Referral Program Idea for Gym Owners

Referral Program Idea for Gym Owners

Hi everyone - in this blog post I’d like to share one simple idea for a referral program that gym owners and personal trainers can use to get more paying clients in their business. The fitness industry is highly competitive, with lots of options for the average consumer. So in order to stay in business and succeed, gym owners and personal trainers need a variety of sources for new clients. Referrals are one of the best ways to acquire new clients. A good referall program with different types of rewards for the referrals, done consistently, can help you generate a steady, predictable flow of new business.

Getting New Clients through Referrals is Not Easy

If generating referrals was easy, every gym all across the country would be prospering. However, we all know that that is simply not true. Most gyms and personal trainers are struggling to survive - even before the Covid-19 pandemic. Prior to 2020, most fitness professionals struggled to make a good living. Most trainers worked part-time at a gym and part-time at a second job unrelated to fitness. With new restrictions on fitness facilities in 2020 due to the coronavirus, it is now more difficult than ever to get new referrals to your business.

What Motivates People to Refer Their Friends and Family to Your Business?

A good referral program must take into account the motivations of your clients. We often assume that people are motivated solely by money - if we pay our clients to refer new clients, or perhaps if we credit their accounts a certain amount of money for each referral, then they will be more likely to send us referrals. However, most people, in my experience, are not motivated by money. Recognition and a desire to genuinely help their friends, family members, and coworkers are often more motivating to the average person than money.

Many people enjoy public recognition more than saving $50 or $100 on a gym membership or personal training package, as the average person goes through most of their days without receiving any recognition at all for their efforts - their boss never congratulates them on their good work, their spouse rarely compliments them on their appearance, etc. Humans crave recognition, yet we rarely receive it in any meaningful way. Thus, even something as simple as being publicly recognized for a new client referral in front of an exercise class, or by having their name posted for other people at the gym to see, can be very motivating for your typical customer.

People also send referrals through a genuine desire to help their acquaintances. If you’ve ever seen a friend suffering from lower back pain, or having trouble walking because of a knee injury, or perhaps feeling ashamed of themselves because of a noticeable gain of body fat, you understand how tough that can be and most likely have sought answers for your friend. Sometimes that answer be will referring them to your gym or personal trainer. So although financial incentives may spur your clients to refer more clients, they often have other factors that will push them to refer.

Choosing Rewards for Your Fitness Business Referral Program

If some people are motivated by money, others are motivated by a desire to help their friends, and others are motivated by public recognition, why not structure your referral program using all three types of rewards?

Financial rewards can be cash paid to the client for a referral or a credit to their future membership payments. There are other ways to ‘pay’ your clients for referrals, but those two options are the simplest. I personally enjoy writing checks to pay clients for referrals so that I have something tangible to hand to the person when I recognize and thank them for their help.

Public recognition for referrals can be done in a variety of ways. For example, you might send an email to all of your clients when you get a new referral that tells a brief story about the new client, who referred them, and why. You can then thank the person who sent the referral and highlight the rewards that you are giving them for the referral. You might also post their name on a whiteboard in your gym or any other public announcement board you have. Another idea is to thank the person in their exercise class at the beginning, so that all of your other clients are a part of your recognition and gratitude. That would also be a great time to hand the person a check or cash if you are providing a financial reward - this will help legitimize your referral program in the minds of those clients.

Finally, the best way to ‘reward’ your clients for referals, those who are motivated by a desire to help their friends and family, is to do a great job with the new client who they have referred. If I refer someone with knee pain to a trainer, the best thing I can get out of that referral is having my friend get rid of their knee pain. So our job, as trainers and gym owners, is to ensure that we provide the highest quality service and fastest results possible for every new client.

An Example Referral Program for Gyms

Here’s an example of how you can use a variety of referral rewards to encourage your clients to send you new business. This referral program uses the client’s anniversary as a reason for speaking to them about referrals. You can set this up for annual anniversaries or something different, such as a three month, six month, nine month, and twelve month anniversary.

If a client refers a new customer during the month of their anniversary with your gym, they will receive a financial reward, a health-related reward (such as free vitamin supplements, a free massage, or a few exercise bands for at-home workouts), and recognition through a thank-you card sent in the mail (a real card, not an email) along with a ‘thank you’ message at the start of their next class with everyone present.

Our clients at Strength School in Martinsville tend to stay for years, so we structure our anniversary referral program to use annual anniversaries. We have this poster printed and hung on the wall in the gym and educate clients about the program at the start of their anniversary month.