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The Boxonomist
Actionable revenue strategies you can implement right now.
Good Morning, Box Owners
Over the next year we’re going to be taking a deep dive into strategies you can start immediately to help build your gym’s revenue streams. Streams = plural. Some of these strategies are extremely simple, others are going to be much more complex. Both have their place.
We plan to get super into the weeds of your marketing, your offers, your facility itself, and everything in between. However, the first few weeks of posts are going to be the simple ones. The “low hanging fruit” that many of you might already have in place. You shouldn’t focus on week 18 if you don’t already have week 2 set up.
Also, we have to get this week’s strategy out as soon as possible because it’s time-sensitive. You gotta start it right now. So here we go, Boxonomist’s first revenue tip:
Holiday Gift Memberships
Gift Memberships are a Strategic Win-Win
Starting as soon as possible, you’re going to advertise to your members that you’re offering special gift memberships for their friends and family. This is an easy and highly effective strategy because:
The recipients of the gift memberships are presumably similar to your existing clients, whom you and your coaches presumably already like.
You know your clients are already bought into your program and are probably going to gift a membership to someone they know who has previously expressed interest or curiosity.
The conversion rate for these warm leads is often much higher than a Groupon or random promo.
Here are some possible ways you can go about these memberships:
Implementing Gift Memberships
1. Create Attractive Gift Packages
Tiered Options: Offer various levels, such as a single month, three months, or a six-month membership at (possibly) discounted rates.
Bundled Offers: Pair memberships with branded merchandise like t-shirts, water bottles, or gym bags to add value.
Member Kickbacks: You might already have a referral program for current members (we’ll touch on that in a few weeks), but you could also offer them something free in return for purchasing these memberships.
2. Promote Your Gift Memberships Effectively
Early Promotion: Start marketing your gift memberships early in the holiday season to give buyers ample time to purchase. That means, like, today.
Email Campaigns: Send an email blast to your current members encouraging them to gift memberships to friends and family.
Social Media Campaign: Use Canva for quick and easy designs you can put on Instagram and Facebook to showcase gift membership options with festive visuals and limited-time offers.
In-Gym Signage: Display posters and flyers around your gym to catch the eye of members.
3. Simplify the Purchasing Process
Online Sales: Set up an easy-to-navigate online store where customers can purchase and send gift memberships digitally. This should be easy on Wodify, PushPress, etc. You might need to manually send an email to the recipient but that’s quick and painless.
In-Gym Sales: Train your staff and coaches to promote gift memberships during check-ins and provide printed gift cards in your gym for immediate purchase.
The Numbers
In our first year of doing this we sold 7 gift memberships. Our offer was a single month for $99 (almost half of our monthly rate), plus half off the next month if they wanted to continue. Of the 7, 5 actually came in, and 3 are still going. 2 of those dropped out at the 5 and 6 month mark. Therefore, we made: $693 on initial launch + ~$8,234 in recurring membership revenue (not including shirts they’ve bought, events they’ve paid for, etc.) the rest of that year. Because 3 are still going, we can truthfully say overall we made over $9,000 the first year and $6,000 each year since from this one promotion. Not bad for not much work, and every year since then this number has grown drastically.
Extra thoughts:
Restaurant owners bank on people NOT using the gift cards they sell. They want the cards to get lost in the drawer so that they made money and never actually had to do anything in return. As you can see in our example above, you actively want your gift cards to be used. We made 13x our initial launch because some of the people actually came in.
Some gurus in the CrossFit space claim you should never offer discounts. They say it cheapens your product. The Boxonomist understands the logic, but many of our favorite members of all time only started because they had a lower barrier to entry. Then they fell in love with the product and stuck around. Make your own judgement on whether you want to discount your gift memberships, but we think a real “offer” does better than no offer at all.
Action Steps: Get Started with Gift Memberships Right Now
Design Your Gift Packages: Decide on the tiers and what each package will include. Consider bundling with merchandise for added value if you have some extra shirts laying around.
Set Up Your Sales Channels: Ensure your online store is ready and train your staff to promote gift memberships effectively.
Launch Your Marketing Campaign: Utilize email, social media, and in-gym promotions to spread the word about your gift memberships.
Create Urgency with Limited-Time Offers: Introduce your exclusive deal to encourage quick purchases.
Follow Up: Get ahold of the giftees as soon as they receive the gift to get them in the door.
Keep Lifting, Keep Leading!
The Boxonomist Team
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