4 Ways Gym Owners Can Benefit From Automated Follow-Ups

An automated follow-up is a pre-written message, often sent as an SMS or email, that automatically reaches a lead or member and encourages them to take action. Whether it's inviting someone to a free trial, converting a lead into a full member, or keeping existing clients engaged, automated follow-ups can be a game-changer for gym owners.

“More than 80% of the sales are made between the 5th and 12th touch” - Grant Cardone

This statistic shows the power of consistent follow-up. And with automated follow-ups, gym owners can stay connected with members at key moments, all while saving time and increasing efficiency. In this article, we’ll cover four essential ways automated follow-ups can help grow your gym’s success, from boosting conversions to building relationships.

By using automated follow-ups correctly, you’ll boost conversions, build customer loyalty, generate a feedback loop to improve your services and collect reviews that will help increase your business's visibility and credibility.

1. Convert More Leads to Members

The key to implementing a successful follow-up strategy is to act fast while you’re still fresh in their minds. A one-minute response time can lead to 391% more conversions, which is why automation is so important.

Follow-ups can take the form of SMS or emails, and ideally, you’ll use both to create a comprehensive follow-up strategy.

The following are examples of automated follow-ups that you might consider sending to nurture leads as well as existing customers:

• Welcome Emails for New Leads: An automated welcome email introduces potential members to your gym, sharing details about your services, team, and what makes your facility unique.
• Trial Check-Ins: Check in with trial members, especially during the first 90 days, to make sure they feel supported and are making the most of their experience.
• End-of-Trial Surveys: When a trial doesn’t convert, follow up with a survey to understand why and gain valuable feedback to improve your offerings.
• Personalized Offers: To encourage sign-up, send segmented offers based on individual interests or needs, such as a discounted membership rate or class package.

Just because you’re automating your communications doesn’t mean they should all be identical. As you acquire new leads and members, you should aim to segment the different audiences according to their needs and interests and their stage in the buying cycle.

Doing this will enable you to send more personalized communications, which leads to increased open rates and higher conversions, maximizing your return on investment. The more you can tailor your emails to each client, the better. This will help you see success from your automated follow-ups and prevent receivers from feeling like they are being spammed.

2. Build Customer Relationship

Automated follow-ups aren’t just for new leads. They are just as effective at strengthening relationships with existing members. Successful gym owners know that acquiring new clients is exciting, but customer retention is the key to building and scaling a business.

It’s up to five times cheaper to retain your current customers than it is to acquire new ones, and the likelihood of making a sale to an existing customer is 60-70%. Needless to say, building solid relationships with your members is an excellent way to boost your overall revenue and grow your business.

So, what keeps members happy and coming back?

A lot of this comes down to relationship-building. People can work out anywhere, but offering them a sense of community and belonging keeps them coming back. You want them to feel that they have a unique relationship with you and your staff, and one of the ways you can do this is by sending them personalized follow-up messages tailored to their specific needs, likes, and dislikes.

3. Use Feedback to Improve Your Customer Experience

Another benefit of automated follow-ups is the opportunity to build a feedback loop between you and your clientele. Client feedback can vary widely, but collecting and analyzing this data should give you a good idea of what you’re doing right and where improvements can be made.

This kind of feedback allows you to monitor day-to-day operations at your gym even when you’re not there, giving you a better understanding of your customer experience's strengths and weaknesses.

Positive feedback provides you with the reassurance that your efforts to create a positive customer experience are paying off. It can also be very motivating for the rest of your team to receive praise and know their work is appreciated, encouraging them to maintain that high standard.

While no one likes receiving negative feedback, it’s bound to happen. When it does, don’t take it personally, embrace it as an opportunity to identify what went wrong and make changes before it impacts your customer relationships.

4. Automate Google Reviews to Increase The Visibility of Your Gym

Online reviews are essential for attracting new members. Potential customers are highly likely to check Google reviews when deciding which gym to visit. Automated follow-ups make it easy to request reviews, helping your gym gain visibility and establish credibility.

Key Automated Follow-Ups for Review Collection:

• Timed Review Requests: Send a request for reviews shortly after a positive experience, such as completing a fitness challenge or a successful personal training session.
• Redirecting High Ratings to Google: When members leave high ratings in your gym’s internal system, guide them to post the same feedback on Google. This helps increase your gym’s online reputation and visibility.

Because people who have great experience often don't think about leaving a review. Most of the time it's quite the opposite. Automated follow-ups help you to secure valuable feedback from clients in a timely manner while their experience is still fresh in their minds. T

At FLiiP, we offer tools to increase your Google reviews by +50% in 6 months so that you don't miss any great reviews and so more leads find you first. Book a free demo to learn more!

Automating review requests is a simple way to ensure members share their positive experiences publicly. This will help your gym stand out online and attract new clients through strong social proof.

How Can a Gym Owner Start Using Automated Follow-Ups?

Automated follow-ups are a key component of your digital marketing strategy, keeping members engaged whether they’re in the gym or not. Focus your attention on building personal relationships with your members and watch your business flourish year after year.

If you’re ready to see the results automated follow-ups can produce for your gym, we can help. We work with gym owners to create workflows that help them reach their ideal customers. Learn more about automated follow-ups for gym owners, and book your demo now!