Introductory offers are a powerful and simple tool for adding value for potential members. It can help convert people who are putting their toes in the water, giving them extra incentive to dive in and get the full benefit of your gym or dojo. 

Here are 5 introductory offers you can create to attract more people to your gym or dojo.‍

1. “Access our complete online training portal for 7 days only” Whet appetites with limited access to online resources‍

If you’ve built up a great bank of online resources, such as books, articles, video tutorials and workouts/training sessions, consider keeping some of these behind a paywall. New members who haven’t yet paid for a membership can gain access to your full suite of digital resources for a limited time. This gives them a chance to immerse themselves in what you have to offer. Restricting it to a limited time means they’re more likely to want more. Plus they’ll never get through your content in that amount of time. 
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Remember to send automated messaging to alert these ‘trial’ subscribers to how many days they have left to access your content. 

2.  Help your members with discounted equipment

Set yourself apart by making it easier for new members to access important equipment. If you run a gym, this might be discounted access to new members for kettlebells, dumbbells, wearables or fitness clothing. 

If you are a Yoga studio you could consider giving discounts or free yoga mat, yoga blocks or socks. If you own a dance studio you could provide discounted dance shoes, or tshirts and merchandise.

3. Nurture new members with a free one-on-one session

A large reason why potential members come in once but not twice is because of how hard it can be to enter a new environment with confidence. 

A free one-on-one session with a personal trainer in a gym or a teacher in a dojo is a great way to reassure a potential member. The cost of providing a free session can be offset by the increase in memberships coming from nurturing and reassuring potential members. 

4. Explore partnerships to retain new members

Are there other brands you can partner with to enhance what you offer potential members? 

You might offer a variety of promotions with different partners, depending on what a new member wants. Consider partnerships outside of immediate products (e.g. a free water bottle), but benefits that tie in with a member’s long-term goals. If someone is struggling to manage their health and you run a gym or personal training service, perhaps they’ll be interested in discounted access to a healthy food delivery service or a nutritionist plan. This can help retain them as a customer, as they associate the benefits they get from your partners with their ongoing training with you.

5. Join up with someone else and receive discounts

It’s easy to set up a ‘refer a friend’ system for new members, while there are dedicated apps to support this. You can set different rewards based on how many people a new member refers to your business or if they join at the same time as friends or family members. This could be a free month’s membership, free access to classes or personal training.  

This is an easy, powerful and passive tool for generating new memberships, while providing ongoing benefits to both new and existing members. Word-of-mouth remains one of the most valuable ways of generating business. Showing new members how much you value this can be a good way of boosting this promotional tool and maintaining momentum in your membership intake rates.