My favorite come-back sale is a buy two classes, get one free. I only like to use free as an active strategy, which should include a purchase component (i.e., buy X and get Y Free). Keep the offer short and finite. A client who has been inactive for months will not sign up for a six-month membership, even if you discount it deeply. Create a low-stakes, low-cost offer to help them fall in love with your gym again.

The quarterly survey is my favorite tool to combat membership churn in the wellness industry. Free tools such as Survey Monkey enable you to build templates to easily survey your clients. By asking key questions and analyzing the data, you can then strategically improve your business each quarter

Your gym’s trajectory can drastically and quickly improve by setting aside CEO time each year, quarter, and month to check in, identify roadblocks and needle movers, and set actionable, achievable goals. I call this an “owner retreat” and its similar to what I did as a studio owner, and what I do now with my clients and my own business.

As a boutique fitness studio owner, you likely want to boost your Google search results in order to rank higher. In a perfect world, instead of spending thousands on Facebook ads, your gym members would attend a fitness class at your studio, love their experience, and immediately post a glowing review on Google. Potential customers would then discover your fitness studio from your five-star Google reviews, and the cycle would repeat itself.

As the gym owner, you have the experience to guide your client in choosing the package that best serves their needs. That doesn’t mean you should personify the gym sales tactics that give the fitness industry a pushy reputation. You can embody confidence while supporting your new client’s goals, schedule, and budget.

If you own a gym or boutique fitness studio, your confidence in asking customers to buy is often the difference between a profitable fitness business and hoping to break even.

One of the first things I ask my clients is, “if I were a brand new client standing at your desk, what is my step-by-step experience?” Usually, studio owners tell me their ideal scenario, but when I ask them how they know it’s occurring, they admit it’s hit or miss. Margins are tight right now; we don’t have room for low conversion rates. If you don’t have a client flow, it’s time to create it.

Here are the KPI's every boutique fitness studio owner needs to know and use to build a profitable business

Parkinson's Law is one of the best-known rules of wealth accumulation. It explains that, no matter how much money a person earns, they tend to spend the entire amount plus a little more. In other words, if your expenses rise in lockstep with your earnings, you've found yourself living Parkinson's Law.

Research shows that only 8 percent of people actually achieve the goals they set. So, the question is, how do you become one of the eight percent who are seeing their dreams come to fruition? Let's break it down.

Part 2 of the open house series. How to market your open house to the public

We love to be rewarded. Coffee punch cards, participation trophies, loyalty programs- it doesn’t matter what prize is; most of us like to feel like we’re earning something in exchange for our efforts. Sure, intrinsic motivation is essential, but how great does it feel for someone to say, “Hey, I couldn’t help but notice that you achieved that milestone. Great job!” I’m a sucker for a personalized email and a sticker chart.

So how do you capitalize on that feeling in your studio? Milestone rewards! As a studio owner, one of my favorite programs is the 100+ class club. How fitting that as a coach, one of my favorite things to do is implement them clients’ studios. Why? It’s one of the easiest ways to show clients, “I see the work you’re doing, and I commend you for it.” You probably got into boutique fitness because you love and look forward to taking class, but your clients may have to push through any number of roadblocks to make it to class each day. Notice that effort, and you’re one step closing to life-long clients.

The connections and friendships that organically form between members is the magic that makes boutique fitness so unique. Implemented effectively, it should look like an effortless happenstance, but like most things, this member retention strategy is carefully choreographed.

Rather than asking “if” the client will buy, you ask, “when would you like to start?” Adjusting your sales strategy to implement the assumptive close in your fitness studio while teaching and selling will increase profits and help you sell more gym memberships.

How can you attract new clients with your imaginative marketing campaigns if you never pause to ideate? In other words, If you are constantly in react mode, you cannot be in a creative headspace

We’ll talk about how to design your perfect open house that actually brings in new clients first, and then how to market it in part two.