A few of Two-Brain’s sales leaders are using trial workouts to acquire new clients—with a huge qualification:
The trial workouts are combined with consultations as part of a clearly defined sales process.
The “samples” are not served as they were in 2014, when a prospective member did a brutal or semi-brutal workout and then either left in disgust or said, “I want more!”
Here’s a closer look at the old free-trial “sales system,” which is still used in some gyms:
- Person books free trial on website or by email.
- Person might receive waiver ahead of time.
- Person might receive some info about what to bring, what to expect, how early to arrive.
- Person shows up and receives ultra-brief pre-workout instruction.
- Person does workout.
- Person receives high five.
- Coach says “let us know if you want to join” and starts teaching next class.
- Person leaves.
Today, some gyms do better than others when it comes to preparing people for a free trial and leading them through it, but the common characteristic remains: The workout is “the thing” that’s supposed to convince the person to join, just like the sample on the toothpick at the grocery store is supposed to convince you to buy the sausages.
So why is this dinosaur of a marketing plan still lumbering around the fitness industry? Here’s what Chris Cooper has to say:
“The free-trial myth pops up from time to time for two reasons: Gym owners hate ‘selling,’ and most of our entrepreneurial role models sell products instead of services.”
Two things to remember:
1. Someone in your business must learn to sell or you won’t have anyone to coach.
2. Accountants don’t file tax returns for free in hopes that people will hire the firm for monthly bookkeeping, and plumbers don’t clear drains at no charge so people hire them to put in new sinks. These service providers sell solutions, not spreadsheets and drain snakes. Fitness coaches also sell solutions—weight loss, improved strength, etc.—not workouts. And that’s good because solutions are way more valuable than workouts.
Trials in 2025
I said earlier that a few of Two-Brain’s top closers use trials as part of their sales processes.
I’ll show you that looks in one gym that made our most recent marketing leaderboards. I’m not suggesting this is the exact process you should use; in fact, I would strongly recommend a free consultation without a workout (see below).
With that said, here’s the evolution of the trial from a show-up-and-vomit workout to one part of a clearly defined sales process:
- Person does a free consultation over the phone and receives a service prescription designed to help them accomplish their goals. Membership options are outlined, with pricing delivered by text after the call.
- Person is booked into an intro workout, with a fee of $20. This gym installed a fee specifically because their data suggested the small investment makes people far more likely to show up.
- Person does an intake interview 15 minutes before the class. Because of the initial phone call, the salesperson can ask deeper questions and ask if they reviewed membership options.
- Person is handed over to the coach for the class and introduced to another client as a “workout buddy.”
- After class, the coach hands the person back to the sales team for closing.
This is a very detailed plan that’s clearly been optimized for conversions.
Another gym uses a simpler but similarly effective version: They offer free classes or free PT sessions, but “we do the interview process before they have any trial service.”
That’s the key in both cases: The consultation. Not the workout. The consultation can succeed without the workout, but a workout without a consultation is the equivalent of a bike with no pedals.
In Two-Brain language, a trial workout surrounded by consultations as part of the Prescriptive Model is called a “Sweat Intro”—if you delete the workout, we call it a “No Sweat Intro,” or “NSI.”
A No Sweat Intro is without a doubt the best way to bring new clients into a gym. It’s a fast, efficient process that allows you to close high-value sales and set clients up for years of training. It should always be your default option.
Remember this: You don’t sell workouts. You sell coaching. It’s important that clients know that, too.
It’s the consultation that generates the sale. The conversation, the prescription, the objection handling, the follow-up—those are the keys. It’s an entire sales process, and you do not need to add a workout to improve it.
Your Next Steps if You Sell by Trial
You have two options if you currently use free trials, and both provide spectacular opportunities to close more sales.
1. Switch to a No Sweat Intro—All the details are here. Huge bonus: You will save a lot of time with this plan. (Two-Brain clients work with mentors to tailor this process to their businesses: They role-play prescribing and selling, they engage key staff members, they document SOPs, they integrate software and technology, they optimize the system, they automate it, and they track metrics so they can see what’s working and what could be improved.)
2. Use a Sweat Intro—If you absolutely must use a workout, you absolutely must add a consultation. In consultations before workouts, ask prospective clients about their goals and tell them exactly how they can accomplish them (use the Prescriptive Model). Explain how the workout to follow relates to their goals and give them a ton of coaching in the workout. They don’t need to “feel the burn”; they need to discover that you are a coach. Talk to the person after the workout and sell them on your coaching services. Remember, you can’t help them if they don’t sign up.
Whatever path you choose, track your metrics against your current process.
I’m certain you’ll be thrilled with the results if you start using consultations.
And if you want to hear more about how a business coach can help you set yourself apart in the market and add members faster, book a call here.
