help me meerkat a gym!

gags89

Hello!

A fitness centre I recently began helping out in (student on placement) has asked me to think of new ways to boost new memberships from 3rd students! They have a student rate in place they just need to get them in the door!

What do you all think are the best ways to target this market!?

Bandara

gags89 wrote: »

Hello!

A fitness centre I recently began helping out in (student on placement) has asked me to think of new ways to boost new memberships from 3rd students! They have a student rate in place they just need to get them in the door!

What do you all think are the best ways to target this market!?

flat joining fee of maybe €50 and a causal weekly fee of €7, if you don't attend that week you dont' pay.thats €415 a year (if they attend every week), they won't do this obviously, but even if you say that they attend for half the weeks of the year your still getting €230 off them. Which isn't to be sneezed at

Your gym will poo-poo the idea and say that they are losing revenue etc as they want all the money up front, but in effect I'd imagine they are losing the majority of the students as they cant afford/wont pay €300 a year (especially when they are only in college 9 months a year. Getting money off students is a different sales model to getting money off working people imo.

the logistics is easy enough, just stamp a 7 day dard with the end date each time they pay causally,

Southsider1

That sounds like a good strategy Hammertime. I believe Ben Dunne's ne Gym concept will be looking at something similar for the memberships.

Pixelcraft

Offer good deals to bulk signups from local clubs.

asomeday

Your gym will poo-poo the idea and say that they are losing revenue etc as they want all the money up front

gotta spend money to make money

smellslikeshoes

The problem with the pay weekly and only if you use it that week is how much most gyms rely on the people who pay for the year and only go for a few months and the people who only go in occasionally. If everyone only had to pay when they are going, prices would have to be higher to reflect that.

Weekday/Weekend memberships would be my suggestion, a lot of students have a flat for college during the week and spend the weekends at home with Mammy and Daddy. A lot of them would want to use the gym while at their parents but can't justify spending money on a membership if they are only going to be there two days of the week.

EL_Loco

a low registration fee, and a low per usage fee. I mean buttons on this. If you take a bank's approach, where they'll be customers for life, a low intro fee is definitely a plus for cash strapped student types.

If your gym is sitting empty better having a few people in it who may not be paying full price, at least to anyone else in the place it won't seem like a ghost town. The points about no students being around at the weekends rings very true from my college days. Bar the "jocks" you could only expect 2 visits a week as stated above.

you'd have to arrive on campus I'd say with fliers, even if your pricing structure is attractive how will they know you exist?

time for hot girl/beefy guy to do the rounds and talk people into it

edit: oh yeah, approach the sports orientated societies in the colleges and let them know of the offers.

Do something on campus with the college's permission, a mock sports day or something. Nothing too physical, no point in rewarding the people who are already in shape and probably going to gyms already

Dazzler88

Our local gym offers a monthly rate of €30 for students. This allows you to use it as often as you wish. They also offer the following on direct debit.

3 months for €60
6 months for €150
12 months for €300

This means if you sign up for 6 months you get 1 month free and if you sign up for 12 months you get 2 months free. It seems to have worked a treat.

Bawnmore

Dazzler88 wrote: »

Our local gym offers a monthly rate of €30 for students. This allows you to use it as often as you wish. They also offer the following on direct debit.

3 months for €70
6 months for €150
12 months for €300

This means if you sign up for 6 months you get 1 month free and if you sign up for 12 months you get 2 months free. It seems to have worked a treat.

What an awful deal if you pay for 6 months, it costs €10 more than if you pay for 3 months twice :rolleyes:

Dazzler88

Bawnmore wrote: »

What an awful deal if you pay for 6 months, it costs €10 more than if you pay for 3 months twice :rolleyes:

i dont see how your post helps the OP..Stick to the thread son..obvioulsy the 6 month charge is for people who are really interested in the gym.

Herbalist

Most resolutions are made on a Monday morning - why not hit the colleges on a Monday morning (when people are vowing to become healthy after being out at the weekend) with some fit looking gym members and some fliers detailing the students special offers (with colleges permission obviously).

The idea of group sign up is a great one - why not offer this to colleges sports societies?

I think there has to be a low joining fee and the option of a weekly / monthly fee or a weekend or weekday only rate to attract students. There will be times (cexams etc) where they cannot go to the gym and most likely other times where they have more time. Paying a big sum up front will be difficult for a student.

Have you through about offering a college year lower priced subscription - September - May for X amount? It would appeal to those living away from home at college

DubTony

Bawnmore wrote:

What an awful deal if you pay for 6 months, it costs €10 more than if you pay for 3 months twice

Dazzler88 wrote: »

i dont see how your post helps the OP..Stick to the thread son..obvioulsy the 6 month charge is for people who are really interested in the gym.

Doesn't change the fact that it's still a shit deal. And it does actually help the OP by showing how just a little bit of "ah sure we'll throw a few numbers together and see what happens" attitude can lead to results like the stupidity shown above.

gags89

thanks for all the replies!

ok so this is what ive come up with....give me your opinions!

12 month membership €289 for students. (full is 350) but its flexible if your give a weeks notice it can be paused (eg student heading off for the summer, moving back home)

on campus promotion will be fliering, postering and tabletopping (if i get the permission for the tabletopping)

then im donating i few t-shirts and 1 full membership to a society to use as a prize in a competition so as to build relationships with the college and again, raise awareness around the college!

i was also thinking of teaming up with the student health centre and doing a talk on staying healthy overall while at college/through exams etc!

then online, im setting up a facebook, linked to a youtube channel (with fitness type videos on it)...should I use a twitter and do like a fitness tip of the day type of thing!???

let me know what ya's think!

tombull82

looks like you have a plan.

PhatPiggins

gags89 wrote: »

Hello!

A fitness centre I recently began helping out in (student on placement) has asked me to think of new ways to boost new memberships from 3rd students! They have a student rate in place they just need to get them in the door!

What do you all think are the best ways to target this market!?

How close is your gym in proximity to third levels institutuions and their own gyms?

lion_bar

gags89 wrote: »

Hello!

A fitness centre I recently began helping out in (student on placement) has asked me to think of new ways to boost new memberships from 3rd students! They have a student rate in place they just need to get them in the door!

What do you all think are the best ways to target this market!?

Why do most of the answers provide pricing plans when the original post says they have a student rate in place?

The question is about how to target them and get them in the door, not about how to price it...

Or have i missed something?

PhatPiggins

lion_bar wrote: »

Why do most of the answers provide pricing plans when the original post says they have a student rate in place?

The question is about how to target them and get them in the door, not about how to price it...

Or have i missed something?

Because their pricing plan isn't working , at a guess.

gags89

The gym was only established really last year and havnt actively targeted students untill now.

Its pretty much across the road from portobello college, 5-10 min walk from DIT kevin street and Aungier and DBS.

lion_bar

can you beat these prices http://www.dit.ie/sport/fit2goclub/ if not you need some other non-price attribute to market your gym to attact students.

Maybe you have better facilities for certain market segments and you should target those segments of the student population.

Maybe it's simply free towels.

Would it appeal to a student if the didn't have to carry a bulk towel around classes? Would it appeal to a student if they didn't have to wash towels following their gym class?

What makes your gym different from the rest?

PhatPiggins

lion_bar wrote: »

can you beat these prices http://www.dit.ie/sport/fit2goclub/ if not you need some other non-price attribute to market your gym to attact students.

Maybe you have better facilities for certain market segments and you should target those segments of the student population.

Maybe it's simply free towels.

Would it appeal to a student if the didn't have to carry a bulk towel around classes? Would it appeal to a student if they didn't have to wash towels following their gym class?

What makes your gym different from the rest?

2 very good suggestions. You could potentially charge for towel washing too.

gags89

lion_bar wrote: »

can you beat these prices http://www.dit.ie/sport/fit2goclub/ if not you need some other non-price attribute to market your gym to attact students.

Maybe you have better facilities for certain market segments and you should target those segments of the student population.

Maybe it's simply free towels.

Would it appeal to a student if the didn't have to carry a bulk towel around classes? Would it appeal to a student if they didn't have to wash towels following their gym class?

What makes your gym different from the rest?

We cant beat the prices shown there, however Im a student in DIT and seen and been in that gym --- its not too good, with only 2/3 resistance machines, very few dumbells and the rest cardio ( 5/6 treadmills, 5/6 rowers and 2 cross trainers!

We are really targeting those who are serious about working out ( the rugby players and not to offend anyone, its not really a girls gym, its mostly male. Sure check out our website rawcondition.com and you'l see what we offer and maybe someone could give us a few pointers!

The towels is a good idea, Stress of carrying around a laptop and gearbag!Keep em coming guys! Thanks!

lion_bar

I don't think students are really worth the effort - they are about to start into exams and then head off for the summer.

I think the lack of a pool is a serious hinderance to getting students in especially as your competitor has one.

wrt rugby players won't most rugby players in DIT be members of other rugby clubs and probably have access to a weights room or be a member of a gym already, if they are interested in weight training?

Remember, just because a serious professional rugby have used the gym it doesn't mean your average rugby player will use it.

If it's not a "girls gym" why is there a photo of a girl with dumb bells on the home page? I think that there's a lot of facilities in your gym that would appeal to girls - punch bags etc that they won't get in your standard gym.

Why not increase the early morning classes and the lunch time classes for people who live and work in the area? Or do specialised marathon or triathlon training classes.

Also, before you present any "plan/strategy" to your boss, get him to tell or show you any strategies they've had before. You don't want to spend time on this only to be told we tried that it doesn't work.