Where Not To Use Technology in Your Martial Arts Club

Using a CRM to manage all your members’ billing, their anniversaries, belt levels, etc, etc, all in one system is a good thing.

Or just being able to use the app on your phone to pay a bill, beats going down to the branch or the post office. Technology is mostly beneficial.

A few months back I was talking with one of the martial art clubs we work with, it was about at the 4 week mark, things were going good but (as normal – who wouldn’t) they wanted to have even more of the people who came in sign up to become an ongoing member.

During the “set up” call I spoke to the owner about the steps he takes when ‘someone walks in to try out a class’ – what happens next? and next? etc.

From what I’ve heard and SEEN from 80+ martial art clubs now overall, I know that this walk-in process is one of the critical pillars in membership growth.

Reality of Instructors Experience & Members

You’ve seen clubs with below average instructors get lots of signs up, right?

You’ve seen great instructors struggle to get the member numbers they deserve, right?

I’m not talking about using pushy sales techniques.

I’m not talking about tricking anyone into anything.

BUT there are simple steps that end up with more people joining.

Back to the main point:

Lots of clubs I talk to think that having an iPad or QR code for the people to put in their details, sign a waiver, etc, when they walk in, will make their lives easier (or worse, send them a link with a waiver to sign BEFORE coming in!).

• Obviously, yes! It will save you time and hassle, especially if you’re the only instructor there on the day.

• BUT…from what I’ve seen, it REDUCES paid sign ups at the end of each week.

The question for this guy I was talking to at week 4 was:

“What would you rather? More paying members? or to save a few minutes of paperwork?”

It would be FANTASTIC if an electronic waiver PRIOR to someone coming in would ALSO give you more full paying sign ups. I’d love that. I’d promote that. I’d help the martial art clubs we work with set it up. You might be thinking, why do I say it’s not the best way?

Because it’s not optimised to move people further along the “conversion path”.

It’s a dampener, not an igniter.

It’s a speed bump, not a propeller.

Again, let me stress. I’m not talking about pushy/tricky/gross sales tactics. I’m not into that. But why not use something that will get you more paid sign ups at the end of each week, even if it does “cost” you 2 extra minutes a night?

We solved this problem for a club that had ZERO sign ups over a 3 month period. They then got 5 paying members the very next month.

Increasing Member Numbers Isn’t a Mystery

It’s not a mystery. It’s not difficult. It is old-school. It works. We’ve given it to 24+ clubs now who needed it. We don’t charge our clients for it. It’s a win-win.

It’s a “simple” form parents/adults need to fill out when they come in. Simple, yet agonised over to do the most important thing needed at that time; turn walk-ins into paying members.

Hopefully if nothing else you might consider what is making it harder for clients to get started with your club? Where are the potential speed bumps?

If you think that maybe one day you could try us out for a month (we don’t do long term contracts)… the first step is for us to check if we DO or DON’T work with a club in your area already.

Even if you’re just curious, just reply to this email with your club’s postcode or suburb + state and I’ll let you know. No strings attached.