Are you looking for ways to fill your group exercise classes? Maybe you are a new instructor or perhaps you just aren’t finding as many clients as you would like for your fitness classes. It can be a challenge to get people to join if you don’t know the best ways to approach the situation. Check out these suggestions and see how you can make it easier to increase your bookings.
1. Encourage Everyone to Bring a Friend
Working out is less intimidating when you have a friend. Start asking your current clients in your fitness class to bring a friend with them to future workouts. Let the friend have a free pass or trial for the first class, just to see how much they enjoy it. If they like it, this can be a helpful way to get signups without the need to try hard sales tactics. People are much more likely to continue working out if they have someone they can do it with. If you have five clients and you can get everyone to bring a friend, you’ve just doubled your class size without much work on your behalf.
2. Offer Discounts for Multiple Class Enrollments
Perhaps you teach more than one fitness class. Maybe you offer yoga, pilates, and a ballet-inspired workout class, and you have students who enjoy taking two or more classes. Providing a slight discount can be a good way to entice them to take more with you. The discount for the classes doesn’t need to be a huge amount. Even if you offer to take 10% off, that is usually enough to convince most people to sign up and reap the benefit of savings.
3. Get Certified in a New Class
You might need something new and interesting to build interest in your offerings. Find out what types of classes people are interested in taking, and see if you can get certified in them. Perhaps you have always wanted to teach Zumba, or maybe you have clients interested in learning country line dancing, but there are no instructors where you live. If you can generate interest with one class you are teaching, this can inspire people to take more classes with you. Or, it might lead you to teach different things altogether, depending on how much money can be made.
4. Create a Punchcard Option
Some people are afraid to commit to classes because they don’t know if they can show up like clockwork every week. Rather than penalize or charge them for when they don’t come in, simplify things by offering a punchcard option. You can give students a punchcard and only charge them when they show up to class. Or, you can have them purchase the card for a slightly higher rate and then redeem each punch when they come in. This is a helpful way to get people to come back and can be a useful part of the sales process when trying to get your fitness classes booked.
5. Check Your Music
One issue you could have forgotten about is your music. Does it fit the energy your class needs to have a good time? This is especially crucial for spin instructors, but it can apply to any type of group exercise setting. Make sure you are picking music that is fun and upbeat if you want your students to have a good time with aerobic dancing. If you are teaching yoga or stretching, something calm and relaxing can help them focus more. Get students’ opinions on what they would like to hear, and let them know you are experimenting with some new sounds.
Final Thoughts
There are a variety of ways you can fill your fitness classes depending on your students, their interest levels, and what appeals to them. You can get them to bring in a friend, start teaching something new altogether, or create a punchcard option for those with busy schedules. There is no shortage of ways to increase bookings within your classes.
Tags: Business, exercise class, fitness class, personal trainer, personal training, workout class
