7-Day Free Trial or First Class Free?
As COVID-19 is continuing to spread, we continue to live in a world that has completely changed. For fitness studio owners and managers, the landscape couldn’t be more different. However, with more people leaving their homes and getting out into the world again, these individuals are also getting back into their fitness regime.
As you’re trying to stay afloat as a business, you may be focused on bringing in new clients. But given how COVID-19 is still very prevalent, is it better to offer a 7-day free trial of unlimited classes or a free first class with a membership? In this post, we’ll discuss the reasons why it is far more beneficial to take the 7-day free trial approach.
We Don’t Like Commitment
You may be wondering why it’s better to offer a free trial. For one, people don’t like commitment. If you offer the first class for free, the customer may get a sweet deal, but the decision means they already have to commit to a membership. And if that client has never been to your fitness studio before, they may be pretty hesitant to sign up. That being said, although a 7-day free trial doesn’t guarantee a sign-up, it’s better suited for the average person today.
Provides Multiple Experiences
If you only offer one free class as part of a membership, what if the customer isn’t happy after the one class? What if they realized they made a bad decision by signing up? Given how this one experience may not be enough for the customer to make a decision, it’s more beneficial to offer a 7-day free trial. That way, the customer is able to have multiple experiences with your fitness studio before deciding if that’s the place for them. I mean, we all have bad days at the gym, or we have days where we don’t feel our best. And if one of those days just happens to fall on the day of the free class, they may not stick around for much longer.
People Like Flexibility
Let’s face it — you probably aren’t the only fitness studio around. While you want your potential clients to be looking at only your studio and no others, you need to understand that is probably not going to happen. And that’s because people like flexibility. They enjoy having the freedom to look at multiple options and make a choice based on their needs. But when you only offer a free class rather than a 7-day free trial, you’re putting some limitations on that flexibility.
Something Unexpected May Pop Up
Another reason why you should offer free trials is because we are still living in this COVID world — and this world is all about dealing with the unexpected. Medical situations, unexpected funerals, job-related duties; we live in a time where things are more confusing and unexpected than ever before. So while you would love to sign a new client up for a membership, offering a free trial is the right thing to do. Rather than pressuring them into making a decision, they’re able to experience your studio for 7 days before making the choice. Given how crazy life can be at this point in time, a 7-day free trial is more suited for today’s fitness-minded individual.
Time Investment
While you may not be getting any money when offering 7-day free trials, you are getting people to invest their time — and that can do wonders. If your new potential clients are serious about making a change and they actually invest time during the trial period, then they’re more likely to stick around after the free trial has ended.
