Punch cards are horrible if you’re selling fitness coaching.
I’ll be blunt about that.
A recent paywalled Morning Chalk Up article surveyed gym owners and business experts—including Chris Cooper—on the punch-card topic, and all but one person concluded that they are a bad idea.
The outlier: A single gym owner in a military town said the cards work for clients who deploy regularly, and 10 percent of revenue comes from punch cards. That’s a special situation.
Everyone else said punch cards don’t help a coaching business in any way and generally cause a lot of problems, too.
In case you didn’t read the article—“Are Punch Cards Hurting Your Business?”—I’ll answer the question in the title by restating Chris Cooper’s position:
“Punch cards are bad for the gym and they’re also bad for the client.”
My Punch-Card Experiences
A long time ago, I bought a punch card at a gym. The owner got $200 in revenue before services were rendered, and I got my card.
The card had an expiry date—something that was allowed in my area but not others—so the owner had some idea when he might see more of my money. But he had no guarantee that I’d buy another card.
I showed up for classes sporadically, never gained any momentum and saw limited results. When I attended, I needed more coaching than the regulars.
Eventually, my card expired with classes remaining. I was irritated and didn’t buy another card. In my mind, I had “lost money,” which is generally the worst feeling a business can give a consumer.
But I hadn’t learned my lesson. When I opened a gym some years later, I created some complicated, completely untrackable “system” that allowed certain people to show up when they felt like it.
As a business owner, I quickly realized punch-card members were a huge pain in my ass:
- They always needed more coaching than anyone else.
- They didn’t know any of the gym’s procedures or rules.
- They showed up in full classes and made life miserable for coaches.
- They showed up in empty classes and got personal training for $20 an hour.
- They showed up to classes that had been cancelled months ago and got mad.
- They eventually had the right to “pay the old rate” to access services that had dramatically increased in value.
- They said, “The other gym I drop in at programs more workouts I like.”
- They showed up months later and asked for refunds on unused classes.
- They shared punch cards with friends and family members.
- They regularly forgot to pay me.
- They sometimes handed me cash, which I forgot about and put through the washing machine.
- They created labor: I had to print and laminate cards, and coaches had to spend time trying to find the hole punch after class.
- Their existence suggested “you can pop in here randomly. Regular training isn’t needed.”
- Their “special snowflake” status encouraged other members to attempt to choose their own adventures in my business.
I’ll give you one more entry that’s more important than any of the others:
- They didn’t come often enough to develop a fitness habit and get results.
That’s the only thing that really matters.
Everything else on the list could be classified as “very annoying.”
But when a client is offered a membership option that won’t produce results, your business is utterly failing the client.
“Show up whenever you feel like it and accomplish nothing!”
“Sporadic training is the key to keeping the 20 lb. you want to lose.”
“Sleep in today and come ‘later in the week’ to ensure you don’t finish the 5-km run you signed up for.”
You are literally selling cars that don’t run and buckets with holes in them.
That’s bad for clients who need to get fit and bad for your reputation as a business that helps people get great results fast.
Clients who don’t get results don’t become healthier, and they leave and tell other people your program doesn’t work.
What could be worse?
In my opinion, nothing.
So if you’re considering offering punch cards at your coaching gym, don’t.
And if you’re currently offering punch cards, stop.
