How to Generate Leads with AI in the Fitness Industry

Effective lead generation is a vital function of any business. For industries with low loyalty and high churn, the ability to sustain a healthy pipeline is critical. Not least because without the leads and potential revenue, headcount inevitably has to shrink.

On a wider business level, without the steady flow of new prospects, you lack the revenue projections to make decisions about scaling your operation.

Traditional practices rely heavily on human intervention to drive sales. Acting on leads as they come, phoning prospects in their homes or risk catching them at work.

The problem with this approach is two-fold. Firstly, modern consumers hate being called on the phone. It’s interruptive and, generally, Millennials and Gen Z don’t like interacting with businesses over the phone.

Secondly, a phone call makes it easier for prospects to change their mind. Unless they are committed to specifically joining your gym, they can easily avoid follow-up calls. 

They know eventually the salesperson will give up and move on because it won’t be worth their time.

Artificial intelligence changes all that.

In lead generation, artificial intelligence can be used to automate large amounts of the lead generation and sales process. Generative AI, like ChatGPT, can even be employed to manage communication as well.

AI has the power to revolutionize lead generation within the fitness industry. In doing so it can free up sales personnel to put their energies where they’ll make the biggest contribution.

Outreach Optimization

Acting on every lead that comes in isn’t always practical. Time pressures usually mean sales staff will only follow up on the leads they believe are most likely to convert. This creates a negative experience for those prospects who never get a response or a callback. 

A wildly inconsistent service will result in negative reviews and make it harder to attract new members. That drives the cost of acquisition up, losing revenue and hurting profits. The knock-on effect can be price increases or those prospects who do show interest get pressured to sign up. In turn that reduces the likelihood of renewals.

By leveraging AI, operators can analyze customer behavior, preferences, and demographics to identify not just the most promising leads. AI can also determine which leads are the best fit for each of the product offerings. 

This enables targeted outreach through tailored messaging and optimized advertising campaigns. With AI's predictive analytics, operators can ensure that the right message reaches the right audience at the right time, significantly increasing conversion rates and maximizing marketing ROI.

AI-powered outreach optimization tools streamline the process and frees up valuable time for staff. By automating repetitive tasks like lead segmentation and campaign scheduling, staff can focus on higher-value activities. Such as building relationships with prospects or improving the customer experience. 

This increased productivity allows fitness operators to make the most of their resources and drive better results.

Lead Management:

AI-driven lead management platforms give operators the ability to automate lead tracking, nurturing, and conversion processes. This eliminates manual tasks and reduces human error. 

By capturing and analyzing data from multiple touchpoints, AI algorithms provide comprehensive lead profiles, allowing operators to engage with prospects at the right time and with relevant content. 

It moves the relationship away from being solely transactional - money for membership. Instead, it becomes a value-based conversation in which the gym is playing an active role in member health and fitness. 

This will serve as a key differentiator for gyms and fitness centers in areas where competition is greater. The more content operators have available, the greater the role they can play in automated lead management. 

Moreover, the ability to both automate and personalize communications allows operators to focus on delivering value across their membership estate. Rather than constantly being forced to choose between acquisition or retention.

LLM AI and generative AI further enhance lead management by creating personalized communications in minutes. Emails, SMS and other communications can be tailored based on available data. 

Generative AI can dynamically generate offers and recommendations for individual leads based on their interests and intent. These AI-driven capabilities save time and improve lead engagement, increasing the chances of conversion as a result.

Personalization at Scale

The overwhelming majority of consumers want personalized communications. Around 83% of consumers are willing to hand over data if it means they get a more personalized experience. 

This can be difficult if all you’ve received is a contact form or a membership inquiry. However, AI-driven technologies enable fitness operators to deliver targeted and personalized experiences at scale. 

LLM AI and generative AI analyze available data, including lead preferences, demographics, and behavior. The technology can then deliver tailored communication, product recommendations, and offers. 

Personalized communication, especially at the early stage of the relationship between the gym and the prospect, deepens the connection.

This means they are not only more likely to sign up but more likely to renew when their yearly membership is up.

The likelihood of renewal increases if the personalized communications continue once the prospect has converted to a member. 

With AI's automation capabilities, fitness operators can personalize interactions without manual intervention. The operator simply sets the requirements and the AI analyzes the lead data and generates dynamic content based on the profile. 

Operators have the power to deliver personalized campaigns for every lead they receive, with pre-programed responses to overcome objections and drive conversions.

Sales Forecasting and Reporting

Accurate sales forecasting is both immensely important and hard to do in the fitness industry. The mix of members and membership types makes predicting churn, renewals and new members very difficult. 

Forecasting

A human can take the time to analyze historical data, market trends, member behavior and inbound leads. However, it will take them a long time to gather the data, study it and draw any meaningful conclusion. Let alone an actionable one.

AI algorithms can analyze all these data points and using predictive capabilities, fitness operators gain insights into future sales performance in minutes. 

Operators can make better decisions, faster. Sales managers are in a position to put strategies together that are backed by data and are achievable. 

They can put resources where they are needed most, whether to shore up retention or drive sales. Staff targets can be realistic especially as they too can be calculated by AI based on historical performance.

AI-powered sales forecasting allows gym operators to focus on strategic decision-making and execution. Rather than scrambling to convert every lead because they’re making guesses about sales and revenue.

Reporting

Tied to the forecasting is reporting. Reporting systems driven by AI can automate data collection, analysis, and visualization. This gives operators real-time insights into lead generation metrics, conversion rates, and campaign performance. 

Customized reports allow fitness operators to gain a comprehensive understanding of their lead-generation efforts. Everything can be scrutinized from the types of lead to the types of membership offered.

Even which staff members spoke to prospects over the phone and, crucially, how many of those prospects converted and how many didn’t. 

By automating reports, operators get the unvarnished truth about how their lead-generation efforts are going. They will get an unbiased view of how the business is performing.

Sales managers will be able to create reports to meet almost any requirement. Providing the data is available, the AI will be able to pull it through. No more filtering, no more manually adding segments. 

Simply tell the AI what you need and it will pull the data together. This ability to create insightful, actionable reports can empower operators to optimize their lead-generation strategies, make informed adjustments, and drive better results.

Keepme - Powered by AI

AI is reaching a level of ubiquity that can be relied on within businesses to perform day-to-day tasks. But more than that, it represents an opportunity to change the way the fitness industry operates. 

By automating large chunks of the lead generation and sales process, operators have the breathing space to add greater value.

Giving staff the freedom to nurture prospects and new members by delivering personalized and relevant communications and advice is immensely powerful. But impossible without AI supporting the process. 

Keepme’s customer engagement and CRM platform is designed specifically for the fitness industry and powered by AI to deliver the deepest insight possible. So you can make better decisions faster.

To check out our new Keepme Genius and Keepme Creator generative AI reporting and communication tools, presented by our CEO, Ian Mullane, click here.

Or, to learn more about how Keepme can help your fitness businesses, get in touch today, to request a demo.