34 leads. 2 members.


The Owner's Corner

Helping gym owners achieve sustainable growth

The leads problem in front of you.

The average gym gets 32 to 36 leads a month.

Six of them book an appointment. Two join.

That's from Two-Brain's 2025 State of the Industry report. And buried in the same section is the number that should concern you:

14% of gyms never call their leads at all.

Not "call eventually." Not "call twice and give up." Never!

This is a real missed opportunity. Ask a room of gym owners what they need and almost every hand goes up for the same thing: more leads. More reach. Bigger ad budget. But if 34 people a month are already raising their hand and 32 of them never become members, its the middle part of your funnel that's broken.

Chris Cooper's read on the data is that fixing speed-to-lead and follow-up can double your sign-ups without touching your ad spend. That's his inference, but the underlying math is hard to argue with. A 33% median close rate on booked appointments means the people who actually show up at your door join at a decent clip. The leak is between "filled out the form" and "attended a trial."

So here's your homework for this week:

Pull your last 30 days of leads. For each one, write down how long it took before a human being called them. Not emailed. Not texted from an automation. Called.

If you can't answer that question from your records, that's your finding.

One caveat worth naming: this data skews toward gyms organized enough to track their numbers and fill out a survey. You think the owner-operator with a million things to do fills out surveys? This implies that the real industry-wide follow-up picture is worse than 14%. Yikes.

More leads is the expensive fix. Calling the ones you already have is free.


Post a Fitness Job on our Board

If you're ready to grow your business, let us help you on the hiring side. We help you find quality talent using our vast fitness network.

Hire a General Manager

We'll run a specialized general manager search for you. A done-for-you hiring service... because we've done it before.

Value Your Gym

Curious what your gym is worth? I've owned and sold a gym and now a business broker that specializes in fitness. Answer a few questions and I’ll send you a realistic valuation range, plus what’s moving the number up or down.

Until next time!

Team Barbell Jobs

600 1st Ave, Ste 330 PMB 92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2246
Unsubscribe · Preferences

BarbellJobs.com

Get industry news and fitness job opportunities in the world of functional fitness delivered to your inbox.

Read more from BarbellJobs.com
A man in a white shirt is standing in a gym

The Owner's Corner Helping gym owners achieve sustainable growth The Coach You're About to Lose Last month a gym owner told me he got blindsided. His best coach - five years on staff, the one members asked for by name - handed in two weeks' notice on a Tuesday. "No warning," he said. Except there was. There always is. He just never asked. Here's the part owners underrate: when a coach walks, they don't leave alone. Around 45% of members stick around because of their relationship with staff,...

A man in a white shirt is standing in a gym

The Owner's Corner Helping gym owners achieve sustainable growth Can your gym survive without you for two weeks? Not “run a little rough.” Not “the front desk texts you six times a day.” Actually run — classes covered, payroll processed, problems solved, members happy — while you’re somewhere with bad cell service. If the answer is no, I have bad news: your gym is worth a lot less than you think it is. I learned this the hard way. I used to own a gym. I sold it. And over the years I’ve worked...

Woman jumps rope while man watches in gym.

The Functional Fitness Weekly Roundup New Fitness Jobs and the Latest News in Fitness Hi Reader, With gym memberships hitting record highs and the "social fitness" movement turning every workout into a community event, the demand for high-level talent has never been more intense. Join us in growing your fit pro career or growing your team! By the way, missed our 2025 Fitness Salary report? Check it out here: BarbellJobs_2025_Fitness_Salary_Report.pdf ⭐Featured Functional Fitness Jobs⭐...