial influx of members, but now what? Over time your goal should be to continuously increase memberships to sustain success and growth. But what about when sales slow down during the off-season? You might think it’s something you’re doing wrong, but it’s not your fault. You just need to do a couple of things better, that’s all! There are typically a few things that get left out in the gym membership sales strategy and process.
1.) Make Joining as Easy as Possible!
You want it to be as easy as possible for prospective members to join your gym. The quicker the signup process, the better! You want to remove any stumbling block for those considering your gym. Consider online signup forms or have them fill out half of their info online and the remainder in your gym. Nobody wants to fill out endless paperwork when joining a gym, it can be too much at once and can scare them away. Consider integrating digital waivers to expedite the onboarding process.
2.) Know How to Present Your Gym (Compared to Competitors)
In order to better present your gym to potential clients, you must know your competition! If you know your gym is cheaper than the rest, make it known! If you have quality trainers and classes, present this to your prospects! Make sure to clearly display your strengths over your competitors, regardless of what they are! Let your gym pump out it’s chest and show everyone why they should join your gym, and not other gym’s in your local area.
3.) Incorporate Referral Programs & Upsell Memberships
The easiest way to generate more membership sales is from your current members! Right? If you have members on a base membership package, give them a free 14-day upgrade and then try and upsell your higher-tier memberships. If your gym is class-based, try and upsell your larger class packages to members only doing a class or two per week. Another great way to sell more memberships is to incorporate a friends and family referral program! This is the easiest way to get people in your gym, and you can also reward your current clients!
4.) Make the Sales Experience Personal
No prospect wants to feel like they are being rushed into joining or feeling that the gym won’t fit their needs. Tailor your gym tours to the individual needs of potential clients. Showcase the classes or equipment that will make joining your gym worth it to them and will benefit their fitness journey and goals. Additionally, make sure they can properly communicate with your gym through their preferred medium, whether that be over the phone, email, app, etc. You want to maximize the sales process in every way possible for sales prospects. Additionally, having the best gym software to sort potential prospects will allow you to turn leads into paying customers in no time.
5.) Continually Test Your Marketing Efforts
Constantly test and evaluate your marketing efforts and the success of them. Make sure to allocate approximately at least 70% of your marketing budget towards club promotions that have been proven and work, and about 30% to new methods and ideas. This way you can constantly be testing out new ideas and research. Find what works for your gym, but never stop testing and innovating! Always try new methods to stay competitive in your market.
