Do you own a gym? What are you doing to sell memberships? Do you have a strategy? Are you aware of the pain points experienced by potential buyers? Do you have some concrete solutions? The harsh truth about the fitness industry is that it is extremely competitive. The barriers to entry are comparatively low and most fitness centres often offer similar services which usually means they are always fighting on prices and not on experience.
The key to selling more memberships in this hypercompetitive industry is to focus on experience and other intangibles instead of price. You can’t really fight on price alone as there will always be someone who is willing to go lower just because they can afford to lose money.
This blog post will explore several actionable strategies to help you sell more gym memberships including the use of access control systems, to help you increase revenue, year over year.
Best Strategies to Increase Gym Membership Sales
The fitness industry in Australia is expected to be worth more than $2.2 billion in 2022. The pandemic has halted the continuous growth of the industry for a couple of years but the trend is picking up and it is expected to only grow bigger in the coming years. How much of this revenue you may capture depends on certain parameters. Here are a few ways for you to increase revenue for your gym by selling more memberships:
- Get rid of all the friction in the joining process
- Encourage existing members to leave positive online reviews on social media and other review websites
- Create an online marketing plan. Make sure it covers a user-friendly website, paid advertising, and social media marketing
- Take stock of your competition and do better
- Focus on your employees and train them to make more sales
- Understand the needs of your customers
- Identify a niche for your gym
- Create a personalised experience for each member
- Invest in systems to collect as much actionable data as possible
- Prompt follow-up is the best way to convert leads into paying customers
- Try out referral programs to increase sales
- Invest in a gym access management software to create a seamless experience for your members
- Seriously consider opening your gym 24 x 7
- Invest in paid advertising
- Incentivise new customers by offering a free trial or sign up at half price or a discount
One of the biggest pain points for potential members is the lack of options for signing up. People should be able to join online or offline. Make sure they are able to access the gym at any time by investing in a high-quality gym access solution that gives access based on a smartphone app or similar ideas.
Encourage existing members to leave reviews on popular review websites and on social media platforms. Think of creating an incentive program where existing members get one month or a couple of months free or maybe they can upgrade to a higher tier when someone signs up through their referral link. Also, create a digital marketing strategy to promote your brand on digital platforms.
Make sure you are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of your competition. Study their marketing strategy and do better. It is important to properly train your employees to focus on sales. Think about incentivising them. Think about offering a wide range of packages to prospective members.
How to Choose the Best Systems for Your Gym?
All kinds of gym access systems are available in the market at various price points. Some of these systems allow integration with existing CCTV systems whereas others require you to invest in a new system to be able to use their gym access control solution. Here are a few tips to help you choose the best access control system for your gym:
- Choose a system that integrates with existing solutions you are using
- Make sure it features a tailgate detection system as highly accurate tailgate detection systems can put a plug in huge amounts of revenue leakage
- It should allow you to reach out to existing members
- It should make it easy for customers to sign up and access the gym
- It should create a sense of security among the members
- It should provide actionable data on the most popular machines or most popular parts of the gym
- It should provide data on the most popular time of the day and other such actionable data
While there are several gym access control systems, not every system is right for your needs. Many such systems include tailgate detection but their accuracy is limited to around 85%, however, there are systems with more than 95% accuracy levels. Obviously, this 10% gap can translate to huge revenue losses over time. Make sure you choose a company with an excellent reputation in the industry for its products and customer service.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the fitness industry in Australia is currently worth more than $2.2 billion but it is expected to reach revenues of more than $5 billion in the coming years. You have the potential to capture a good chunk of this revenue by utilising effective strategies to convert leads into paying members. Do not forget that it’s a highly competitive industry and you need to do everything in your power to increase membership and retain those members.
Investment in a reliable and real-world tested gym access control system allows you to enhance members’ experience by making your gym more secure. If the demand from your members 24 x 7 accessibility, then a gym access control system also has the potential to allow you to operate your fitness centre 24 x 7.
Secure Your Gym with Innertelligence Products!
InnerTelligence is one of the premier security companies in Australia. We have been working in this industry for several years and have established a reputation for customised security solutions. We have implemented our gym access control system in more than 300 gyms across Australia. We focus on both the hardware and software side to cover all the security needs of our customers.
Please give us a call at 1300 312 184 or leave an enquiry to learn more about integrated gym access control and CCTV security solutions today!
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