• EDUCATE. EMPOWER. SUCCEED.
  • Subscribe
  • Newsletter
  • Media Kit
  • Contact
  • Login
Club Solutions Magazine
  • Topics
    • Leadership
    • Marketing & Sales
    • News
    • Operations
    • Programming
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Past Issues
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletter
    • Media Kit
    • Contact Us
  • On-Demand
  • Education
    • Club Solutions Leadership Summit
    • Club Solutions Leadership Retreat
    • Pickleball Innovators
    • The Leadership Accelerator Video Series
    • Club Solutions Book Club: High Road Leadership, John C Maxwell
    • Club Solutions Book Club: The Advantage
  • Supplier Insights
    • Brand Voice
    • Supplier Voice
    • Supplier News
  • Podcast
  • Webinars
    • Thought Leaders: A Virtual Roundtable Series
    • On-Demand Webinars
  • Buyer’s Guide
No Result
View All Result
  • Topics
    • Leadership
    • Marketing & Sales
    • News
    • Operations
    • Programming
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Past Issues
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletter
    • Media Kit
    • Contact Us
  • On-Demand
  • Education
    • Club Solutions Leadership Summit
    • Club Solutions Leadership Retreat
    • Pickleball Innovators
    • The Leadership Accelerator Video Series
    • Club Solutions Book Club: High Road Leadership, John C Maxwell
    • Club Solutions Book Club: The Advantage
  • Supplier Insights
    • Brand Voice
    • Supplier Voice
    • Supplier News
  • Podcast
  • Webinars
    • Thought Leaders: A Virtual Roundtable Series
    • On-Demand Webinars
  • Buyer’s Guide
No Result
View All Result
Club Solutions Magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home Column

Sales: Do You Have Tightwad Customers?

Rachel Zabonick-Chonko by Rachel Zabonick-Chonko
November 25, 2016
in Column, Marketing & Sales
0
Tightwad
Share on FacebookShare on LinkedIn

In order to sell to your customers, you must know who they are. And when I say “know who they are,” I mean know what type of spender they are.

According to neuroeconomic research, there are largely three types of buyers: Tightwads, Average Buyers and Spendthrifts. Each have different spending patterns that influence how and why they make purchasing decisions.

As a result, knowing what type of spenders you have within your business can give you an advantage when it comes to marketing or selling to them.

According to the research, consumer spending patterns are broken down by percentage as follows:

  1. Spendthrifts: 15%
  2. Average Buyers: 61%
  3. Tightwads: 24%

According to this research, Tightwads are people “who feel intense pain at the prospect of spending money, and therefore tend to spend less than they would ideally like to spend.”

Spendthrifts are people who “feel insufficient amounts of pain at the prospect of spending and therefore tend to spend more than they would ideally like to spend.”

Obviously, the Tightwads are the customers who can give health clubs trouble — the customers who fight tooth and nail to avoid buying personal training packages, add-ons — and therefore don’t contribute to ancillary revenue.  

And based off this research, Tightwads make up roughly 1 in 4 of your customers.

So, how can you get Tightwads to open their wallets? Here are a couple tricks you can use to make the process easier:

  1. Make the price a bargain. Although you don’t want to offer a discount to Tightwads on personal training packages, breaking down the cost by session, versus total cost, may make the price more appealing to them. That is because Tightwads tend to balk at high prices, so explaining the value they get per session can make the offer more enticing.
  2. Emphasize value. Because Tightwads have such a hard time spending money, you must emphasize the value of what they’ll be spending money on. These customers will be your hardest sell, so bring your A-game when it comes to explaining how your product will benefit them and what value it brings.

Although there’s no easy way to tell if your customer is indeed a Tightwad, you can get a hint based off their reaction to certain offers, programs or products.

And if you think they’re a Tightwad, keep this research in mind — you may just get them to open their wallet a bit more at your club.

Stay ahead in the fitness industry with exclusive updates!

Rachel Zabonick-Chonko
Rachel Zabonick-Chonko

Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.

Tags: Sales Blogspending habits
Previous Post

New E-Book Predicts the Future

Next Post

Virtuagym Increases Revenue and Member Satisfaction for 4:13 Fitness Center

Rachel Zabonick-Chonko

Rachel Zabonick-Chonko

Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.

Related Posts

“Click-to-Cancel”
Column

Why I’m Sticking with “Click-to-Cancel” — Even After the Court Ruling

July 14, 2025
AI-Powered Marketing
Supplier Voice

Why Now is the Time to Market Smarter with AI-Powered Marketing

July 7, 2025
Employee Wellness
Column

Placing Priority on Employee Wellness in Health Clubs

June 25, 2025
Hiring for the Right Reasons
Column

Hiring for the Right Reasons: Rethinking Recruiting for High-Performing Teams

June 11, 2025
Padel
Column

Padel Is the Glue — And the Business Case for Why Racquet Sports Belong in Every Health Club

May 28, 2025
big rocks
Column

3 Big Rocks from The HFA Show That Could Reshape Your Gym

May 22, 2025
Next Post
Virtuagym

Virtuagym Increases Revenue and Member Satisfaction for 4:13 Fitness Center

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

GET UPDATES IN YOUR INBOX

Facebook Twitter Instagram LinkedIn

The Current Issue

July/August Issue 2025

July/August Issue 2025



Browse

  • Home
  • Subscribe
  • Newsletter
  • Media Kit
  • The Magazine
  • Club Solutions On-Demand
  • Buyer’s Guide
  • Contact Us

© 2025 Club Solutions Magazine. Published by Peake Media.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Topics
    • Leadership
    • Marketing & Sales
    • News
    • Operations
    • Programming
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Past Issues
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletter
    • Media Kit
    • Contact Us
  • On-Demand
  • Education
    • Club Solutions Leadership Summit
    • Club Solutions Leadership Retreat
    • Pickleball Innovators
    • The Leadership Accelerator Video Series
    • Club Solutions Book Club: High Road Leadership, John C Maxwell
    • Club Solutions Book Club: The Advantage
  • Supplier Insights
    • Brand Voice
    • Supplier Voice
    • Supplier News
  • Podcast
  • Webinars
    • Thought Leaders: A Virtual Roundtable Series
    • On-Demand Webinars
  • Buyer’s Guide

© 2025 Club Solutions Magazine. Published by Peake Media.