It goes without saying that your clients are your biggest asset.
Many sports facility owners tend to focus solely on acquiring new members. Don’t get me wrong, bringing new clients into your business is a critical step to growth. But, that shouldn’t come at the expense of nurturing your current clients.
In fact, research shows that it costs 5 times more to acquire a new customer than to retain a current one.
This means you have a lot of untapped potential to reach your current customer base, without breaking the bank.
Here are 6 creative ways to boost your sports facility revenue without adding new clients.
How to boost revenue at your sports facility:
1. Incorporate a membership-based business model
Offering premium memberships will help you convert one-off revenue into steady, reliable income each month. If you don’t currently offer memberships, you should explore if memberships are right for you. Based on your client’s buying behavior and your offerings, there are a few different options to structure a membership program. Here, we outline the pros and cons of each.
If you already offer memberships, think about how you might articulate their value to encourage non-members to sign up. Converting your clients into long term members will promote customer loyalty and increase satisfaction. And, as a result, you’ll see your revenue grow and become more consistent.
2. Identify opportunities to cross sell other offerings
You should also observe your client’s behaviors in order to uncover any opportunities to leverage additional services within your business. For example, at a camp or group training session, observe any athletes that may benefit from some extra coaching. Perhaps private lessons or 1 on 1 training will greatly benefit them. First and foremost, this will this help improve the skills of your athletes. But, it will also create additional revenue opportunities for your sports facility.
Related: Why Athlete Evaluations are Essential to Youth Sport Development
3. Improve your internal marketing and communications
Marketing is essential for any business. It can be especially beneficial to showcase your offerings and events. Remember to communicate your upcoming events with your current clients.
Upper Hand makes it easy to connect with your contacts through sending marketing emails. Upon creating an event within Upper Hand, you can send out an email to encourage sign ups and spread the word. These emails can be targeted to specific lists, ensuring that news of your offerings are sent to the right people.
In addition to sending marketing emails to your clients about other offerings, you should also send out reminders to clients who are registered for your events to share important event details and any other pertinent information may be needed to deliver a positive client experience.
Outside of specific events, you can also connect with your clients through email automations and marketing surveys to show that you care about their development and value your feedback.
Related: Build a Customer Birthday Campaign (in 30 minutes or less)!
4. Turn your staff into superstars
When it comes to advertising your business, you should think about highlighting your coaches. One big reason that clients and members come back to train at your facility is because of you — the people that they work with.
By highlighting your trainers and, in a way, turning them into local celebrities, you’re helping them grow their business. This leads to higher staff retention and, consequently, client retention.
For example, Tom Emig, Owner of D-BAT Newark, found that highlighting his athletes and coaches in marketing has had positive effects on both staff and athlete experience.
“[By highlighting our trainers in our marketing], we help them build their business, which also helps maintain the business that we are creating.”
Related: Steal These 3 Strategies to Improve Trainer Retention by 8x
5. Boost brand loyalty through selling retail
Another opportunity to expand your sports facility revenue is through selling retail items. Branded merchandise helps contribute to brand awareness, increasing word of mouth and encouraging client loyalty. Consider purchasing and selling branded t-shirts, sweatshirts, and other workout essentials.
In addition to selling branded apparel such as t-shirts or hoodies, you may consider selling workout essentials that will improve your clients’ experience. For example, if you own a baseball or softball facility, consider stocking the latest bats or gloves.
To keep your retail stock fresh and exciting, you should update your shop with new selections that encourage clients to keep their wardrobe and equipment up to date.
6. Use a sports facility management software
A sports facility software is an all-in-one solution to manage the back-end of your business. Investing in a strong facility management software will save you countless hours and resources that you can invest back into your business.
Your schedule is like the ultimate game of Tetris. A business management software like Upper Hand will help you efficiently manage your resources, maximizing profitability without adding a single square foot. By dividing up your larger courts, fields, or spaces into multiple areas, you’re able to increase the number of activities that can occur in each space.
Not only does software help you increase the efficiency of the back-end side of your business, it also improves the client experience. From easy-to-use scheduling to flexible payment options, adding convenience is a win for both you and your athletes. Think about the last time you visited a hard-to-navigate website. Chances are, you become frustrated, closed the tab, and didn’t purchase whatever you were planning to buy. A strong sports facility management software will help your clients have a more positive interaction with your brand. The added bonus? Increased revenue.
Getting Started
Now that you’re armed with some unique ways to diversify your offerings, you’ll be able to maximize profitability of your facility. By creatively engaging with your current clients, you can implement new revenue streams that will improve your client experience and grow your sports facility revenue.
Interested in the future of sports and fitness? See how Upper Hand is predicting the future of business growth with data-driven software. Get a demo today.
