Guest blog authors: Mariann Murphy, Vice President, Medical Fitness Association Cosmo Wollan, Senior Executive, Synergy Cubed Approximately 45 million adults in the U.S. have a gym membership. Sounds like a lot, but the sad reality is that’s only 14 percent of the population (Source: Realbuzz). Baby boomers alone make up over 21 percent of the population. According to ACSM’s Worldwide Surveys of Fitness Trends for 2023, the number 4 top trend is: “Fitness Programs for Older Adults.” It’s no secret that people are living longer, working longer and, most important, wanting to stay active longer. Tap into your client’s wellness [...]
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Five steps to sidestep a bad economy. It took 16 cameras and a digital key tag to inflation-proof Scotts Valley Gym in Scotts Valley Calf. After that, it was pure gumption. Today, when rising consumer prices are forcing all of us to make decisions as to how and where we spend our money, gym memberships are often first on the list. So how do you ensure your gym makes the cut? Or, if the economy really sinks, how can you be prepared? Should you raise rates to manage increased costs or decrease overhead? Scotts Valley Gym took the second choice. Originally one of four [...]
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So, let’s talk about January gym membership sales. Too early? No, not really. The January bump in sales is too often just a hangover remedy from a slow fall sign-up season. True, January is the month to become fit. After all, 12% of all new members join at year’s start. That’s easily 40% more than on an average month, when about 8% of your new members come on board. However, many of those new members might have said yes sooner -- if you had just asked them. November and December are traditionally tough months for the health club industry. In [...]
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The fitness industry is always in competition with itself. Although we would love to think everyone wants to join a gym, in reality, we are all fighting for the same people, many of whom already belong to another health club or fitness center. That’s why your health club needs a gym referral program. Tapping loyal members for friends and family referrals is one of the most effective methods of luring new customers. What is a gym referral program? This is a specific marketing effort created to encourage existing members to refer other people. It can be baked into your signup process, [...]
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Closing the Sale Thus far in our five-part series “How to Sell Gym Memberships,” we’ve shown how refining and polishing your customer interaction can build value in your health club and steer clients away from focusing on price alone. In Part IV, we discuss the most critical step – closing the sale. This is where your newly gained client knowledge really pays off. Closing the sale By now in the sales process with Joe New Prospect, you’ve: Established a strong rapport by using his name frequentlyExhibited product knowledge that cements your authority as a fitness expertDetermined goals and how long he’s considered joining a [...]
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Price Presentation In our first two blogs in the How to Sell Gym Memberships series, we discussed two critical techniques – how to establish an immediate rapport with new leads and the essential elements of a proper gym tour. In this piece, we explore presenting price. While this can feel like the scariest moment in the sale, it can actually be the simplest — if you’re prepared. Here are the three rules to remember about price presentation. 1 — Limit membership choices. By the end of the gym tour, it’s time to present the price. Start by ensuring your gym presents a streamlined, easy-to-understand [...]
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How to Conduct a Proper Tour Selling a gym membership is more than presenting a monthly fee and hoping it fits the customer’s budget. As we discussed in Part I Introduction & Goal Assessment, employees need to make the customer feel comfortable by using their name and asking questions to determine their fitness goals before revealing prices or touring the gym. In Part II, we go over the essential steps to successfully introducing your gym to a prospect. In terms of the value sales process, this is where you sell both the tangible and intangible benefits of joining your gym, such as [...]
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Operating a gym within a set of rules creates structure for both club owners and members. Whether your gym rules are created for safety purposes or just to build a harmonious, fitness-first experience, they are a significant asset to any well run health club. 1. Gym rules define your club’s culture. The fact is many gyms do not post or enforce any rules. Recently, I trained as a guest at a national chain. This company has a reputation for indulging power lifters and gym rats. Although I knew this, the facility’s condition shocked me. Heavy weight sets were left on abandoned. [...]
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The gym today is different than it was 12 months ago. It’s changed. Maybe we have, too. There have always been rule keepers and rule breakers, but now, it’s like they live on either side of your fitness club, and they’re driving each other crazy. The culprit? Masks, social distancing, germ wars … the list goes on and on. Meanwhile, you and your staff are stuck in the middle. As a gym owner, you need to manage all these senarios to minimize any potential harm Clearly communicate your gym’s policy. First, educate your staff. Define your gym’s coronavirus policy, and what national [...]
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Taking control of your gym's business during the ongoing economic crisis caused by COVID-19 is not simple. It's always been expensive to acquire new members-estimates suggest it costs 3x as much to lure a new client in the door as to keep the one you have. But in today's uncertain environment, retaining and expanding your client base is both critical and complex. So how can you maximize every gym member relationship? By understanding customers' concerns, clearing up misunderstandings quickly, and using real-time information to make informed updates to your business model. Nothing does this quicker than a survey. Surveys allow [...]
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Crank Down Sale Costs To Maximize Gym Membership Revenues Selling more gym memberships is a good thing in principle, but do you know how much it costs you to get that sale? There are two parts of the expense required to generate revenue in any business, the cost of sale and overhead cost. Those costs you can attribute to making each sale and everything else, which you pay to vendors, but which you cannot assign to a particular transaction. One of the great features of the fitness business is that to bring members on board you do not need to [...]
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New gym memberships make owners and managers feel great, no doubt! But it's even better if you can hold on to the old memberships longer. Reducing your rate of club turnover and increasing the customer lifecycle are critical practices in building successful fitness businesses. Here on the Gym Insight Blog, I have made the point many times before that retention matters as much as sales. But getting these numbers right is so important that it doesn't hurt to dive into retention and selling gym memberships once again. If you structure your sales and onboarding process well, saying "no" at the [...]
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