Do you have a gym sales funnel set up for your fitness business? If not, then you’re definitely missing out on leads, members, and revenue. Whether you operate a ‘bricks and mortar’ health club or an online business, defining a funnel will help you get more customers.
In this article – we explain how gym sales funnels work, with examples that you can replicate in your fitness business.
- What’s a sales funnel?
- Benefits for fitness businesses
- Understanding the customer journey
- Creating your funnel
- Checklist
- Mistakes to avoid
- Resources
We’re a specialist fitness marketing agency with 15+ years of industry experience, so we know first-hand what works (and what doesn’t!). We’ve helped gyms, fitness studios, and personal trainers to successfully promote their businesses, so our sales and marketing strategies are tried and tested.
What Is a Gym Sales Funnel?
A gym sales funnel is a structured process that turns strangers into paying customers. It takes them on a journey from being completely unaware of your fitness business to becoming interested, keen, and eventually purchasing.
If you don’t have enough gym members or revenue, then it’s likely that your sales funnel is to blame. It warms people up, increases lead generation, and helps with prospecting.
It turns sales into a predictable mathematical process instead of something that varies wildly month-to-month.
The more people who go into the top of the funnel, then the more who come out of the other end as paying customers.
You might also like… 25 ways to boost gym & health club revenue.
Learn which fitness marketing strategies produce the best results (so you can focus on what actually works).
Why Are Sales Funnels Important?
Here are just a few of the benefits of having a sales funnel for your gym or fitness business…
- Predictable sales
- Better for cash flow
- Increases revenue
- More efficient
- Better return on marketing investment
- Quickly identify what’s not working
By creating a fitness funnel, you can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your sales and gym marketing efforts.
You might also like… 5 Ways To Boost Gym Membership Sales Quickly.
The Gym Customer Journey
Before we dive into funnels, it’s important to understand the gym customer journey. This is the process they follow when deciding whether or not to join a fitness club. Here’s a typical example based on the AIDA marketing framework…
- Awareness – people hear about a gym through newspaper and TV ads, promotional flyers, word-of-mouth, shopping mall pop-ups, partnerships, or pay-per-click (PPC) online adverts.
- Interest – they visit the gym’s website, read FAQs and testimonials, request more info by phone or email, visit for a tour, or using a day pass.
- Desire – they want to join, perhaps after being impressed by the facilities or results that other members have achieved.
- Action – they decide to purchase a gym membership or other fitness product or service.
Creating a gym sales funnel provides a structured system for moving people through the stages of the customer journey. It can take them from being completely unaware of your business to a loyal, paying customer.
Creating a Fitness Sales Funnel
Let’s talk about how to create your own fitness or gym sales funnel. Here’s an example funnel to get started…
PPC/Google Ads → landing page with offer → deliver freebie → email nurture sequence → join/purchase online or visit with sales team → welcome sequence
Now let’s explore each stage of the funnel in a bit more detail…
PPC/Google Ads
Use advertising to increase awareness of your business. Get in front of potential customers using PPC (e.g. Google Ads). Target people who are either searching for gyms or fitness services in your location, using search terms like…
- Gym + (your town/neighbourhood)
- Fitness classes + (your town/neighbourhood)
- Yoga + (your town/neighbourhood)
- Pool + (your town/neighbourhood)
- Barre + (your town/neighbourhood)
- Lose weight + (your town/neighbourhood)
- Personal trainer + (your town/neighbourhood)
- Nutritionist + (your town/neighbourhood)
If you run an online business and location doesn’t matter, then choose the most appropriate fitness keywords or target audience for your offering.
Can you advertise on social instead? It’s not usually as effective. People on social media may have an interest in fitness but not be specifically looking to join a gym. PPC allows you to target low hanging fruit in the form of people actively searching for a gym. It’s much easier to sell to people who already want what you’re offering.
Landing Page With Freebie
Offer people something compelling in return for their contact details. Direct your ad efforts towards a landing or squeeze page with a freebie. For example, advertise a gym guest pass or free fitness ebook which links to a landing page that collects email addresses.
50+ Fitness Marketing Templates
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Freebie Delivery & Nurture Sequence
Most email systems allow you to send an automatic welcome email when someone signs up. Simply include a link to download the freebie in that email.
The next stage in your gym funnel is to develop an email nurture sequence that convinces people to join or purchase. These emails should cover features, benefits, and proof of your offering…
- Features – equipment, classes, changing rooms, services, pool, juice bar, personal training, central location, etc.
- Benefits – weight loss, muscle gain, increased speed, community, fun, relaxation, convenience, habit, feel better, achieving goals, increasing confidence, boosting energy, more pride, sense of achievement, etc.
- Proof – testimonials, reviews, star ratings, client case studies, success stories, etc.
An effective nurture sequence also helps convert subscribers into customers. Encourage them to purchase now instead of procrastinating.
One way to do this is through scarcity – offers or promos that are time-limited such as no joining fee, price discount, or getting an extra something for free.
Another way to by appealing to their internal motivation and highlighting the impact of inaction (e.g. reminding them of their own deadlines such as a wedding event or competition).
Online Purchase or Visit
The next stage will vary depending on the set up of your business. If you sell products and services online, then people will purchase directly. Yay – you’ve secured new customers!
But if you run a gym or fitness studio, then it’s likely that they will want to visit before purchasing. This is when your sales team step in – they can organise a tour and address any outstanding objections the customer may have.
Welcome Email Sequence
The final stage is to welcome your new customer and introduce them to your business! If you run a gym, then you can educate them about all the fabulous facilities and membership perks. For online businesses, you can introduce them to the online workout programs or other fitness resources that they now have access to.
Using an email welcome sequence once members sign up helps to minimise cancellations and reduce buyers’ remorse.
Download a done-for-you email welcome series as part of our Fitness Marketing Template Bundle…
50+ Fitness Marketing Templates
A step-by-step guide to creating your strategic marketing plan with template & done-for-you examples.
Fitness Sales Funnel Checklist
To help you create your own sales funnel, we’ve put together a quick checklist that walks you through the exact steps. You can either adapt the steps for your business or replicate them exactly as they are.
- Create a free Google ads account
- Make a list of potential keywords
- Research keywords and add more ideas
- List of features, benefits, and proof
- Define opting offer and create it (free day pass or trial class)
- Create an email nurture sequence
- Set up and promote a landing page that links to an email autoresponder series
Gym Sales Funnel Mistakes
The most common mistake we see with gym sales funnels is not having one. Most online businesses build funnels into their setup from the start, but this doesn’t tend to be the case with health clubs and fitness studios. So, if you don’t have a defined process for converting inquiries into customers, the first step is to create one!
Another frequent marketing mistake is trying to push customers through the process too quickly. Many gyms employ hard-sell tactics with anyone who makes an enquiry, regardless of whether they’re receptive or not. An easy way to rectify this is by following up via email instead of phone.
Why not phone? It’s not always convenient – people feel disrupted or disturbed during the middle of something else email is less intrusive and more likely to absorb the information on their own terms.
Instead of calling a prospect straight away, use an email sequence to nurture them instead. This warms them up by educating them about the facilities and benefits of joining.
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