Consumers want to browse, sign up and pay online with ease. Here are five steps to start selling memberships, classes and more online at your gym.
The evolution of technology and the internet has lead to an increased desire for convenience. Consumers want to be able to browse your business offering online and sign up for a membership or book an induction with ease.
It comes as no surprise that the simple solution to meeting these needs is to start selling online. Allow your customers to sign up, enter their details, fill in their ParQ and pay online at any time from anywhere with an internet connection.
So, how do you start selling online?
Step 1: Decide what you want to sell online
The first step is to decide what you want to sell online. This will vary depending on your service offering. For example, if you're a yoga instructor, you might want to sell classes online whereas if you own a gym, you may decide to sell memberships online.
There really are no limits here. From memberships and class spaces to club merchandise — if you can collect payment online, you can sell it online.
Step 2: Choose a platform
Next, you need to choose an online platform that will allow you to sell your offering online. There are lots of different online shopping solutions out there, so it's important to make sure you choose the solution that's right for you.
Whichever platform you sign up with, here are a couple of features that the platform should offer:
- An integrated payment provider
- The ability to connect it to your website
- Individual profiles for your customers so that they can manage their purchases
- An integration with your CRM software so that you can keep track of new customers
Step 3: Decide how to collect payment
The third step is to decide how you're going to collect payment. Online payments are the popular choice since it's tricky to rely on a customer to reserve a product online and then bring the cash down to your front desk.
It's also important to consider the type of payment you want to collect. Again, this will vary from business to business. If you're a PT that offers regular sessions with your clients, Direct Debit might be the best option for you because it allows you to build a sustainable recurring income. However, if you want to sell class spaces then it might be more appropriate to collect one-off payments for each sale of activity space.
Step 4: Connect it to your CRM
As mentioned above, each online sale needs to be reconciled in your CRM software so that you can keep track of new customers and include them in your reporting. An integrated connection works best here, meaning the records will automatically appear in your CRM instead of you having to spend time manually reconciling between the two software.
Step 5: Start promoting it
When you've got everything set up and ready to go, it's time to start promoting it. The most cost-effective way to begin doing that is to use social media to spread the word. The great thing about selling online is that you can post a link directly to your social media pages that your followers can visit right away.
You should also consider contacting expired or long-time customers to notify them that they can now make purchases online. You could even offer loyal customers a Promo Code that gives them a discount or complimentary product when they buy online. The opportunities are endless!
Conclusion
Selling online is simple if you follow these steps. Remember, integrations are your friend! They'll save you hours on admin and eliminate the need to manually reconcile records. Plus, your customers will love the feeling of being in control of their purchases. When done correctly, you'll be able to have customers join your club in a couple of clicks and come down for their first workout that same day. Everybody wins.
ClubRight offers online joining and payments within the system, so it's never been easier to start selling online. Your customers will receive their own portal in which they can manage their details, memberships and purchases. We're integrated with market-leading payment providers to give you — and your customers — that extra layer of security. Once you've set up our online selling feature (which takes minutes), you can essentially make money in your sleep!
