Referral programs should be a key growth strategy for your business.
A member referral program incentivizes your members to not just generate a lead but actually generate a paying client. Incentives should be structured to get your members excited about earning something special. No, socks and water bottles probably aren’t going to get someone to bring you a new 12-month member. A typical member referral program will incentives clients based on what the new clients sign up for.
“When you refer someone who becomes a 12-Month Member, you get 1 FREEMONTH added onto the end of your membership.”
Think about what you are getting vs what you are giving. Big picture, if you have ten members who each refer one new 12-month member, vs giving away 10 free months at the end of each membership, you’ve done pretty good.
You can also get creative by getting local businesses to donate services/goods/gift cards and use these to incentives your members.
In order for Member Referral Programs to be successful, they have to being rained in your studio culture. Your team should be well informed of the incentives and the program should be talked about often. Any member that receives the referral incentive should be highlighted and used for marketing if possible.
Hosting a friends & family event is not only great for community building but it can also drive in a ton of quality referrals. One approach to these events is hosting a Friends & Family Month. Each paying member gets 1 FREE Intro Offer Pass to gift to someone to use within the month. To ensure you have a steady stream of referrals coming in during this month you have to get your whole team involved and talk about it every day in the studio. “Don’t forget that our Friends and Family Month allows you to bring 1 special person into the studio for some fun AND you can earn something special if they join our fitFAM. Ask us about our Member Referral Program.”
ALWAYS be asking. From the point someone purchases an intro offer to their journey as a long-term member, and everywhere in between. Referrals should be asked for at all points of contact.
When a new client purchases your intro offer you can reach out by text to see if they have someone they may want to bring with them. “Hey Sally Jo, we are so excited to see you tomorrow for your first class with us. We actually have one spot available for a new client so we wanted to reach out and offer a FREE class to someone that may want to join you. Please let us know or have them contact us by tomorrow morning. We can’t wait to meet you.”
When a new client becomes a consistent paying member, you can extend a FREE intro offer on the day they sign up. “Sally Jo, we are so excited you joined our fitFAM and we’d love to give you 1 FREE Intro Offer to gift to some one special.”(There should be a 1 Month Expiration on this.)
