I was one of the world leaders in small-group and semi-private training.
Except I didn’t know it at the time.
And I lost money on what are now very high-value services.
Read on: I bet you did the same thing.
If you operated a CrossFit affiliate or group-coaching gym between 2007 and 2024, it’s probable that you ran your own small-group and semi-private experiments.
To bring you up to speed:
In a semi-private session, four to six people do personalized programs with one coach.
In a small-group session, four to six people do the same workout with one coach.
Here’s what 2007-2024 experiment looked like:
- You crave large groups of 12-20, where each person pays about $8 a class so you can take in $96-$160 an hour. This rate kicks the hell out of a personal training session sold at $50 an hour.
- You have one or maybe two classes a day with 10-12 people.
- Most of the other classes in the day have four or five people, who get incredible levels of attention in a small group. You take in $36 to $40 an hour—before paying the coach, of course.
- A few classes have one or maybe two people. These clients essentially receive personal training for $8 an hour, and you still lose money when the coach is paid just $20 for the hour.
- You aspire to turn two-person classes into six-person classes, six-person classes into 12-person classes and 12-person classes into 20-person classes. This is your sole focus: More people in classes.
- You do not officially offer PT, semi-private training or small-group training at premium rates that reflect their value.
This experiment played out in thousands of gyms, many of which no longer exist.
A few very rare gyms managed to fill lots of classes with 12 or more members all the time. The rest of us leased too much space for years, bought too many barbells, spent too much money on ads, ignored retention and struggled to make rent.
A Better Plan
If you are still stuck in the muck chasing huge numbers of clients, don’t worry. Many of us did that for more than a decade, and you have the chance to correct your error today.
First, recognize that group coaching is your discount service, not your premium service. (You are probably charging too little for it, but that’s another topic for another day.)
Second, start selling PT today. All you have to do is tell your next prospective clients how to accomplish their goals and ask if they would like the high-speed, one-on-one plan first. Some will, and you should take in $75-$100 an hour with those clients.
Third, consider adding a high-value small-group or semi-private program. When these programs are set up properly, they can take in about $240 an hour. A coach can make well more than $60 per hour in a well-run program.
Here are two catches:
1. You cannot just start charging more for underfilled “big group” classes because you’re now calling them “small-group training.” That doesn’t work.
2. You cannot start a semi-private program if you do not use the Prescriptive Model. Chris Cooper and mentor Daniel Purington have laid out all the details here so you can check off the prerequisites and successfully launch a high-value program.
To guarantee success:
1. Talk to your mentor if you’re a Two-Brain client. We have a host of resources available to help you create a program that can add thousands of dollars to your bottom line.
2. If you’re on your own, as I was when I made my greatest mistakes, book a call to talk about mentorship. An expert will help you get a plan in place to help you fix all aspects of your business—especially service pricing and packaging. You can do that here.
The worst approach: Keep trying to fill group classes by desperately acquiring more members. I can tell you from experience that you will struggle on that hamster wheel.
Don’t fall into the same trap that caught me. Remember that group classes are a discount service and focus on developing high-value services to bolster group revenue.
