Behind Gym Doors | A Fitness Business Podcast

Amy charges $49 a month at her Omaha fitness studio. Mike shows her live why to raise prices, who to charge more, and how to sell it. Amy opened Bounce Culture Fitness in Omaha in March 2025. She has 120 members and does about $9,768 a month in revenue. The average boutique fitness studio in America charges $164 a month. At that same gym membership pricing, Amy's same 120 members would be worth closer to $20,000 a month, with no new ads and no new leads. Mike visited in person and walked through a full pricing and sales overhaul on camera. They build Amy's customer avatar from her favorite member, run two live phone sales role-plays with real-time coaching, and rebuild her pricing structure using the decoy effect, pushing her toward a $150 to $199 price point for new members instead of $49. They also cover why giving away intro classes at no charge works against a studio's pricing instead of for it, and what Mike calls CPT: conviction, process, and training, the three things that separate gyms that can sell their price from the ones that cannot. If your fitness studio has ever been afraid to raise prices, this gym membership pricing session shows you exactly how it is done. In this episode you'll learn: — Why charging $49 a month is quietly costing Amy thousands every month — The exact math behind what her same 120 members would be worth at average industry pricing — How to build a customer avatar from your single favorite member — Two live phone sales role-plays with real-time coaching and corrections — Why answering "what do you guys charge" with information is a mistake — The decoy effect, and how to structure three pricing tiers so one is the obvious choice — Why giving away intro classes at no charge works against your pricing, not for it — What CPT means and why it separates gyms that can sell their price from the ones that cannot — The exact math showing what a 3% versus 10% churn rate is worth in lifetime value — Why asking a happy member for a referral the right way gets a yes almost every time — The gold pass referral system that turns one new member into several more If you have ever been afraid that raising your prices would cost you members, this session shows you what actually happens when you do it right. Timestamps: — 0:00 Opening: stop selling yourself so much — 2:24 120 active members and current revenue — 4:17 The gym membership pricing math that changes everything — 6:36 The credit card debt stat and why affordability is subjective — 23:14 Building the customer avatar from a single favorite member — 31:16 Who leads the call wins the sale — 47:09 Why pricing consultants cost companies millions — 48:00 The decoy effect and the no brainer pricing tier — 61:05 The feed a child program — 61:28 Amateurs add, professionals multiply — 65:56 The math behind a 3% versus 10% churn rate — 74:19 Closing thoughts Pricing Episode Mike References — "The Decoy Effect: How to Structure Your Gym's Pricing to Close More Members": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzb8xuTOA4A 100K Plan: https://100kplan.com Behind Gym Doors Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnwaMl7Us7dAkfE6idQW56EYkEEQ2E5eE Mike rebuilt Amy's pricing, her sales process, and her avatar on camera, the same system behind how GSD Gyms helps studios reach $100K a month. The plan is right here. Turns out a gift bag works better than a sales pitch.

CrossFit Elkhorn keeps gym churn under 4% with 233 members. Here's the weekly scorecard, class standard, and coach scoring system behind it. The average CrossFit gym churns members far faster than that. Trevor Baxter has run CrossFit Elkhorn in Omaha, Nebraska for 12 years, and his gym churn rate sits at 3.85% for the year, which means his average member stays close to 29 months. Mike visited the gym in person and walked through every system behind that number. Trevor's weekly scorecard takes 10 minutes to run and tracks revenue, member count, paid versus pending accounts, holds, cancels, and attendance. His coaches are scored on retention, referrals, and upgrades instead of opinion, so underperformance is a number, not a feeling. They also cover the minute-by-minute class standard Trevor built with his head coach, and the AI guardrails running his ad campaigns, where spend only increases 15 to 20% at a time and shuts off automatically when cost per lead crosses a set threshold. If your gym churn rate has been stuck for a while, this is what a CrossFit gym member retention system actually looks like in practice. In this episode you'll learn: — The weekly scorecard Trevor runs in 10 minutes that tracks the health of his business — The exact numbers on that scorecard: revenue, members, paid percentage, holds, cancels, and attendance — Why anything below 60% weekly attendance is a red flag worth investigating — The minute-by-minute class standard Trevor built with his head coach — The difference between proactive coaching and reactive coaching, and why most gyms skip it — The coach scoring system based on retention, referrals, and upgrades instead of opinion — What happens the moment a coach's score drops below 85 — The AI guardrails running Trevor's ad campaigns, and why he never scales spend more than 15 to 20% at once — Why CrossFit Elkhorn refocused on product over lead volume, and what changed — The four rights framework: right people, right seats, right things, right time — Why Trevor believes systems should manage people instead of people managing systems If you have ever wondered what it actually takes to lower your gym churn rate for good, this is the exact system to copy. Timestamps: — 0:00 Trevor's churn number, and why it matters — 0:22 What 3.85% churn actually means for retention — 1:12 The job to be done, and why every member comes for something different — 1:50 CrossFit Elkhorn's core values, explained — 2:30 233 members and $210 average client value — 3:23 Inside the weekly scorecard — 3:59 The 70% attendance target nobody talks about — 6:04 What to track first if you have nothing in place — 10:37 Proactive coaching versus reactive coaching — 20:39 Building AI guardrails into ad spend — 22:08 What happens when a coach's score drops below 85 — 23:05 Why systems make it easier to hire and replace — 23:27 Meet the AI employee managing leads — 25:04 The two types of management — 27:31 The bathroom story that explains their standard — 30:34 Where "the CFE way" came from 100K Plan: https://100kplan.com Behind Gym Doors Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnwaMl7Us7dAkfE6idQW56EYkEEQ2E5eE Trevor built one of the most complete operational systems Mike has seen at this size, and it shows in a gym churn rate most owners would love to have. The plan behind how GSD Gyms helps studios build systems like this is right here. Turns out a clean sink says more than a mission statement.

Stephanie Swanson's boutique fitness studio growth story starts with a simple problem: she did not know her own numbers. Stephanie owns Oxygen Yoga and Fitness in Burlington, Ontario, and just opened a second location in Alder Shot, already at 50 pre-sales in under two weeks. In her first 60 days working with GSD Gyms, her revenue grew 15%, hitting close to $73,000 in a single month. In this episode, GSD's Director of Operations Ash Wimble sits down with Stephanie to unpack exactly what changed. For a year and a half, Stephanie ran her studio without fully understanding her own KPIs. Once she started reviewing her data regularly and translating it for her team, small changes started compounding into real results, including a simple congratulations card system that turned member milestones into a recurring source of referrals and social proof. They also cover how Stephanie built her team culture around education instead of authority, why she believes every member joins a gym or studio for either transformation or belonging, and what it actually took to open a second location while still running her first. This is what boutique fitness studio growth looks like when the numbers finally get tracked. In this episode you'll learn: — Why Stephanie went a year and a half without truly understanding her own KPIs — The system Ash and Stephanie built to track and communicate data to her team — Why quarterly trends matter more than short term ups and downs — The simple congratulations card system that turned member milestones into a source of referrals — How Stephanie leads a team of 26, most of them part time, without losing culture — Why she believes every member joins a gym or studio for transformation or belonging — The leadership lessons Stephanie pulled from 12 years as a teacher — Why she never asks her team to do anything she would not do herself — How Stephanie sold 50 pre-sale memberships for her second location in under two weeks — What changed for her once she stopped trying to do everything herself — Why setting aside real thinking time made her a better leader If you have ever felt like you were working hard on the wrong things, this conversation shows what changes once you finally understand your own numbers. Timestamps: — 0:00 Welcoming Stephanie Swanson to the podcast — 0:46 What ownership actually looked like versus what she expected — 40:11 Closing thoughts and thank you Connect with Stephanie Swanson, Oxygen Yoga and Fitness: Instagram (Burlington): https://www.instagram.com/oyfburlington Instagram (Alder Shot): https://www.instagram.com/oyfaldershot 100K Plan: https://100kplan.com Behind Gym Doors Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnwaMl7Us7dAkfE6idQW56EYkEEQ2E5eE Fitness Business Assessment Stephanie turned a year and a half of guesswork into a 15% revenue increase and a second location already selling out pre-sales. The plan behind how GSD Gyms helps studios build systems like this is right here. Turns out a congratulations card can outperform a marketing budget.

This is part of how we help gym owners build ad systems like Joel's. See the plan here: https://100kplan.com   Joel Holland never ran a gym ad in 14 years. He used AI to build his first campaign. $3 cost per lead. 84 leads in 10 days. Here's how.   This gym Facebook ads using AI breakdown starts with Joel Holland, who runs 902 Athletics, a 17,000 square foot CrossFit and commercial gym in a 9,000 person market in Nova Scotia, Canada. In 14 years of business he had never run a paid ad. Everything was organic and referral based.   Ten days before this conversation, Joel taught himself how to run gym ads using Claude, an AI tool, and built his entire campaign from scratch. No agency. No prior experience. The result was a $3 cost per lead, compared to the $20 to $35 most gyms are paying right now, and 84 leads in 10 days.   Mike and Joel walk through the exact setup: the lead objective, the offer, the 34 second video ad, and why Joel wanted to learn ads himself before ever handing the account to an agency. They also cover why most agencies get bad results even when the technical setup is correct, and what the Meta algorithm actually does to gym ads that lose attention in the first two seconds.   If you have been told paid ads do not work for your gym, this look at gym Facebook ads using AI might change your mind.   In this episode you'll learn: — Why Joel never ran a paid ad in 14 years of business, until now — How he used Claude to build his entire ad campaign from scratch, no agency — The lead objective, offer, and 34 second video ad that got him $3 leads — Why he chose a two week trial with no charge instead of worrying it would devalue his gym — The 70 to 75% trial-to-paid conversion rate that made the offer make sense — Why increasing ad budget by more than 15 to 20% at a time can hurt performance — What the Meta algorithm actually does to ads that lose attention in the first few seconds — Why most agencies get blamed for bad creative instead of a bad account setup — Why Joel is running his own ads for 30 to 45 days before handing it to an agency — Why referrals built his gym to 1,000 members before he ever ran an ad — What to say the next time an agency tells you they have never seen this before   If you have been putting off paid ads because you assumed you needed an agency first, this episode shows you what is actually possible on your own.   Timestamps: 0:00 $3 cost per lead, 84 leads in 10 days 0:50 Welcoming Joel and setting up the story 2:30 Inside Joel's 17,000 square foot gym 3:17 Why Joel wanted to learn ads before hiring an agency 3:57 The lead objective and the sign up flow 4:14 The two week trial offer that started it all 5:17 The 70 to 75% trial to paid conversion rate 6:20 Building the video ad and the first few seconds that matter 9:20 The $15 daily budget and why Mike called immediately 10:21 What happens the moment someone clicks the ad 12:29 How referrals built the gym before any paid ads 13:32 The biggest lesson Joel did not expect 15:00 What the Meta algorithm actually does to bad ads 16:30 Why a 9,000 person market is not an excuse 18:10 What Joel took away from the A-Class retreat   100K Plan: https://100kplan.com   Behind Gym Doors Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnwaMl7Us7dAkfE6idQW56EYkEEQ2E5eE   ————————————————————————   Joel used AI to build a $3 cost per lead campaign from scratch, in a market smaller than most gym owners would even try. The plan behind how GSD Gyms helps studios build systems like this is right here.   Watch the 100K Plan: https://100kplan.com   New gym growth strategy every Thursday. Subscribe so you don't miss it.   Turns out horses and Facebook ads mix better than you'd think.

Matt charges $600 a month, keeps under 2% churn, and earns $30K per member. Here's his exact gym sales and referral system. This gym membership sales case study starts with the math. The average gym member in America is worth $1,400 over their lifetime. Matt's average member is worth $30,000. Same math, completely different numbers: under 2% monthly churn, more than 50 months of average retention, and 15 competing gyms within five minutes of his Costa Mesa studio. Matt runs Recoup Personal Training with his wife Stevie and business partner Beau, and joined Mike at the A-Class retreat to break down the sales process behind those numbers. This is not about closing harder. It is about everything that happens before the close. They walk through how to build real rapport without relying on small talk, the discovery questions that get a prospect to sell themselves, and a live role play of Matt's actual $600 a month consultation. Matt also breaks down his gold gift card referral program and why giving away a month at no charge makes sense when a member is worth $30,000. If you have ever been afraid to raise your prices, this gym membership sales breakdown shows you what is actually possible. In this episode you'll learn: — Why the average gym member is worth $1,400, and Matt's is worth $30,000 — The exact discovery questions that get a prospect to sell themselves — Why rapport is not about small talk, and what actually works instead — A live $600 a month sales role play, start to finish — The dating analogy Matt uses to explain why sales are lost early — Why closing 1% better matters more at a $30,000 lifetime value — The gold gift card referral program that turns one sale into two — Why a month with no charge is a smarter referral incentive than a discount — How Matt and his team refined their avatar after almost losing their best clients — Why Matt still does the sales himself instead of handing it off — How reviews and past client stories became their real growth engine If you have ever wondered whether raising your prices would cost you members, this episode shows you what happens when the sales process actually earns it. Timestamps: — 0:00 The average member math: $1,400 versus $30,000 — 0:38 Welcoming Matt and introducing Recoup Personal Training — 1:41 $600 a month, under 2% churn, and what that means — 2:48 Why raising prices does not have to cost you members — 4:26 Why sales are lost in the first few minutes — 5:28 What most people get wrong about rapport — 7:44 The discovery process that gets a prospect to sell themselves — 9:00 Live role play: selling a $600 a month consultation — 10:35 Why reviews became their biggest growth lever — 11:46 Turning results into referrals without asking for a review — 15:34 The avatar mistake that almost cost them their best clients — 18:18 The gold gift card referral program — 18:59 Why giving away a month makes more sense than a discount — 21:14 Capacity, sales volume, and why they are not opening a second location — 22:22 How much of the sales Matt still does himself — 23:32 Natural talent versus a trainable sales system Connect with Mattison Fetters, Recoup Personal Training: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/recoup_personal_training 100K Plan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMPx7b3_LOA Behind Gym Doors Podcast Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnwaMl7Us7dAkfE6idQW56EYkEEQ2E5eE Mike breaks down the exact sales math and referral system behind a $30,000 lifetime value member. The plan behind how GSD Gyms helps studios build systems like this is right here. Turns out the golden gift card is not for show.