How to Set Up a successful pre-sale membership launch
Members will not rush to your new Studio simply because it is open. You need a plan and you need members before you open
Presales are a lot of fun. Not only is it your first opportunity to talk about your new facility to the public, you also get to start making money before the buildout is complete! There are many ways to conduct a presale event. The following outlines how some Studios have found success with their presale prior to opening. Have a plan and stick to it This includes budget as well as the type of marketing you plan to do. If you budget and plan for 40,000 direct mail pieces, Facebook digital paid ads, distribution of 4,000 local employee flyers, and 20 hours a week of actively talking to local business owners & residents, stick to it. The only time to sway at all is if you have an abnormal response from one of the marketing mediums. If it is abnormally high, allocate some of the funds from the lower performing medium. If it is abnormally low, allocate some of those funds to the higher return strategies. But overall, try to stick to your original plan. Where to do your presale event Your offline presale event can be inside a finished area of your facility, in a vacant space the landlord allows you to utilize, on the road/footpath outside your new facility, or in an offsite office. In all cases, you will need detailed blueprints, schematics, pictures, and layout of your facility so the prospect can picture what it will look like. You will have to take them on a "virtual" tour that allows them to imagine themselves working out at your facility. If they show up and you have a pen and a stack of membership agreements, they won't stay long. Have a tour ready for them, even if it is a mental tour or a tour through artist renditions of how the facility will look when complete. Your online presale event will occur over a few weeks and perhaps months.. mainly in the form of promotional videos, a virtual digital tour of your facility, or simply an optin form requesting more information. An offer like “Founding Memberships available for 50% OFF” or “Sign up before we open and receive and extra 3 months FREE membership” These offers will ideally be used on your company website page, Facebook Fan Page, through Youtube, Instagram and LinkedIn. Make your Presale a huge event Don't simply set up a tent or an office and post a sign out front. You need balloons, face painting, streamers, colours, celebrity appearances, multiple direct mail pieces delivered to mailboxes, public awareness through local facebook groups advertising the event. Make it a huge event and you will find people are more excited to join site unseen. Pre-sell memberships over three stages You can specify dates of each of the three stages. For example if you plan for your facility to be open in October, send out your postcards in July stating that all memberships sold prior to opening will come with these 10 bonuses and the lowest price point. Stage two, August, will come with only 5 of the bonuses and a slightly higher price point. Then in September it will be their "last chance" to secure the amazing rates. Make it a limited offer event Let your prospects know that only X amount of founding memberships will be sold prior to opening the doors. If you show the prospects that by becoming a founding member, they will have special privileges that others will not. Not only that, but founding memberships are limited. Perhaps you limit it to 100 "Founding Memberships". Base it on whatever amount of revenue you determine would make you financially comfortable prior to opening. Don't forget, the grand opening celebration will be a huge event as well, allowing you to sell a sizeable number of memberships once the doors open.
Yours in Fitness Business Success,
Ben Dulhunty
