If you regularly exercise at a studio / gym

[bryceQ]

If you regularly do any type of organised exercise, what type of rewards programme would you enjoy? I own a studio and want customers to feel valued. We do gifts currently when customers hit big milestones. Interested in what you'd like to see.

Monthly draw for some benefit, like a free day pass for one's mates/kids or to take a free exercise class. Or you could do random discount for certain types of purchases (if you sell merchandise).

Our swim pool offers 'new joiners' deals at random moments, like half price membership for a year on Black Friday. Why not offer that same deal occasionally to the existing members ?

Free guest pass. It could mean a new customer for you. I don't want more random water bottles or towels.

Honestly what makes me feel valued is them saying hi, knowing my name, recalling things we've talked about, getting a hand written birthday card, caring about us and our goals. A rewards programme wouldn't do any of that

Thank you.

Yes we do all of this. We are always handwriting cards! And we send very individual messages and certainly know everyone's name.

Thanks for your suggestions.

30 mins with a PT?

Rather than rewards I'd look to ask for clients feedback on what classes work best for them, what times work for them and act on their feedback to tailor the sessions to suit.

I’m a PT (some of the time) and I work in studios sometimes.

Assuming you’re the kind of studio where external PTs can register to bring clients (that’s what I understand by ‘studio’ anyway) —

From a pro perspective I don’t care about rewards. I just want to know if it’s easy, quick and seamless to get registered/book slots as a PT so I can work with a client in there. So many studios are not up to date in terms of tech. Making me ring up or send emails to book slots like it’s still 2004.

Also — enough high-quality equipment, properly safety checked. Clean and enough antibacterial wipes so we can wipe off equipment as we go. First aid kit kept stocked. Decent showers and changing facilities. Padlockable lockers — none of that pound coin shite.

We are a yoga studio.

Yes we regularly survey clients and get verbal feedback on what they want to see. We have 25 classes a week so do cover all times

Wow! That sounds great.

I attend a chain commercial gym & pre-COVID and with a different manager, there was much more gym-culture celebration stuff. They did an annual fitness challenge, FitBrit, with a national competition for the 20 highest scorers in each category. Locally the manager handed out a free energy drink when you completed it (timed by one of the trainers), and just generally making it a bit more of a party atmosphere.

Also social media: Now the individual gym branches' Instagrams are all gone, and it's just the one corporate one, which only ever features London gyms. I wish that some of the amazing stuff my fellow gym members and I do was also celebrated! We have members who are in the 80s and 90s who do amazing stuff.

So just celebrate your members. It sounds like you really value them, which is great!

I regularly go to a Pilates studio, but don't really want or need 'rewards' as such. As long as the studio is clean and well maintained, the instructors are welcoming and approachable, and there is a good array of class times that are available that's good enough for me.

I do like that they have an app where I can book or cancel classes and keep track of how many classes I have attended, and the have several locations, so I can attend classes in any of their studios near me, which I like.
Also their cancellation policy is quite good - you can cancel up to 24 hours before the class and you don't forfeit any money, you can use that class again (and they usually have waiting lists so they can probably fill the place again).

As it's quite expensive, one suggestion would be to have some good deals for multiple class passes - I guess that would be rewarding people who commit to long term attendance. So for example by buying 30 or 40 or more classes together it works out at a better price per class (and giving people a good bit of time to use them before they expire) - makes me feel like I'm saving some money.

Also they don't bombard me with emails about nonsense.