10 Ways to Increase Revenue for Your Fitness Studio Without Adding New Members
One common mistake I often see in the fitness industry is studio owners solely focusing their attention on attracting new members to increase revenue and annual profit. When in fact, the easiest way to rake in more revenue is to increase the average spend per member each week.
The benefit of this strategy is that your existing members already know, like, and trust you. Because of this, they are more willing to pay extra money for convenience or additional services that you make available to them. In contrast, advertising for new members on expensive marketing platforms like Facebook and Google is hyper-competitive.
Interested in learning more about how you can get this strategy to work for you? Here are my favourite ways to increase revenue at your fitness studio with your current members.
2. Recurring billing
In my experience, fitness studios with recurring billing will, on average, collect over 12-15% more money over a 52-week period than studios that offer prepaid memberships or session packs.
3. Membership duration
Fitness studios that offer a flexible month-by-month contract option, as well as a six or twelve-month membership option during the price presentation, will sell more long-term programs at a higher average price point than their competitors.
You can increase the number of long-term programs your gym sells each year with consideration in the way you present your prices during a gym tour and staff sales training on developing rapport, effective listening, and providing genuine value.
4. Set-up fee
By adding a £39 or £75 one-off get started fee at point-of-sale, gyms can increase their weekly turnover significantly--covering sales commissions for staff and giving much-needed funds to reinvest back into paid marketing like Facebook and Google ads.
5. Personal training
The 80/20 principle proves that in any population group, twenty percent of members will be willing to pay four to sixteen times more money each week to access a premium service like personal training if it is made available.
The same applies outside the fitness industry where 20% of the population will visit a restaurant and buy the most expensive bottle of wine, it applies to health insurance where 20% of the population pay for the top cover, and applies to homeownership where 20% of people will pay more to live in the more expensive postal codes.
6. Nutrition
Nutrition accounts for a whopping 80% of someone’s fat loss or hypertrophy goals and is an easy add-on to any exercise program. It can be sold as a one-on-one appointment, food plans, or access to an online nutrition library of recipes and cooking tips.
7. Offer challenges
The four-week or six-week challenge format has been around for years and continues to be super successful. The general public sees the value in returning to healthy eating and exercise habits a couple of times per year for motivation and to kickstart results. A good fitness studio can easily sell a six-week challenge for £35-£150 per challenge to increase revenue.
8. Apparel
Famous sporting teams in the NBA and NFL have made millions from selling good-looking apparel that displays the team they support. The fitness industry jumped on the bandwagon in the last 10 years by selling billions of dollars of hats yoga tights, singlets reusable water bottles yoga mats, and spin shoes. In the past, gym members would go to a local sporting store or buy these products online.
However, the fitness studio that makes these conveniently available in the reception area can increase sales with little to no additional marketing spend.
Learn more about using retail to increase your studio’s revenue here.
9. Supplements
The wellness industry is now estimated to be worth over £4 trillion dollars globally each year—with people far more educated to the benefits of protein powder and magnesium for recovery as well things like fish oils for joint health and collagen for anti-aging.
10. Avoid suspensions over the holiday season
Most gyms get a bunch of member suspensions over the holiday period each year. One of the easiest ways to increase annual revenue is to make it attractive for members to continue training by being proactive. Provide kid programs such as themed Christmas workouts, social events, and varied timetables so members continue to pay during this period.
We hope you feel empowered to increase revenue with your existing customer base. Want to speak to fellow business owners to learn about what they’ve done to see success?
