How to sell more memberships without more leads

If you’re targeting growth, it makes sense that you’ll need more leads. But more leads don’t always add up to more sales. Often conversion is the real issue. Read on to learn how to sell more memberships by upping conversion.

As a gym operator, it’s tempting to think that the key to growing your business is simple. Get more leads. More people enquiring and interested in joining surely means more members, right?

Not necessarily.

Across the UK right now, operators are pouring time and money into generating leads. Yet, for many the problem isn’t really a lack of leads. For many the real challenge is converting leads into paying, loyal members.

The UK Gym Operator Insights Report shows that 83% of operators sell memberships in-person. Just 12% only sell online. And 68% of operators are relying on employees to handle sales tasks alongside other duties.

This leaves enquiries at risk of falling through the cracks.

Read on to work out if you really need more leads. Or if you need to fix a conversion problem.

Let’s get stuck in!

The lead gen trap

When you’re trying to meet sales targets, the first instinct is often to up spending on marketing. More ads. More offers. More outreach.

This can result in more leads and more sales (especially if you’re selling online like 80% of operators). However, if you’re generating leads and following up in-person or by phone, it doesn’t guarantee you’ll sell more memberships.

Why? If you’re not converting the leads you generate into sales, more leads won’t fix the problem. They’ll just amplify it.

For example, if you currently convert 10% of leads into members, doubling your enquiries without changing your processes still means you’re only closing 10%.

The cost of generating those extra leads cuts into your profit margins. And your staff will be busier than ever.

In fact, of operators selling memberships in-person, 38% struggle with a lack of resources to chase leads. And of those struggling with this, 85% have no dedicated salespeople. Teams are stretched, making it easy to neglect leads.

For many fitness businesses, the biggest opportunity is making better use of the leads already coming in.

3 signs you might have a conversion problem

If any of the following sound familiar, then you might just have a conversion problem. The good news is that if you can uncover the root cause(s) of your conversion problem, you can address it too.

1. Cold leads and missed follow ups

Speed matters. If it takes you hours, or even days, to respond to new enquiries, then your conversion rate issue may just start right there.

Leads go cold fast. Prospects who don’t hear from you quickly are more likely to:

2. Relying on spreadsheets (or memory!)

Of operators selling memberships in-person, nearly half don’t have a specific system in place to manage the sales cycle or are working from spreadsheets.

Of operators who don’t have a specific system in place to manage the sales cycle, 46% lack resources to chase leads (compared to 38% overall). And for operators working from a spreadsheet, 33% report poor conversion rates as the top challenge (compared to 13% overall).

If you’re using a spreadsheet to manage leads or have no specific system in place, you’re opening your business up to:

Without a clear process and the right systems in place, it’s almost impossible to follow up consistently. That’s where conversion problems may start.

3. Staff wear lots of hats

Only 20% of UK gym operators have dedicated salespeople. 68% rely on employees to handle sales alongside other responsibilities.

85% of those operators with no dedicated salespeople lack the resources to chase leads. This is far higher than those with dedicated salespeople – 25% lack resources to chase leads.

Where staff are wearing multiple hats, it’s easy for sales tasks to be pushed to the bottom of to-do lists. Follow ups are neglected in favour of more urgent tasks like manning the front desk or handling maintenance issues.

And when enquiries aren’t followed up with promptly (or at all) that’s a conversion issue.

How to address conversion issues

If you’re generating plenty of leads, but your membership numbers aren’t increasing at the same rate, chances are your sales funnel is leaking.

Positively, there’s lots you can do to increase conversions. So, you sell more memberships without needing to generate more leads.

Respond to enquiries fast

When someone fills out your enquiry form or requests a tour, they’re showing high intent. The longer you leave them waiting, the more that intent fades.

Stats suggest that responding to leads within 1 minute can increase conversions by 391%. And you’re 21 times more likely to qualify a lead if you can respond within 30 minutes of an enquiry coming in.

When leads are handled as a side-job, juggled with other priorities, it’s easy to see why many gyms take hours or even days to respond.

How can you address this challenge?

Where enquiries come in online or via email, start by automatically responding to let the lead know you’ve got their request. You could also look at using AI agent solutions to handle initial callbacks – giving an instant response.

Make sure your system is set up to alert salespeople immediately when new leads come in and train them to pick up the phone without delay.

Measure and track lead response time.

Lead response time = time of follow-up – time of initial contact

Make sure average response times stay under 30 minutes during core hours (e.g. 8am to 8pm).

Use average response times to target your team to get faster. Consider offering incentives for those who are consistently quick.

Put the right system in place

Relying on spreadsheets or chance to manage your sales cycle leaves too much to luck. Join the 51% of operators who are managing the sales cycle using prospecting tools within their gym management software.

At best, disjointed systems create extra admin and make it tough to track performance. Using the prospecting tools within your software helps make sure:

With the right system in place, converting leads into sales is less dependent on individuals and more about process. And that means:

Optimise your resources

Only 20% of gyms employ dedicated sales staff. Most just rely on general team members to manage sales alongside other tasks. This usually results in slow response times, inconsistent follow-ups, and lost opportunities.

Hiring a dedicated salesperson can help you convert more leads into members. For single-site gyms, even just having one person take ownership of sales can make a big difference.

This builds accountability, even if that person isn’t only focused on sales. Back it up with automation and clearly defined processes.

For multi-site operators, if it’s not an option to have dedicated sales teams for each location, consider a centralised approach to lead management. The key is to make sure someone, or a team, has clear ownership for sales.

Improve conversion without generating more leads

Beyond addressing issues, there are many small, consistent improvements you can make to increase conversion. So, selling more memberships without needing to find more leads.

Small, consistent improvements in how your business handles leads can transform the results you get.

Train and empower your team

Even when you have dedicated salespeople, short training sessions on key sales skills can quickly pay off. For example:

Scripts can help. But really empowering your team is about giving them the confidence and ownership in the sales process to win.

Use automation to stay consistent

It can take leads some time and a few touchpoints to sign up. Reminders, reassurance, and nudges are needed along the way. This is where automation comes in to help.

Keep it simple:

Automation is there to make sure no enquiry slips through the cracks. Even when your team are busy every lead is followed up on. It creates a professional, reliable experience that reflects well on your gym brand.

Track and measure conversion rates

As well as tracking how many leads come in each month, go deeper and track conversion rate too:

Conversion rate (%) = (number of memberships sold / total leads) x 100

If you also sell memberships online or via your app, you may want to exclude those from this calculation.

You could even look at your sales funnel and measure progress through it to find specific areas to improve. For example:

Regularly reviewing this data makes it easier to proactively manage and improve conversion.

It’s about doing the right things better

Tip

Good news! You don’t need to double your marketing spend to grow. Give your team the right training. Use automation for consistency. Track conversion. And you’ll see more success with the leads you’re already generating.

The wrap up…

Generating more leads doesn’t always equal more members when you’re selling in-person or by phone.

If you’re not converting a good percentage of those into paying members, you’re just pushing up your acquisition costs and creating more work for your team.

Before upping your marketing and advertising spend, focus on improving conversion by:

Track conversion through your sales funnel to identify areas for improvement. Keep making small adjustments and arm your team with the sales skills they need. Less effort and spend needed on lead gen!

Xplor Gym has the prospecting tools you need to take control of your sales funnel to improve conversion.