Are you still doing a one to three day free trial? If you are, then you are missing out on potential sales. Club owners get concerned when they hear 14-day-free trial, they have a fear that people are just going to use their club for 14 days for free. What we need to realize is it shouldn’t matter if you offer a 14 day or 30 day free trial. The goal is to get as much traffic in your club as possible. If you could increase your guest pass usage by 50 percent by offering a 14 day free trial, would your rather have 50 people that show up that month with a three-day pass or 75 people that show with a 14 day pass? I will take the 75 people with the 14-day pass, because I know the more people I have coming through my doors, the more memberships I can sell. When it comes to the end of the day, it’s about how many new people I had the opportunity to sell a membership to that day. Check around your area and see what your competition is doing. If I looked online and one club had a three-day-free pass and one club had a 14-day-free pass, I personally would be apt to go visit the club that had a 14-day-free trial.
Eric Vyborny
Fitness Marketing Contributor
Eric, great tip! Like we’ve discussed in the past the Trial membership is a tool used to get someone’s attention. Its a great tool to disarm someone who has a wall up, and it also allows you to provide 1st Day Join incentives and then tier the incentives as the trial membership continues. Catch their attention, get them in the door, provide great service, and change a life. Everyone leaves my gym with a membership, trial or otherwise.
At Kennedy Club Fitness in the San Luis Obispo County (Central Coast) California, we are currently offering…’Back to School = 14 FREE DAYS of FITNESS 4 YOU + 1 FRIEND” advertised on radio, television, print, online and through SMN sites and we are receiving a great response. HOWEVER, all the free time in the world will not convert to memberships UNLESS the prospects are CONNECTED to your clubs during their pass period. All prospects are strongly encouraged to either complete complementary fitness orientation sessions with a certified trainer (free) or participate in one or more group fitness classes. Prospects are prompted to bring a co-worker, friend or family member, which further solidifies their connection. When they do one of these three things, 80% or more will join because they are no longer feel awkward or new–they now belong!