Costs are rising across the UK and the fitness industry is one of many industries affected by the recent price hikes in energy bills, rent and the overall cost of living.
The first instinct is usually to massively scale back spending to save some money. However, significant cuts will only lead to a lower level of service for your customers, putting them at risk of cancelling their memberships and even worsening the pressure on your business to stay afloat.
Slashing spending isn’t the answer, so we’re going to teach you how you can save money on your gym costs without having to compromise your level of service.
Review Your Spending.
If you haven’t got one already, make a list of all of your monthly and annual outgoings. The goal is to get crystal clear on what you’re paying for and how much you’re paying for it. Are there any subscriptions on there that you didn’t realise you’d signed up to?
Once you’ve got that level of visibility, you can identify opportunities to save money. Think Broadband, energy bills, insurance – the sorts of things where it pays to shop around for the best deal. To give a real-life instance of this, we recently spoke to a club that was paying more than £800 per month for their gym management software! As you can imagine, they were shocked to hear ClubRight’s pricing starts at only £69.00 (+VAT) per month. That’s why it’s important to do your research.
The next step is to make sure you’re receiving a return on your investments. If you lease the latest equipment, do your members love it? Is your selection helping retain your members? Realistically, you’re not going to be able to save money on every single one of your business expenses, but if there’s value in what you’re paying for then it’s a worthwhile investment.
Optimise your marketing.
When businesses are trying to cut costs, the first area to suffer is usually marketing because it’s incorrectly seen as a nice to have rather than a vital part of a business’s success. Scaling back your marketing efforts means you’ll be getting fewer new customers, and it can reduce retention as well.
Instead of cutting your marketing budget, take advantage of digital marketing such as social media and Search Engine Optimisation. It’s far more cost-effective than traditional means of marketing and you can be much more targeted with your approach. You can see our tips for optimising your gym’s marketing strategy here.
Many of our Users use ClubRight as a powerful marketing tool as well as a gym management tool. You can send GDPR-compliant marketing emails and texts to reengage old customers as well as share an online joining link on your social platforms for new customers, which allows you to capture their details even if they don’t complete their signup. When done correctly, you could join new customers in less than five minutes around the clock!
“We can collect member data securely, create and sell membership plans in a matter of minutes, set up automated tasks for our staff and so much more. The integrations with GoCardless, Xero and Stripe mean we’ve got everything we need to collect payments online and it’s all under one roof. The Member App is also fantastic because it makes the lives of our customers easier too as they can scan their QR code on entry, so they don’t need to worry about bringing a key card or a key fob with them.” – John Grindrod, Owner of FTC Gym.
Take advantage of technology.
Spending money on new software might seem counterproductive given that we’re trying to save money here, but it’s the opposite for two big reasons: first, many gym software providers charge extortionate prices for their systems and second, if investing in tech helps you save time that can be spent generating new customers, then it’s a worthy investment.
When you run a gym, time is money. Time spent organising paperwork, dealing with admin and building loyalty with your existing customers. Moving things online is a great way to save valuable time, money and streamline the customer experience.
Online automation is a gym owner’s best friend; automate the joining process, chase missed payments and even contact customers that haven’t been to the club for a while (all of which and more are possible with ClubRight) so that these mundane tasks no longer need to be completed by hand. It’ll give you time back to spend with your customers as well as save on printing (no more paper joining forms or ParQs) and even staffing costs.
To summarise, the key to saving money is to avoid making irrational cuts to your spending and instead focus your investments on being more efficient. Irrational cuts will cause your business to suffer. Most importantly, don’t settle for high prices because it doesn’t always equal quality.
Have you ever wondered if you’re paying a fair price for your gym management software? Use our switch and save calculator to see how it compares to ClubRight. We pride ourselves on being the most affordable solution on the market at less than £2 per day – that’s cheaper than a protein shake!
Speak to one of our product experts today by giving us a call on +44 (0)203 844 9777 or book a free online demo to see ClubRight in action.
