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Should Gyms And Fitness Studios Offer Guest Passes?

08 Mar 20234 min read

With more than ‘7.2 thousand health and fitness clubs in the UK’, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to compete as a gym or fitness studio owner.

Many gyms and fitness studios offer passes and day trials to provide potential customers with a glimpse into their facilities in the hope that it will encourage them to join up. 

Guest passes often allow members to bring a guest to use the facilities a few times a month. Some bigger gyms and fitness centres even offer free week trials that allow guests to trial their services and facilities for a limited period of time to see whether it’s for them. 

If you’re a gym or fitness studio owner, you might be wondering whether you should allow guest passes. There are numerous reasons why you might want to offer guest passes at your gym or fitness studio.

Reasons gyms and fitness studios should offer guest passes include, but are not limited to:

  1. Builds brand awareness
  2. Guest passes can increase revenue 
  3. Brings in new members 

1. Builds Brand Awareness

A big reason why you might want to offer guest passes is that they build brand awareness.

This comes down to the fact that offering guest passes exposes potential new clients to your business and shows them what you have to offer whilst also getting people talking about your business.

Brand awareness plays a fundamental role in helping to establish brand trust. When you consider ‘81% of consumers need to trust a brand to consider buying’, the importance of building brand awareness is emphasised. 

By making your facilities accessible to more than just members, then, you not only make a good, lasting first impression but also encourage the people using your guest passes to get a membership of their own or at least tell their friends about the service that you’re providing. 

This, in turn, will help to build your reputation and boost your brand awareness.

2. Guest Passes Can Increase Revenue 

Another reason why you might want to offer guest passes is that they can increase revenue for a low increase in costs.

Considering that the ‘majority of a new gym’s revenue comes from membership sales as new members are usually the first customers of the business’, offering guest passes encourages members to expose more of the public to your facilities. 

While memberships are what bring in the most revenue, anything on top of this is a bonus. 

So, whether you opt to offer a guest pass for a proportion of the price of a regular membership, or offer a free guest pass a few times a month to encourage new members to eventually sign up, this can significantly increase your business’ revenue in the long-term. 

3. Bring In New Members 

Arguably the biggest reason why you might want to offer guest passes at your gym or fitness studio is that it has the potential to bring in new members. 

For instance, the flexibility and hospitality of offering a free guest pass a few times a month is an effective way of enticing people that are new to exercising regularly, especially if they want to get into a proper routine of working out but need a little nudge in the right direction. 

A free guest pass is risk-free for potential new members, and will thus get them through the door in the first instance whilst your excellent facilities will help to keep them coming back and in turn, encourage them to get a membership of their own.  

Additionally, you could offer class passes that can be used by guests to try a free class to help them to determine what it’s like and familiarize themselves with the equipment in your gym or fitness studio before they sign themselves up.

By offering guest passes, then, you are able to meet the needs of curious potential new members and make a good impression by allowing them to try your fitness studio, encouraging them to become members themselves.

Hopefully this article will help you to decide whether you should offer guest passes at your gym or fitness studio. That said, be sure to weigh up all of the potential benefits and drawbacks before offering guest passes at your gym or fitness studio.

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