How to Increase Sales at Your Fighting Gym

Over 20% of Americans belong to a gym, but 60% of American adults say they wish they were more fit and exercised more frequently. Gym membership is more appealing than ever, and the success of each gym rests on its ability to build up and maintain loyal patrons. Gym members are the fundamental component that supports a gym’s prosperity, but when it comes to increasing membership sales, it’s a lot easier said than done. 

Read on for invaluable methods to increase your gym’s membership and company sales–and both grow and sustain a devoted, satisfied member base. 

Make It Easy to Join

There’s a reason briefer novels are more widely read than lengthier ones, and it isn’t laziness. People are more likely to take on tasks in which success is more guaranteed and easier for them to visualize or map out. If your registration process is easy to understand, straightforward and quick, you’re more likely to see your membership count grow. 

Consider helpful programs that make the process easier for both you and your target client, such as online registration forms, sales force automation software or digital waivers.

Pinpoint Your Strengths

Each gym has its own strengths and weaknesses, and it’s important to be aware of your own. In a saturated field, identify your unique place in the market. It may be your prices that help you to stand out from the competition. Your selling point could be a crew of specialty trainers. Whatever your allure, play it up and let it be known.

Request Reviews

Many would-be members decide whether or not to visit your gym well before ever setting foot outside of their own homes. Online reviews are a powerful selling point, and an accumulation of positive reviews increases your social proof and credibility. Encourage existing members to leave positive reviews on social media, but first make sure they’re satisfied with their experience. Unbiased, authentic reviews are a major marketing tool, so avoid incentivizing reviews to ensure legitimacy.

Train Your Team

Your employees should not only be trained according to their job descriptions, but they should also be trained in best practices when it comes to upselling, great customer service and teamwork. Each employee should be aware of everything that your gym has to offer, and should be so well versed with the ins and outs of your gym that they are comfortable with information and sales outside of their own position. 

Ensure that your dedicated sales team is at the top of their game. Hold consistent meetings, offer ongoing training and keep other staff members, such as receptionists, cleaning crews, nutritionists and trainers, in the loop as well. Each team member has a different vantage point when it comes to your company, and your inner network can never be too strong. 

Track Sales

Generating leads is useless if prospective members lose their steam somewhere before converting into a paying member. Every stage in the sales funnel is important, and it’s too easy to get caught up in the initial awareness stages and lose sight of a good conversion process. 

Before tracking, make sure you know what actions are needed to lock in your members at each stage. Maintain a log of leads, how many times they’ve been contacted, what their expressed desires and interests are and what your marketing team needs to do to secure them as a client. 

Use Referrals

To compensate your existing members while recruiting new members to your gym, consider implementing a referral program. In a good referral program, both the referral and referee should be rewarded considerably with an offer that wouldn’t otherwise appear in another sphere of your business, such as a seasonal sale or local discount offer. 

Keep It Personal

Your members want to feel like more than just another membership fee for your gym. Scripts and copied and pasted responses may help to keep your team to remain consistent in their approach, but they can come off as impersonal and off-putting to hopeful members. 

At the end of the day, the more you listen to the people who keep you in business, and the more you and your team connect with them on a personal level, the more likely your gym is to see an increase in membership, inviting a larger number of people into your space and investing in the success of your gym and the people who help your business to thrive.