Imagine if you could communicate with your members virtually instantly, in the blink of an eye? No need to imagine. Text is a form of communication often underutilized by clubs that can be revolutionary to your gym’s member experience and operations. Here, PJ Jones, the manager of Get Fit Athletic Club and Gold’s Gym Indianapolis, shares how his partnership with Textmunication benefited his business.
CS: How were you introduced to Textmunication, and why did you decide to partner with them?
PJ: I was introduced to Textmunication by one of their marketing programs. I believe they found my name as a club manager somewhere and sent me a marketing-specific email that I, in turn, responded back to for more information. This was back in October of 2014.
I decided to partner with Textmunication because I believe in mass text messaging. I believe that it is the single most-effective way to market in today’s fitness business. It allows us to reach a lot of people in a short amount of time, and it allows us to cut down on our workload, because it’s automated. I was looking for a mass text messaging program and Textmunication happened to find me first. I specifically decided to go with Textmunication because of their customer service, professional explanation of their program and the services that they provide.
CS: What are the benefits to your business as a result of this partnership?
PJ: I am able to mass text prospects, delinquent members, new members, former members and current members. If I have a promotion at the gym that is specific to former members, I can reach them all. If I have a promotion at the gym that is personal training or small group training specific, then I can easily reach all appropriate members. Bottom line is this, if I have something that I want to market and I have an approved list, then I can hit them all at one time with little to no effort. There is no coincidence that 2015 was the best year for my clubs yet in regards to sales and income.
CS: What are the benefits to your members as a result of this partnership?
PJ: We are easily able to communicate with them in regards to their account, personal training programs and key promotions that we are running at the clubs. They enjoy the service because they can opt-out or opt-in based on their preferences. They also like it because they can simply tell us no or ignore the text message instead of having to listen to someone on our outreach team try and convince them to purchase a product, service or promotion at the gym. Above all else it keeps the members in the know on important club events. In over a year of service, we have had next to no complaints from our members or prospects, which is rare when mass text messaging occurs.
CS: Have you been pleasantly surprised by working with Textmunication in any way?
PJ: Yes. Working with Nick, vice president of sales, and Wais, president, have been a pleasure. If I ever need something they are readily available. Let’s just say that adding a third-party vendor to your team can leave a lot to be desired when it comes to customer service sometimes. I have zero complaints and have had zero issues with Textmunication in any way. That’s a pleasant surprise when working with any company that tries to help you build your club marketing when they aren’t doing it presently every day with you.
CS: What else can you tell other club owners about the benefits of working with Textmunication?
PJ: Textmunication is great for pushing personal training on new members, former members and current members. Each month we use the mass texting feature for two primary reasons. First, we use it to promote a one-day new membership special on closeout. We’ve never sold less than 90 deals in one day since we began using Textmunication for closeout. Secondly we use it to push a personal training special on our current members. Each time we do that we see a spike in our new client sales. Bottom line is this: We all want to leverage our time by working smarter, not harder. Textmunication does that for my clubs.
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
