If you want to sign up more members and increase your gym sales, you're in the right place! After working with some of the biggest brands as well as small local gyms all over the world, we've collected the best strategies that have a large impact on your membership sales. Let's go!
As a gym owner, if you want to attract new members you need to give them a compelling reason to join. Most gyms offer some sort of free trial or a no sign-up fee (something along those lines) that's kind of attractive, but it's also the same as everyone else.
Spice it up a bit to increase the perceived value. Have a look at what other gyms are doing - what can you do that's even better? If competitors offer a 1-day free trial, offer 7 days free. If a competitor has a half-price signup fee, do no signup fee.
It could be a combination of no signup fees along with a free personal training session, merchandise etc — it depends on your gym. Just make sure you communicate the dollar value of it as well so they know how much of a bargain it is (e.g '$200 value').
Pro Tip — The key is to create an offer that is incredibly attractive, but also easy for you to deliver.
Now you have a great offer - but a great offer won't get you far if nobody knows about it! The best way to get the word out is with paid advertising, like Facebook and Google ads.
Set up a landing page on your website with your offer, then create punchy and attention-grabbing ads for Facebook and Google that send people to your site.
Facebook is good because you can target specific people in your area and show them something they might be interested in, even if they weren't actively searching for it. The fitness industry is also very popular so potential gym members are open to seeing ads.
Google Search ads are great for when people are looking for a local gym (e.g they type in 'fortitude valley gym'), and your website will show up. Make sure the offer is front and centre!
Note - Even if you don't have a special offer, Google Ads are a great way to generate gym sales just in general.
Even if you don't have a special offer, Google Ads are a great way to generate gym sales just in general.
Your website is one of your best marketing tools, and it needs to be optimised for conversions (even if you're not running a special offer). A site that isn't optimised is a leaky bucket with holes in it.
If you can improve your website, you can generate more leads without needing more traffic. And if you don't, there are lots of wasted leads slipping through the cracks. We could write a whole book on this topic alone, but here are three tips.
Firstly, MAKE SURE it's easy to use and works flawlessly on mobile because the majority of your traffic comes from a phone.
Secondly, make sure the messaging is clear and compelling. And if you have decided to create a compelling offer, make it obvious!
Your gym membership pricing should be obvious, there should be clear customer service details, a lot of information (like your fitness equipment, if you offer personal trainer services etc).
Thirdly, include lots of call to actions (like buttons in contrasting colours) so it's easy for them to get in touch with you and/or claim your attractive offer.
Tip - It's a good idea to reduce the number of form fields on your website. If potential members want to enquire but they have to spend minutes filling out a form, they will leave.
Reducing form fields is an easy way to get more people to convert.
Every business owner wants to get more gym membership sales and generate leads (obviously) but don't underestimate the value of brand awareness. Sharing content and regular posts on social media is a great way to become known in your community without being too pushy.
It won't bring in immediate leads, but you will create a positive reputation and actively build a brand that people actually want to follow and support. Also - lead gen ads are great for getting new leads, but once they turn off, the leads stop.
A brand with a great reputation doesn't turn off!
Aim to provide value with workout and fitness tips, new classes and updates, gym equipment tutorials, motivation for fitness goals, shouting out the members and building your online community with useful and personal content.
Note - A side benefit is social media will improve your lead gen campaigns and your organic SEO results, especially if you create blogs and videos on your site.
If you're doing all this great marketing work, you will have leads coming in. Don't lose the momentum with a clunky sales process!
If your leads are just being randomly added to a spreadsheet (or worse yet they are just going to an email inbox) you and your sales team are 100% losing opportunities. Spreadsheets are good because they are free, but what you're saving in software costs is costing you way more in missed customers.
With a CRM (ideally one designed for the fitness industry) not only can you centralise all of your leads into one place, but you can assign leads to your team and depending on the CRM functionality, send automated messages for every lead.
Not all CRMs offer this functionality, but good software should show where leads are coming from along with reports for your business like:
Lead conversion rate
Time needed to close a lead
Customer acquisition cost
Best performing staff
Days between follow-ups
Average contacts required per sale
Top-performing marketing channels
Projected revenue based on pipeline
There are a lot of CRMs out there with varying levels of functionality and price points. We recommend choosing one specifically made for gyms to avoid paying for features you aren't using or needing to spend ages adjusting it to suit a gym's needs.
Tip — if a new member converts, don't forget to make them feel welcome and give them adequate onboarding. It's even better if the CRM you use can integrate directly with your member management software to avoid any double handling.
If you are relying on spreadsheets, you’re losing money!
Whether you're a small gym, a big fitness center or a small fitness studio, it's always much easier to sell to an existing customer than acquire a new one. Also, some gyms are so focused on getting new customers that they neglect their current ones. Don't fall into this trap!
Ask your customers - 'how can we help you more?' You'd be amazed at how happy they are to pay for more products or services, but the gym never asks them! Let them know you can help them with personal training, supplements, massage, physio, whatever your gym offers and is relevant.
You'd also be surprised at how happy your members are to leave a review or refer a friend. There are a few ways to do this:
Offer a free coffee (or similar) if they leave a Google review.
Offer 2 weeks free if they refer a friend who signs up
Have a lucky draw so if they share a post on social media and tag you, you'll pick 1 winner each month who wins a prize.
Not only does it help you get more business, but it also keeps customers happy and makes them feel more included. Win-win-win!
Now you know the power and importance of coming up with compelling offers, using paid ads, optimising your website, leveraging social media, using a CRM software and capitalising on existing customers.
If you got some value out of this guide, the next best thing you can do is get in touch with GymLeads for a demo so you can see how to stop missing sales, convert more members, eliminate repetitive tasks and free up your time.
With our industry-leading software you can:
See all your sales leads in one place and track where they are coming from.
Stop leads slipping through the cracks and convert more into paying members.
Save time by automating the sales process to increase profitability & productivity.
Stay organised, easily manage contacts and stop dealing with spreadsheet chaos.
Use powerful SMS and email marketing for personalised messages to every lead.
As a gym owner, if you want to run a better, smart and more profitable fitness business, you need GymLeads. It's the lead management software trusted by gyms in over 15 countries.
Book a free demo to find out how many extra sales you could be generating, ask questions and see how our other clients are skyrocketing their sales.