Guest post by Tiffany Houkom, SEM Specialist, Zen Planner
You’ve probably heard the “new year, new you” motto floating around lately. It’s the time of year to make resolutions in an effort to become a new, better you. The same can hold true for your business. If your affiliate gym struggled last year, this is your opportunity to start the New Year fresh.
With the help of over 400 affiliate gyms around the world, my team at Zen Planner was able to get great insight into what the top boxes are doing to create success for themselves. Looking for ways to improve the financial health of your box? Here are the top three findings.
1. Start Charging More
Leading boxes around the world charge more. In fact, leading boxes charge about 30% more than lagging boxes.
Leading boxes confidently charge more because they believe they provide an all-around better product. They know they have the best coaches, programming and classes to help members achieve their goals. Ensure you are providing more value than competing gyms in your area, and you can confidently start charging more.
2. Stop Discounting
In addition to charging more, leading boxes do not discount their memberships. By not discounting, leading boxes generate nearly 50% more revenue per member than lagging boxes.
Discounts can lead your box down a difficult path. If you lure new members in with a discount, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to start charging them normal membership pricing down the road. Many times, you’re stuck with continuing to offer them discounted pricing at the risk of losing them.
As mentioned earlier, when you know you offer the best training in town, you provide more value to your members than the competing gym down the street. The best training in town should never be discounted.
3. Prioritize Member Retention
When you have more members, you can afford to do a lot more. Leading boxes have a much larger member base than lagging boxes.
It costs 10 times more to win a new member than it does to keep a current one. The best way to build a strong community is by retaining your members. Focus on putting a solid retention strategy in place to compliment your member acquisition strategy. This will ensure you’ll keep current members while bringing in new members, helping you grow your overall member base year over year.
Interested in discovering other ways leading affiliate gyms around the world are building a financially stable business? Get your copy of Zen Planner’s 2016 Affiliate Gym Benchmark Report. The report highlights what leading boxes are doing right, and shares key benchmark data including demographics, facility size, average coach salaries and more.
Written by Tiffany Houkom, SEM Specialist, Zen Planner
Born and raised in Denver, Tiffany is a Colorado girl to her core. From snowboarding and hiking to working out at her neighborhood CrossFit® box, Tiffany has a hard time sitting still. Professionally, Tiffany has over seven years of digital marketing experience, and currently serves as Zen Planner’s Search Engine Marketing Specialist.
