Tres Kennedy’s gym sits in rural Alabama. His town has a little over 1,000 people, and the area he draws clients from has fewer than 10,000. Per capita income is around $30,000 a year.
When he joined Two-Brain, new clients got three personal training sessions plus unlimited group classes for $150 a month.
Today, new clients pay $285 a month.
His close rate barely changed.
Here’s how he did it and how he handles price objections that scare most gym owners away from charging what they’re worth.
Where Tres Started
Tres opened his gym right before COVID. His on-ramp was three one-on-one sessions, and it was included in the regular $150 monthly rate. After that, clients stayed at $150 for unlimited classes or dropped to $115 for nine classes a month.
How did he set those prices? He looked at what gyms 15 or 20 minutes away were charging and landed in the same ballpark.
I know that method well. I used it too.
Tres calls that period “the dark ages.” The personal training sessions were treated as a gate. Clients did them so they could get into group classes. Nobody saw them as valuable on their own, including Tres.
What He Sells Now
Here’s the current offer:
- A three-month commitment to start.
- One personal training session per week (12 total).
- Two group classes per week, booked with help from the coach at the end of each PT session.
- A 15-minute goal review once a month for the first three months to check attendance, talk nutrition and adjust the plan.
- Price: $285 a month.
That’s $135 more per month and $405 more per new client over the first three months.
The price didn’t jump overnight. Tres’ mentor pushed him to start charging for the on-ramp, and he moved from $150 to $194, then to $250, which he held for several years before landing at $285.
“It was terrifying,” Tres said. “I really had to get pushed over the edge by my mentor, because I was like, there’s no way anyone could afford this.”
Before the gym, Tres worked as a student pastor and substitute teacher. He couldn’t picture himself spending $285 a month on fitness, so he assumed nobody else would either.
He was wrong.
“Is He Just Being Greedy?”
I asked Tres this directly, because some gym owners will read the numbers above and think exactly that.
His answer: The goal was never to squeeze more money out of clients. His data showed a big drop-off in the window between 90 days and one year. Clients left to figure out group classes on their own weren’t getting enough support, and they were quitting.
“They needed more touch points,” Tres said.
Weekly PT gave them those touch points. The higher price was simply the cost of delivering a service that works.
What Happened After the Price Went Up
Tres expected clients to push back on paying for personal training. That never happened.
“It was a huge shock to me that people actually wanted it,” he said.
Here’s what changed in his business:
- Close rate held steady. Out of 10 No Sweat Intros, Tres typically doesn’t close two or three. That number didn’t move as his price climbed.
- Retention went up. Clients are staying longer, and class check-ins are up too.
- More clients choose PT long-term. Some finish their three months and ask to keep the weekly PT session. A few switch to PT only.
- Coaches earn more. His coaches get a steady flow of one-on-one clients, so they don’t have to hustle for their own.
When personal training was a gate, clients walked through it and forgot about it. When Tres started presenting PT as coaching, clients started valuing it.
Two Numbers That Tell You If Your Market Wants More
You can test this in your own gym with two quick checks.
1. Think back to your last 10 consultations. How many people said they were nervous or scared?
If five or more mentioned fear or anxiety about walking in, your market is telling you it wants more hand-holding. These people want to be coached, and they don’t want to figure out group classes alone.
2. Of those same 10 consultations, how many people didn’t buy because of price?
One or two: You have room to raise prices.
Three or four: You’re probably priced right and prescribing what your market wants.
How Tres Handles Price Objections
“It’s more than I expected.”
Tres’ gym uses a sequence:
- Present $285 a month.
- Offer to bill on whatever day of the month fits the client’s budget.
- Offer weekly payments of about $72.
That weekly option works more often than not. “When they’re in their brain, they forget about that $285 number,” Tres said. “They’re like, okay, $72. I can definitely do that today.”
If that still doesn’t work, use your goal reviews. Something like: “Let’s try it for four weeks. At our first goal review, if this is still a strain, we’ll adjust your PT sessions, and that will adjust your price.”
At Tres’ gym, the first adjustment is moving PT to every other week. After four PT sessions, a client can move to group only if needed.
If the prospect still says no after all that, let them shop around.
“The gym down the street is cheaper.”
Tres’ area has three gyms, including an access gym and another functional fitness gym charging around $130.
He never talks badly about competitors. Instead, he talks about what makes his gym different: An access gym gives you equipment, and his gym gives you a coach focused on you and your plan.
If the prospect already told you they quit group classes after getting bored, or hated walking into an access gym with no idea what to do, remind them: “Do you think it would have been different if you’d had more accountability? When you stopped showing up, was anyone checking in on you?”
What Tres Would Tell His 2019 Self
I asked Tres what he’d say to the gym owner he used to be, the one charging $150 for PT and unlimited classes because he thought nobody would pay more.
“Every feeling you have is valid,” he said. “Especially if you’re only making $600 or $1,000 a month and you think there’s no way you’d spend that kind of money on training. But your training is valuable. You know what you’re doing. Your time is worth the money. You’re not Scrooge McDuck. You really are trying to help people get where they need to be. People will pay. You just have to get out of your own way and trust the process.”
As coaches, our core skill is getting people to do hard things they said they wanted to do. We get them to the 6 a.m. class because we know it’s good for them.
Prescribing the right package at the right price is the same skill.
If you need help building the conviction to charge what you’re worth, or you want a mentor like Tres to walk you through it, book a call here.
