Organizing an open house is a great way to bring in potential new members, and hold onto your current members. You can target your audience, and address some of the main obstacles that hold people back from purchasing a fitness center membership. Here are some ideas to help you get started.
Why Have an Open House: People sometimes hesitate to join a fitness center because they’re concerned about the monthly expense, and they may have had a negative experience with high pressure sales tactics in the past. An open house is an opportunity to offer special discounts, and get people familiar with your facility in a fun and friendly way. You can cultivate your current members too by inviting them to participate in the activities, and bring guests.
Promoting Your Open House: Your event will be more effective if you get an early start on planning. About 2 months lead time is ideal for layering various promotions including flyers, posters, direct mail, and social media posts that ask guests to pre-register. Depending on your capacity, you may also want to put out balloons and signage around your entrance to encourage drop in visitors on the day of your event.
Designing Your Open House: Introduce people to your club, and make it fun. Offer free mini events and classes, healthy snacks, and special prizes. Give people discounts on retail items, as well as memberships and class packages if they sign up that day. Have trainers and other staff on hand to greet visitors and chat.
Follow up Activities: Your open house will give you valuable data to collect and analyze. You can use it to find out more about who your best prospects and customers are, and refine your plans so your next open house will be even more successful.
We help current and potential health club operators to succeed in a highly competitive and wonderful industry. Contact us today to learn more about improving your bottom line profitability.