Are You Doing All You Can
to Boost Conversions and Upgrades?
2025 Issue 3 | GearedUp
Depending on your particular job working for a Planet Fitness ® franchisee, conversion can have more than one definition. Some are focused on converting prospects to become members; others are focused on converting Classic Card members to a Black Card membership. There are tactics and strategies to support each initiative. Let’ s start with prospects.
“ Join conversion [ is ] my primary objective in my role,” said Kate Klein, vice president of marketing for Houston Fitness Partners( HFP), operator of 47 clubs in greater Houston.“ A secondary objective is supporting my club operations team with the upgrade journey for Classic Card members.”
Marketers focus their attention on funnels – a structured process for building awareness, interest, desire and action – known by the acronym AIDA. As Forbes Magazine explains,“ There are four main stages in a marketing funnel. The first is the‘ Awareness’ stage where potential customers first discover your brand. The second stage is the‘ Interest’ stage where you have piqued their curiosity. The‘ Consideration’ stage is where they compare you to the competition. The last stage is the‘ Conversion’ stage where they take the leap from browsers to buyers.”
Key to getting conversions, said Klein, is communicating to prospects through the channels that will best reach them.“ We’ re consistently looking for the best performing channels, emerging technologies and platforms.” This past January, HFP sought to supercharge their Q1 sales by committing additional funds to lower funnel marketing in February and March to catapult from what they anticipated would be a strong January to an even better quarter.
“ We set aside reserve funds with the intention of increasing our investment on the best performing channels in February and March,” Klein said, adding that the initial investment was across six different digital channels, but then focused on just two: Meta and Snapchat. HFP then committed additional funds to maximize conversions on those two channels through March 31.“ We achieved strong outcomes. Join performance was up in February and March. The campaign adjustments helped same store joins increase 13 % year over year. We were thrilled with the results.” Welcoming new members into the club is an excellent opportunity to increase the Black Card percentages, especially for those who are prompted to join online after seeing spots proclaiming,“ Join for $ 1 down, $ 15-a-month.”
“ Some people have no clue we have such a great Black Card offer,” said Cecelia Newman, president / managing partner of Gym Management Services( GMS), which operates 15 clubs in four states. For them,“ conversion starts the second they walk into by Matt Ellis the club.”
Franchisees strive to reach a 70 % Black Card membership level, and most find that once they are able to demonstrate the amenities that come with a Black Card membership, prospects are eager to sign up. When new members check into a GMS club for the first time and the team member notices they have the Classic membership, they make the Black Card Spa the first stop on their club tour, so the new member can try out the massage chairs and HydroMassage.“ The second they walk in the door, you should show the Black Card area, and let them try out the massage chairs and HydroMassage. That gets a lot of people to sign up, especially those who didn’ t know it was even an option,” Newman explained.
Plus, with the Classic membership now priced at $ 15, spending $ 25 for the Black Card membership doesn’ t seem like that much more, especially considering the value members get.“ You see more people lean to the Black Card membership [ because of that ], especially if you offer $ 0 or $ 1 down and no commitment,” Newman said. GMS team members will highlight to members that purchasing one tanning session or HydroMassage somewhere else will cost a lot more than an upgrading to a Black Card membership, especially when you also factor in privileges at any Planet Fitness location and free guests.
United Fitness Partners( UFP), which is one of the largest franchisees with 196 clubs in 14 states, successfully converts prospects into Black Card members by adhering to its checklist of five key steps. COO Scott McCreery listed those steps for us:“ Did you greet the new member? Did you make a personal connection? Did you walk the club? Did you show the Black Card Spa and discuss the benefits of each amenity? Did you sit down and deliver a rate presentation?”
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