HOW TO
CONVERT TRIALS
INTO MEMBERSHIPS
By asking the right questions during trial offers you can move prospective members and clients along
the ‘stages of change’, from considering your services to signing on the dotted line.
WORDS: AMANDA BRACKS
he fitness marketplace is more
diverse than ever, and with so
many different offerings available,
it can be daunting for those unfamiliar with
exercise. What’s the difference between the
big chain clubs and that little 24-hour club
around the corner? Between that ‘training
studio’ and the ‘CrossFit box’ you’ve heard
people talking about? For the uninitiated it
can be hard to know what to do. Trial offers
are a great way to allow these people to
experience what you have to offer and gain
an understanding of the culture, atmosphere
and service provided at your fitness facility.
Trial offers can range from a twosession F45 pass or a personal training
session at Fitness First, to a seven-day
pass at the local leisure centre or three
complimentary classes at a yoga studio.
You can promote the trial through a variety
of marketing channels, from Google Ad
Word campaigns, lead boxes, letter box
drops and local alliance networking,
to downloads from your own website,
Facebook offers or referral promotions.
When you get a bite to the bait on the
hook – which is essentially what a trial offer
is out there for – you need to understand
where the person is on the ‘stages of
change’ model. People need to move away
from pain and towards pleasure to be able
to make significant changes in their lives –
and starting a regular exercise program is a
big change for most people. They don’t want
to sweat, they don’t enjoy puffing and they
certainly don’t want to give up the foods and
things that give them so much temporary
pleasure but are realistically doing long term
damage to their health and wellbeing. When
someone is attracted to your business from a
trial promotion they are on the second tier of
the stages of change model, contemplation.
According to marketing guru, Philip Kotler,
the stages of change model, when used
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32 | NETWORK SUMMER 2015
by social marketers for the health industry,
would look like this:
1 Precontemplation: the person is in
denial, not recognising they have a
problem
2 Contemplation: the person knows
they ‘should’ do something about their
issue
3 Preparation: person takes steps
towards changing
4 Action: the day they join your facility or
sign up with you as a client
5 Maintenance: when the person has
been exercising for six months or
longer and adopts the change
permanently.
So how do you get someone from
contemplation down the stages of change
into preparation and then into action,
allowing them to trade in their trial pass and
The 30-second article
• Trial offers are a great way to
showcase to prospective members
what makes your fitness business
different
• When someone is attracted to your
business from a trial promotion they
are in the ‘contemplation’ phase of the
‘stages of change’
• A series of astute questions will help
you move prospects from the
contemplation stage to the action stage
• Don’t send people into trial classes and
training sessions until you have
identified their problems and provided a
long term plan to solve them.