This post was originally written by Club OS. Club OS is a lead and member management system that handles all of your health club marketing and sales needs. From in-depth reporting to automated follow-up’s, they help you “Sell More. Do Less.”. Click here to learn more about Club OS.
Driving sales is at the top of every gym owner, salesperson or personal trainer’s mind. Nearly everyone exhausts their sales and marketing tactics – even those that include going to the mall and starting up cold conversations about fitness. While these can have their benefits, what if you could just use your current customers to grow your business?
Referral programs are an overlooked revenue source for most clubs. A lot of owners spend money advertising, but don’t see the value in creating a referral challenge for their customers, or offering a free giveaway. Word of mouth marketing brings in two times more business than any other, here are a couple of reasons that prove referrals are the best way to skyrocket sales in your gym.
The power of a gym referral program
A gym referral program is a common strategy that is used by most gyms. Gym owners use it as a way to generate more memberships from an existing customer. Gym referral programs are simple to set up and provide the business with a huge opportunity to offer incentives for both people joining and referring others. The new Referral Program allows the person who joins or refers someone else to get something in return, which makes it more appealing for them. It also provides an incentive for people who are considering joining to refer someone else before they do. Gyms must maintain their share of new memberships while keeping current members happy because this ensures that their referrals keep coming back. Gym owners should consider implementing an online Gym Referral Program in order to get the best return on their investment.
An in-person Gym Referral Program or an online Gym referral program?
The way that the Gym Referral Program works is exactly the same, whether it’s implemented by a gym owner themselves or if they choose to work with Club OS instead. All referrals are important for business growth, even though it’s likely that they will get more referrals by implementing their own Gym Referral Program. This is because it gives the owner a chance to create incentives and rewards for both members who refer someone else, and those people who join based on these referrals. It also makes sure that every referral counts towards increasing business growth, which could eventually lead to a gym membership increase.
Why do you need a gym referral program?
There are many reasons why Gym Referral Programs are so important for Gym owners. Gym referral programs are a very good means of getting new potential customers at very low costs. Members are more likely to remain a member of your gym if more people know to attend the same club. . Many of the mistakes in fitness program referral stem from the channels they use to communicate to existing members about how to execute a referral and reap the rewards. We'll give you some tips and tools about implementing referrals to a gym to ensure that your workout experience remains as smooth as possible. This will be a win-win for everyone, as your current customers could become the most cost-effective channels for marketing your fitness club.
Here in this post, here are some reasons why are a Must-Have in Your Gym.
Less Ground Work
Because asking for referrals is so simple, your sales team can do this in between other lead generation tactics. One easy way to build your referral lead list is to set up an email blast that reaches out to members every two months asking them to send in their referrals. This just takes a quick setup and the rest can be done automatically using health club software like Club OS.
Remember, once a prospect becomes a member, the revenue source doesn’t end there. Use those warm introductions to make a new lead feel welcome.
Low Cost Per Lead
There is little-to-no cost associated with asking your current members for referrals. All they have to do is fill out a quick form, and you have some new leads! Some cost may accumulate if you decide to run a referral program that offers a free month or a giveaway, but it’s minimal and pays off in the long run.
Simple referral programs such as a free month for the member and their referred guest are easy and inexpensive ways to incentivize your members. Programs such as Perkville automate this for you, making it easy for your members to automatically refer their friends on social or through email.
Increased Retention Rates
When your members are inviting their friends, they are growing their community at your gym. If members are surrounded and encouraged by people they know, they often don’t have a reason to leave. Being proactive and asking for referrals from your members will turn those members into a mobilized sales team. You'll strengthen your member community while increasing sales and revenue at the same time.
That’s right, you have revenue sitting in your gym, you just may not have realized how much. Make sure that your sales team is implementing referral tactics after every sale, and keeping them up throughout a member’s life cycle.
Leverage social media when introducing a Gym referral program
Social media works great in marketing your Fitness gym, but also works to spread the word about a referral program or discounted membership. If you offer a 1-month free gym membership, you may get a guy on the phone looking for 12 new members. Plus, if a fellow guy talks about your gym, you get some publicity as well. So make it a goal to let everyone know you started referral programs and that if they work hard, they can get the free gym for a year, etc. If he's a man working harder, he gets a year's free gym membership, but you'll get Full-Price subscriptions from 12 members. — Add a Gym referral program to your existing gym social media pages. This will help you create more awareness and excitement for referrals, as well as increase the number of people who can participate in them with ease.
1. Add Gym referral program onto your existing gym social media pages.
2. Post about them on social media and let everyone know the benefits of the Gym.
Finally, you'll want to make sure that members know how to execute a referral before they start sending them out. You can do this by including a “How-to” section on your Gym's website or in your Gym Newsletters. We recommend including things like:
— What the Gym offers members
— What the Gym offers to referrers — How Gym Referrals work
— Why Gym Referrals are good for everyone
— How Gym Referrals are executed
The key to a successful Gym referral program
The key to the success of Gym referral programs is in reward. Gym owners should offer a great incentive or rewards to people who either recommend someone to join the Gym or if they are the new person who joins due to that referral. If members are getting rewards for these types of actions, they are more likely to participate in them. Members are also more likely to stay with a Gym if their friends are also members, which is one reason why Gym Referral Programs are so successful. Gym owners have also seen increased retention rates when referring their Gym.
Conclusion
Gym referral programs are a very good means of getting new players at very low costs. Gym owners can get an edge on the competition with this easy, inexpensive way to grow their customer base and keep them coming back for more workouts. One key is in offering rewards or incentives to people who either recommend someone to join the Gym or if they are the new person who joins due to that referral. If members are getting rewards for these types of actions, they are more likely to participate in them. Members are also more likely to stay with a Gym if their friends are also members, which is one reason why Gym Referral Programs have been so successful across industries! Want help setting up your own Fitness Club? Perkville is a leading retention and referral solution for the health, fitness, salon, spa, and retail industries. Perkville offers a way to create, manage and track customer loyalty programs while also taking advantage of customer referrals through promotional rewards.