Understanding Why Members Disengage

It’s something that all gym and fitness center owners experience—the at-risk member. These are people who you sense are disengaging from their fitness journey, from the gym community, and the gym itself. Why does it happen?

When evaluating the reasons, it’s important to understand the difference between genuine disengagement and excuses. The best way to crack that mystery is by gaining a better understanding of why a particular person joined your gym in the first place. The most common reasons are:

• Lose weight
• Get in shape
• Maintain weight
• The social aspects – they hope to make new friends

Whatever the reason, members will have expectations that your gym will help them realize their goals. When they were deciding which gym to join, they were also considering factors such as:

• Equipment
• Fees
• Location
• The classes offered
• Cleanliness
• Customer service

As time passes, they’ll be re-evaluating their choice. They’ll ask themselves if your gym is helping them to meet their goals and if they’re getting the most bang for their buck. If they’re not getting the ROI they hoped for, they’ll start to disengage. Let’s look at some of the most common reasons why.

Member Disengagement – Do Any of These Sound Familiar?

If you’re concerned about member engagement for any particular person, remember why they joined your gym in the first place. If you sense them disengaging, see how many of these boxes you can tick:

• Lack of motivation—this is undoubtedly the most common cause. When people start a new exercise routine, they are usually motivated and excited. However, this motivation can quickly fade away, especially if they’re not getting the results they were hoping for. If you sense demotivation in any of your members, you need to find ways to reinvigorate their fitness journey.
• Boredom—doing the same exercises over and over again can get tedious. When members feel like they are doing the same thing every time they go to the gym, they might lose interest.
• Time constraints—people have busy lives and struggle to find time to fit in their workouts. It’s up to you to follow up with these time-stretched members and help them with their schedule.
• Injuries or illness—when people get sick or injured, they may need to take time off from exercising to recover. If the injury or illness is severe, they may stop attending the gym altogether.
• Cost—gym memberships can be expensive, and some members may not be able to afford it long-term. When members feel like they are paying too much for their membership, they may decide to cancel it.
• Lack of support—starting a new exercise routine can be challenging, and having support can make all the difference. If members feel like they are not getting the support they need from their gym, they may drift away.
• Unease in the gym—some members may feel intimidated or self-conscious bythe environment, especially if they are new to exercising. If members aren’t comfortable in the space, that can be very demotivational. That’s why it’s so important to develop a sense of community within your gym.

As a gym owner, it’s essential to provide a welcoming and supportive environment, helping your members to remain engaged and motivated to achieve their fitness goals. Let’s look at how.

Improving Member Engagement for Your Gym or Studio

To help you improve member Length of Engagement (LEG), we’ve put together a guide with practical tips and actionable advice to help you keep your members motivated, active, and loyal to your fitness center. It’s The Ultimate LEG Workout, and it covers:

• Why member engagement is important
• From communication to community—building stronger relationships with your members
• How engagement is measured
• The 5 key elements of an effective engagement strategy
• Overcoming barriers to member engagement—how automation can help drive growth
• BONUS: Email and text templates to help you reconnect with at-risk members

Even the best gyms can always improve their member engagement strategies. If you’re looking for new ways to build relationships, help members achieve fitness goals, and reduce member churn, then this is the guide for you.

DOWNLOAD THE ULTIMATE LEG WORKOUT

Connecting with gym members authentically is essential for growth. To separate yourself from the other gyms, your style and the results you can deliver need to be front and center. But it’s hard to put all your effort into this when you’re bogged down by tedious—but necessary—admin work.  

As a business owner, you know the admin work will never go away entirely, no matter how much you wish it would! If you can’t eliminate it entirely, you can still automate a good chunk of those tedious processes. 

Not sure what can be automated? Here are some automations we’ve found to be very helpful for small gym owners just like you.  

Why automate your gym processes?  

Well-executed automation can free up a lot of time for you, or your team members, to work on tasks that need human input and can’t be automated. Small business owners often avoid automation because they are concerned it will be time intensive or confusing to set up, but don’t let that concern steer you away from putting valuable time back in your schedule! 

Choose a software provider with easy-to-use automation, industry-leading customer service to guide and support you, and a robust help center to resolve any unexpected issues that you may have while laying the foundation for your automations. 

Automation is here to stay, and it’s easier than ever to set it up, get it going, and reap the rewards. Time for gym owners to take back their precious time, and let workflows handle your repetitive tasks from now on. Here, we show you how automation can help you and your team, by exploring three automated workflows that you can use at your gym.  

1. Send personal emails for special occasions 

Manually emailing every member for each special occasion would be a tedious and gargantuan time commitment. But you can automate this little task so that it’s done without any labor input, after the initial setup. Many gym owners get their first taste of automation with marketing, specifically, email marketing. 

With email broadcasts, you can automate confirmation emails, birthday wishes, anniversary celebrations, milestone achievements, and so many of those small moments that matter. Email has a great track record for impressive ROIs, but you can also automate SMS broadcasts if you need to send out a message for members to see right away. Did you know that 98 percent of SMS messages are opened? It might seem strange to send a mass text, or like people won’t read them, but you would be surprised how effective this method is to get emergency messages out.  

Get started: Create an email workflow for whatever the prompt is. You can set up workflows to email on someone’s birthday, after they complete several sessions, or on the anniversary of them signing up. The email can contain dynamic content fields, such as first name, for the personalized touch. If you want to get fancy, you can even create different email templates for different classes or instructors. 

2. Send an invoice email before payments are due 

As a small business owner, you can’t afford missed or overdue payments from clients; you need cash to keep the lights on and pay your team for their hard work. Mistakes happen, but you can’t afford to wait, or to deal with flaky clients. 

That’s where this automation comes in. This simple, but essential workflow will save your team from having to remember when to invoice members. It will alleviate the frustrations of delinquent payments, make for more efficient invoices overall, and put members on a regular schedule where they always know when to expect a bill to come in.  

Get started: Create an email workflow to check when a recurring payment is due and send an email with the invoice as an attachment. Your members will always receive the payment reminder on time and your team can spend time building their relationships with members. No matter how they want to pay, you’ll never have to wait and hold your breath for a late payment.  

3. Build workout programs automatically 

Your clients visit you and your trainers because of their fitness expertise. Programming is how you sell yourself as a unique option against the competition but building out workout programs and fitness regimens for clients will eat up hours of your day if you let it. 

Lucky for you, no longer do you have to let it. Our Program Builder allows you to draft killer workouts in advance and get ahead of the game. Save time with our library of the 26 most popular movements trainers use for clients.  

Get started: Create workouts in advance, drag-and-drop popular movements into the program, and have them ready to go for the next client. It takes just minutes to use Xplor Triib’s Program Builder and prep for your next client, so your coaches know what they’re training, and your clients can do workouts on their own if they like.  

Grow your fitness community—and save time while you do it 

Why waste time when you don’t have to? Xplor Triib has everything you need to attract your prospects, engage your members, optimize your operations, and grow your business. We harness the power of automation to set-it-and-forget-it, so you can focus on the important stuff. 

With seamless onboarding, free training, same-day support, and account management, we’ll make sure you’re never on your own. We’re here to help you soar, as your partner, not just a provider.  

Book a time now for a chat so you can see how Xplor Triib will help you reach your goals.  

Hiring a nutrition coach at your gym can be a great way to increase revenue for your business. Unfortunately, many gym owners make the mistake of allowing one of their fitness instructors coach their members on nutrition in an effort to save time or money. You wouldn’t hire someone lacking the proper education to train your members on fitness. So why would you let anyone other than a certified nutrition coach, nutritionist or registered dietician train your members on nutrition?

Allowing uncertified staff to coach nutrition at your gym can be a huge liability and risk to your business. There are rules and regulations (see below) regarding the legality of what nutrition advice can be offered and by whom. That’s why you must make sure to you’re hiring a nutrition coach with the proper certifications, experience, and skills. We recommend the following five areas to evaluate potential nutrition coaches for your gym:

1. Formal Education Or Certification In Nutrition

Firstly, you must research and take into account the laws that your state has regarding nutritional advocacy. If you reside in a red state, you may only be able to hire a Registered Dietician (RD) for your business. Orange, yellow and green states also have individualized criteria that you are required to adhere to. Additionally, different certifications and licensures provide a different scope of practice. It’s important to select a nutrition coach that is certified based on the services you wish to provide to your members.

For instance, if you are looking for someone to provide basic nutritional guidelines then you may be looking for a “health coach”. In contract, if you are looking for someone to work with members who have more advanced needs, such as chronic diseases that may be affected by a diet change, then you’ll need someone with more credentials. Some of the more well-known types of nutrition certifications, licenses and credentials include:

• A Bachelors or Masters Degree in Nutrition or related field
• Licensed Registered Dietician (RD) or Registered Dietician Nutritionist (RDN)
• Precision Nutrition Certifications
• NASM CNC Certified Nutrition Coach
• ISSA Nutritionist Certification
• ACE (American Council on Exercise) Fitness Nutrition Specialist

2. Leadership Skills

Credentials aside, a nutrition coach that will make your nutrition program valuable will also be a passionate and dedicated leader. Your new nutrition coach will likely be building the nutrition program from scratch and will have to take the lead on multiple initiatives to get the program up and running.

Furthermore, a good nutrition coach should also lead the way in that they practice what they preach. A coach should lead by example by practicing good nutritional habits themselves. This doesn’t mean that your nutrition coach has to be a fitness model just like being a fitness model does not qualify that person to dispense nutritional advice. However, in the same sense that your fitness coaches are practicing fitness safely your nutrition coaches should be practicing proper nutrition.

3. Interpersonal Skills

A good nutrition coach should not only be knowledgeable but also compassionate, patient and empathetic. Nutrition isn’t always the most easy or exciting topic for people to teach or to learn. Therefore, it’s important that your nutrition coach is able to make the subject interesting and engaging. Finding a prospective nutrition coach who is able to plan and hold events such as nutrition challenges will ensure the longevity of your nutrition program. Similarly, your nutrition coach should align with your core values and business goals.

4. Work Experience

If potential nutrition coach candidates have the credentials and the skills but lack the experience you can still evaluate their ability to work well with others. A good coach will have a track record of experience working both closely and well others. Look for someone who has a genuine interest and passion for helping people. Likewise, they should be an effective communicator and understand that communication is important to the success of their clients.

5. Compensation Expectations

Nutrition coaching is a professional service, so you might charge additional fees for this service in addition to your general membership prices. What you charge for nutrition coaching will vary depending on the degree of service. However, a general rule of thumb is it should be similar to what you would charge hourly for personal or group training depending on the credentials of the nutrition coach. Additionally, it’s important to have a plan in place for how you will compensate your nutrition coach before you decide on prices.

One option is to partner with an established external nutritionist. In this case, you might offer them an 80/20 profit split to work with your members. This arrangement is mutually beneficial as the nutritionist would have access to your members and you would not have to invest financially in an internal hire. Alternatively, you could offer hourly rates in addition to or in place of an 80/20 arrangement. Compensating your coach for running seminars, writing informational articles, and hosting events for your members will provide value for your nutrition services and give your nutrition coach additional ways to earn money.

If you can afford to hire a nutrition coach full-time then you have the potential to build out a formal nutrition program at your gym. This will allow you the ability to include nutritional consultations and plans as a part of membership fees, increasing your membership value. Furthermore, your nutrition coach can provide value by also coach fitness classes, working at the front desk, cleaning the gym, etc.

Time To Hire Your Nutrition Coach

Now that you know what to look for when hiring a nutrition coach the next step is to put together a nutrition coach job description based on the above criteria. Remember to review potential candidates for certifications and credentials, leadership skills, interpersonal skills, work experience, and compensation expectations. Once you’re ready to post the job consider sharing it within your own gym community first. Inside your own network is an easy and trustworthy place to find referrals and prime candidates for an outstanding nutrition coach for your gym.

To buy a gym for sale, or to build one from scratch, that is the question. There are, of course, pros and cons to both options; however, if you have an opportunity to buy a great gym that’s already turning a profit, I’d advise you to explore that option. Before you start signing contracts though, you must investigate these three queries outlined below. If you can answer “yes” to all three questions on the list, then it might be time to get more serious about buying this gym you’ve got your eyes on.

1. Does The Gym Thrive Without The Owner’s Presence?

If you’d like to buy an existing gym, the first thing to examine is whether or not the owner is the glue that holds the business together. Do they coach most of the classes? Do they “live” at the gym? If the answer to those questions is yes, then buyer beware. Your goal is to find a gym whose owner is actually doing the job of an owner, not an employee.

An owner sets the vision, creates strategies, nurtures the culture, and manages the employees. If the gym that’s for sale has an owner doing all that, then you should definitely consider purchasing it.

2. Is The Backend Of The Gym Business Spotless?

When my husband and I sold our gym in 2018, we gave two handbooks to the new owner. Firstly, our Employee Handbook which is given to all employees during onboarding. Secondly, the Gym Playbook which explains how to run everything from cleaning the floors to running a nutrition challenge. These two handbooks gave the new owner confidence that she could hire employees and operate the gym successfully from day one. If the gym you want to buy doesn’t have handbooks or material that explain the operation of the gym and the onboard process for employees, then I’d reconsider.

It’s a red flag when a business operates haphazardly and doesn’t use any kind of organized system for gym management. It tells me that if I were to purchase the business, I’d have to build the recipe by dissecting the pieces rather than just follow (and iterate) the existing, functional recipe.

3. Is The Gym’s Brand Strong?

Look to buy a gym that has a fantastic reputation—one that has a loyal following and satisfied customers. Take a look at their online reviews and make sure they have good ratings across all platforms. Additionally, take time to feel the energy at the gym. Are folks happy to be there? Is everyone engaged with each other and the coaches? Do you feel good in the space? If yes, then you’ve found a gym that’s more than just a gym, and for that reason it’s certainly worth considering. It’s a bonus if the branding and design are of high quality, too; but it’s not a huge deal if they need some love and attention. Compare it to buying a house: as long as the bones are good, the decor is an easy fix.

If the reputation fails to impress, however, don’t be so quick to be the superhero that swoops in and saves the failing brand from impending collapse. While this gym might already have the space, the signage, the branding, and all of the necessary gym equipment, etc. if they don’t have a happy membership you could be taking on more of a mess than you bargained for.

It can be tremendously easier to buy an existing gym that’s for sale rather than start your own. The time, effort, and money it takes to start something from scratch (rather than improve upon something that already thrives) is vast. If you find a gym for sale that checks off the three items above, you might very well have a winner. However, if you come to the conclusion that you’d like to start your own gym rather than buy an existing one, read up on our four-part Growth Guide. It’s a perfect way to start your gym ownership journey.

If you’re a gym owner you may have considered implementing a dress code policy at your gym before. Many gyms and fitness centers today are known for having either a lax dress code policy or none at all. Just walk into any CrossFit, Spin, or Yoga studio for example and you will likely find shirtless bodies abound. However, there are many other gyms that do have dress code policies. Furthermore, some gyms have stricter rules or enforce their dress code policies more so than others. So how do you decide if a dress code policy is right for your gym?

For starters, it’s common practice for businesses, in general, to require their staff to wear a uniform or adhere to a dress code. On the other hand, enforcing a dress code amongst your members may not be as widely accepted. Issuing a dress code at your gym, or conversely, ignoring the need for one (if it exists) will certainly impact your member experience. Issuing a dress code has the potential to spark debate, divide your community, and even cause you to lose members. This risk is especially high if the policy is implemented after your gym has already been established. Before you decide if a dress code is right for your gym it’s a good idea to understand both sides of the argument.

The pro gym dress code debate

The rationale behind gym dress code policies varies from safety reasons to personal beliefs and in between. One gym owner received media attention when he issued a new dress code policy to his members. Graham Holmberg, a former CrossFit Games athlete and owner of Eleventh Element CrossFit Hilliard put in place a policy which prohibits all athletes from removing their shirts at the gym, including during and after the workout. Female athletes were also barred from wearing short shorts, better known as “booty shorts.”

The media attention given to Holmberg’s dress code policy created debate amongst the CrossFit community with differing opinions on the rationality of dress codes at gyms in general. However, many people seem to be in agreement that a dress code policy based on personal hygiene, health, and safety rationale is perfectly reasonable.

The anti gym dress code debate

Critics generally suggest that dress codes are problematic in the sense that they inhibit freedom of expression or reinforce harmful ideas about class, gender or sexual behavior. Similarly, speculations have been made toward gym owner’s personal motivations behind dress code policies.

Other dress code naysayers suggest that being able to take your clothes off should a personal right or that they are liberated by having the freedom to take layers of clothing off at the gym. The argument for wearing less also seems to be a big factor in CrossFit gyms which often have no-frills setups and therefore less air ventilation.

Further considerations regarding gym dress codes

At the end of the day, it is up to the business owner whether to institute a dress code policy at their gym or not. In order to help you further evaluate the need for a dress code policy at your gym, here are four considerations you should make:

1. Safety: Layered clothing can protect the body from injury but it can also be a risk. Alternatively, wearing fitted or less clothing can help prevent clothing from being caught on equipment such as barbells or machines.

2. Health: Requiring shirts at the gym may help to prevent transmittable infections or diseases and prolong the life of your gym equipment. However, simply asking your members to wear clean clothing and to clean the equipment after each use can also help prevent these problems.

3. Temperature: Allowing members to dress freely may enable them to help regulate their body temperature and feel more comfortable. This is also a safety consideration if you do not have an A/C system installed in your gym or are located in a warmer climate.

4. Member Experience: Implementing a dress code for the convenience or beliefs of one group of people will inevitably inconvenience or upset others. While you can’t please everyone, you should strongly consider the feelings and well being of your entire community.

What are your thoughts on implementing a dress code policy at your gym? Have you done it and seen any difficulties or successes? Or are you strongly against dress codes? Share your thoughts below!

So, you have a vision—you want to open a gym. Well, there will be a myriad of decisions you need to make to get started. One of the most critical decisions to be made when opening a gym is to decide what your gym membership prices are going to be. Sure, it can be deliriously fun to get caught up in your logo, paint colors, and t-shirt designs. But before you start going too far down the creativity rabbit hole you’ll need to figure out how to properly set your rates to make sure you can pay your bills, your staff, and yourself. Be sure to consider each of the steps below because an effective pricing strategy will pay dividends for your fitness business.

Understand Your Market

Firstly, understand that your pricing will vary based on the kind of market you’re in. Therefore be sure to conduct lots of market research and make sure you’re hitting the pricing sweet spot. This means your prices are not so expensive that no one in your area can afford you, and not so discounted that no one in your area will value you. My husband Josh and I opened a gym in 2012, and we made a huge mistake by structuring our pricing and offerings based on what worked at a CrossFit gym in Austin, Texas that we admired. Ultimately we learned that what worked in Austin didn’t work in South Florida. In short, get to know your market intimately before you set your offerings and gym membership prices.

Decide on Your Offerings and Gym Membership Prices

Have you heard of the paradox of choice? It’s the contention by American psychologist Barry Schwartz that says eliminating consumer choices can greatly reduce anxiety for shoppers. In other words, the more choices a consumer is given, the less likely they are to buy because they become overwhelmed and skip the purchase. As a gym owner, you can use this knowledge to your advantage to limit your offerings.

We settled on three offerings at our gym: Drop-In, 8x/Month, and Unlimited Classes. Identify what the per-class rate is (your drop-in fee) and then set your gym membership prices based on that rate.

For example, if your drop-in rate is $30, then offer a discount if the client signs up for a recurring monthly membership. For the 8x/Month Membership, you could offer 10% off your per-class rate: 8 x $30 x 90% = $216. For the Unlimited Classes, you could offer 20% off your per class rate: 12 x $30 x 80% = $288. (For the Unlimited Classes, I assumed that a client with an unlimited membesrship would attend an average of 12 times per month.)

Do Some Basic Budgeting

Figure out what your monthly operating costs are. Once you know how much it costs to operate your business every month, then you can set your gym membership prices. After that be sure to keep in mind that your projected monthly operating costs will likely be an underestimation. Therefore you’ll want to provide some cushion for your business when setting your rates. Aim to price at a place where if your monthly operating expenses prove to be higher than your projection, you wouldn’t be in trouble. In addition, if finance isn’t your thing, recruit your most business-savvy friend or relative to help with the projections.

Check Your Competitor’s Rates

Do some research and find out what your direct competitors are offering and charging. You’ll likely want to be in the same ballpark as your competitors when it comes to pricing. If you’re going to charge more than your competitors, make sure you show why your product is more valuable. On the other hand, If you plan to charge less than your competitors, be sure not to undercut the price to the point where you devalue the product.

Believe in Your Pricing

When we first opened our gym, both Josh and I would cower at our prices, and even make excuses for them. Our lack of confidence in our pricing and offerings didn’t sit well with prospective athletes. If we didn’t believe in our worth, why should they? Once we came to the realization that the service we offered was absolutely worth the price, we no longer felt uncomfortable when we discussed the gym membership prices with prospects. Know your worth and believe in your price. You’ll have a hell of a time making a sale if you don’t. For instance, new business owners often fall into the trap of offering discounts, especially when they aren’t confident about their prices. Beware of this tactic—it often backfires.

In conclusion, you’ve got an amazing new season of life coming your way—you’re opening a gym! If you’re prepared for the season, you’ll do great; but if you haven’t done the work you’re in for a rough ride. Remember to take your time in setting your offerings and gym membership prices. Find some trusted advisors to review your ideas and projections with. Furthermore, keep in mind that pricing is an iterative process. Don’t expect to get it right on the first attempt, it will likely take you a few times before you get it right.

If appointment booking is an essential part of your current business, or if you’re interested in upgrading revenue growth through this channel, get ready for Triib Appointments, appointment booking for fitness and wellness professionals. We’ve found that many gym owners are using separate systems to have the ability to schedule 1-to-1 appointment booking inside their facility.

Switching between two or more platforms to set up appointments is cumbersome and disconnects (or outright removes) the ability to track income relative to your other revenue streams like group classes.

Triib Appointments brings appointment booking capabilities into our all-in-one gym management software platform and it’s launching soon!

What is appointment booking?

Appointment booking allows a user, staff, or admin to book an individual appointment according to a customized availability calendar.

Let’s take a detailed look at what you can expect from Triib Appointments!

How will Appointments benefit me?

As a gym owner or fitness professional, you’ll be able to build out fully integrated appointments for your business.

There are two core benefits for you:

The ability to generate new revenue streams.

The clarity & cost savings of consolidating existing operations under one all-in-one platform.

NEW REVENUE STREAMS

Some gym owners are shifting to a Personal Training(PT) first model, while others are ramping up their businesses by being less dependent on recurring class revenue. This powerful new tool will allow you to explore what works best for your business and give you more ways to deliver value to your members.

You will now be able to offer all of the following from within your Triib platform:

• PERSONAL TRAINING

• NUTRITION COACHING

• 1-ON-1 PROSPECT CONSULTATIONS

• FITNESS EVALUATION SESSIONS

• RESOURCE RESERVATION (CRYO CHAMBERS, TANNING BEDS, ETC)

• PLUS MORE!

CLARITY OF CONSOLIDATION

If you’re already offering personal coaching or similar appointments through external platforms (other than Triib), you can now bring that segment of your business back under one platform, simplifying the reporting and creating a MUCH better member experience.

Ultimately, this can act as a cost-saver on your overhead while improving your understanding of which appointments/staff members are driving your business forward.

MAJOR FEATURES

Let’s look at the three major features inside appointment booking in Triib.

1. SEAMLESS MEMBER SIGNUPS

Here’s how quick and easy the signup experience is from the user’s view (prospect or member):

This shows the self-booking experience of a prospect or member selecting an ‘Intro Session’ and then an appointment length. A staff member and time is then selected and the user is brought to a standard form and waiver review to finalize the booking. 

After this, confirmation notifications are sent and the availability calendar for the selected staff will auto-update!

2. STAFF AVAILABILITY CALENDARS

Admins and staff can use the drag and drop availability calendar to set when they are available for bookings. This syncs dynamically with the member-side booking so users will only book into appointments that fit with your schedule!

3. COMPLETE CUSTOMIZATION

Triib Appointments was designed with tons of easy-to-use settings that will allow you to customize appointment bookings to how (and when) your team works. Here are some examples of customizations you can expect:

AVAILABILITY CALENDARS

Staff can set their individual availability for members to book into.

CUSTOM TYPES & PRICING

Set multiple appointment types, price points and durations.

PAY RATES BY STAFF

Custom pay rates by staff and appointment.

NOTIFICATIONS & RESTRICTIONS

Set member cancellation restrictions along with confirmation and reminder notifications.

SET PAYMENT POLICY

Set when payment is due (at booking or at time of appointment).

STAFF & APPOINTMENT DETAILS

Build out your bookings by adding staff photos and descriptions to appointment types and staff profiles.

LAUNCHING SEPTEMBER

There are tons of great details that will be coming out over the next few weeks including tutorials, deep-dives, and detailed overviews as Triib Appointments launches. We’re so excited to bring appointments to Triib and to help you build the best fitness business possible.

As always, shoot us a note below with any feedback and send any questions to support@triib.com!

Whether you’re ready to open your doors as a new gym owner or you’re trying to build your current member base, getting new members can be quite the mission. While you may be tempted to throw out discounts on membership packages to get those new members in your doors, it’s totally possible to get new members without offering discounts.

Sure, everyone loves a bargain. However, discounting memberships can devalue your time and your brand. Alternatively, by implementing membership standards early on , such as a no-discount policy, can help your gym attract quality leads, attain max profitability, and prevent you from financial troubles at the start of your business venture.

The problem with low barrier offers

All it takes is one early financial mistake like too many discounts or a bad offer to set your business up for failure down the line. Moreover, the wrong types of discounts or offers can attract the wrong types of members that won’t stay with your business. For example, low barrier offers tend to attract low-quality leads.

For reference, a low barrier (or LBO) is generally considered to be an offer that is less than 30 days long and costs less than $100, such as “Only $99 for your first month.” Similarly, the following list of common membership discounts can also backfire later down the line in the same manner as LBOs:

• “Lifetime”, “Grandfathered”, “Founding Member” or otherwise locked-in membership rates.
• 6-Week Challenges.
• Groupon deals.
• Bartering free or discounted memberships in exchange for other services.
• Discounted tier packages, ex: “Buy 1 class for $20, Get 3 classes for $50.”

Think about it, if you are offering $1 memberships and free pizza night, you might get a lot of people to sign up at first, but will they be motivated to stay at your gym without the commitment that comes from making a financial investment? When you offer low barrier deals, you run the risk of attracting members who are just looking for a deal.

Furthermore, you also chance that these “deal-hunters” will tell people in their network who are similar in nature and not qualified leads. The LBO method might get a lot of members in your door at first, but your churn rate will be high because when they have to buy a full-priced membership package, or your rates increase, many of these members will inevitably leave your gym to find the next deal.

Trying to lure members to your gym may not seem like a difficult task if you’re offering discounts, but you must then figure out how to keep them in order to avoid the revolving door dilemma. You can avoid this by adhering to your membership standards and avoiding discounts overall.

You can avoid this by adhering to your membership standards and avoiding offering any discounts at all.

Alternatives to offering discounts at your gym

So if you don’t offer discounts you might be wondering, how do I get new members in the doors of my gym? Savvy gym owners know how to offer so much value that they don’t need to discount their memberships because they have people knocking down their gym doors through the following incentives:

1. Issue a no-commitment policy.

The biggest argument in favor of offering LBOs is to convince members to join who are afraid of making a financial commitment such as a year-long contract, or cancelation fees. Avoid this by implementing a commitment and cancelation policy-free membership policy. The benefits of no-hassle memberships will also save you headaches down the line when it comes to membership management

2. Host free trial classes.

Letting someone try a group class or two for free is not going to cost you a thing. This type of try-before-your buy offer is a similar form of sales psychology as LBO’s, however, with a free trial class you have the opportunity to prove the value upfront at no cost to them or to you.

3. Offer feeder programs.

Otherwise known as “lite” or “intro” programs, memberships for these programs come at a lower price point than your core packages and serve as a segway to get paying members in your door while also making a financial commitment. The intention being that these members will love your product so much they will eventually upgrade to higher membership offerings. An example would be offering “sweat” or “bootcamp” class memberships that feed into your main, higher-priced CrossFit membership.

4. Promote personal training sessions first.

Generally, someone who purchases pre-paid sessions isn’t going to stop coming after their first few classes. They made a financial commitment that they are going to see through. Once they see your value, and the results, they will be more likely to stay and commit to a membership.

5. Partner with fitness marketplace programs like ClassPass.

ClassPass is a monthly fitness membership that provides users access to local studios, gyms, and wellness offerings. As a gym, you’ll never be charged a fee to be listed as a partner on ClassPass. In fact, they pay you for reservations.

Tips on maintaining your membership standards

Implementing a strict no-discount-policy may sound counterintuitive to starting and marketing a business, but keep in mind that manipulating your price is not a sustainable business approach. Here are some simple tips that will help you maintain your membership standards while adding value to your gym, and bringing members to your door:

Over-deliver on results:

Offer an unbeatable product. Hire knowledgeable, reliable and enthusiastic staff. Put all of your energy and efforts into making sure that you are offering the best of the best. If you succeed in doing this, your reputation will attract new members to the gym itself.

Add value:

Instead of lowering your prices, provide added value incentives, like free clinics, seminars or fitness assessments. Choose offerings with relatively little incremental cost and a high-perceived value to engage member satisfaction and drive loyalty. Another low-cost, low investment strategy is to offer giveaway items like branded t-shirts, water bottles, etc.

Build community:

For many, the gym can be an intimidating place, and by creating a sense of community at your gym, it will ensure that clients keep returning. Make sure that each person who enters your door feels like they are a member of a family and not just a gym.

Tell don’t sell:

Provide high-quality free content. Think fitness tips, motivation tactics, success stories, and healthy recipes. Share this information on your social media pages or create a free book that you provide to new members.

Offer incentives for referrals and reward loyalty:

Rewarding your loyal members is a proven strategy for attracting new members and a far better investment than offering a discount to someone just because they walked in your door. Remember, it costs more to acquire a new member than to retain a current member. As such, once you start building your membership base retention should always be your primary objective. Plus, long-term members are more likely to refer family and friends that will stick around.

Did you have a positive experience offering deals when opening your gym? Or do you wish that you had attracted new members without discounts in hindsight? Share your comments below!