North America: The Great No-Show Opportunity

Turning Intent into Action: The Hidden Gap in the Fitness Sales Funnel

Our Time to Reply Studies exposed a critical weak point at the top of the fitness sales funnel: how slow or incomplete responses to trial and tour requests cause high-intent leads to go cold before they ever reach your door.

Now, we’re taking it one step further.

In The Great No-Show Opportunity, we investigate what happens after a lead successfully books - and then fails to attend.

This is a wake-up call for fitness operators: while attention has long been focused on lead generation and conversion, this mid-funnel stage is leaking revenue at scale. And for multi-site operators, the problem is magnified by inconsistent systems, over-reliance on staff, and disconnected automations.

This study tracks 248 gym trial and tour journeys across 75 multi-site operators, representing 6500 locations - giving unprecedented visibility into what actually happens when a no-show occurs.

We reveal what gets sent (and what doesn’t), which channels are used, who follows up, and whether rescheduling is ever offered. For sales operations teams, it’s essential reading - packed with data, diagnostics, and immediate next steps.

📊 Key Insights You’ll Discover:

✔️ The percentage of gyms that send pre-visit reminders
✔️ What actually gets sent after a no-show - if anything?
✔️ Are follow-ups timely, personal, and persistent?
✔️ Who tries to reschedule… and who simply walks away?

We explore how these four major opportunities in how fitness operators currently handle no-shows can quietly drain sales performance.

But we don’t just stop at the problem.

Inside the full report, we provide a data-backed framework for:

• Diagnosing drop-off points in your own lead follow-up process

• Understanding what “best-in-class” follow-up really looks like

• Identifying the role of personalization, timing, and channel choice

• Seeing exactly where AI automation can transform outcomes

Why It Matters

Operators invest heavily to attract leads. But what happens after a missed appointment can be the difference between conversion and churn.

This report highlights the breakdowns, the missed connections, and most importantly, the opportunities to do things differently.

Whether you’re running a single club or a multi-location chain, the data in this study will help you benchmark your own approach - and see where intelligent automation could give you the edge.

📥 Download the Report for FREE and Learn:

✅ The surprising gap in follow-up communication

✅ Where most gyms drop the ball after a missed appointment

✅ What best-in-class follow-up and rescheduling flows actually look like

✅ How AI-powered sales agents recover lost leads automatically

✅ Why unstructured bookings lead to lower attendance and poor follow-up

✅ The role personalization plays in predicting whether a lead will convert

✅ What happens when you offer a trial but fail to reschedule a no-show

This study is your guide to fixing the most overlooked revenue leak in gym sales - and turning no-shows into new members.

Ready to explore these groundbreaking insights? Get instant access to the study here 👇

A Sneak Peak At The Data

We expected some inconsistency in how gyms handled no-shows - but the depth of the problem was more striking than anticipated:

📉 1 in 7 Gyms Made No Follow-Up Attempt:
No attempts to re-engage.

📉 55% Failed to Send Even a Single Reminder:
Despite confirming the booking, more than half of gyms never reminded the prospect to attend.

These findings reveal a silent revenue leak that’s costing operators conversions they’ve already paid to generate.

How We Conducted the Study

Scope:
We evaluated follow-up behavior across 75 multi-site fitness operators in North America, submitting a total of 248 tour and trial requests. These requests were distributed across a wide range of locations to capture variation in operational practices and sales processes.

Approach:
Using a mystery shopper framework, we simulated the prospect journey - from booking a tour or trial to simply not showing up. No further contact was made after the booking, allowing us to observe exactly how gyms responded to no-shows over the following week.

Channels Tracked:
All communications sent to our test personas were captured across SMS, email, phone calls, and voicemail. These messages were manually reviewed and categorized to assess quality, personalization, and intent.

Timeframes:
The study was conducted between March and April 2025, with a seven-day monitoring window for each booking. This allowed us to track both pre-visit reminders and post no-show follow-up efforts.

Key Metrics:
We focused on evaluating several core behaviors:

• Reminder Frequency & Timing: Whether (and when) gyms reminded prospects about upcoming visits.

• Follow-Up Consistency: How gyms responded to missed appointments.

• Personalization: The extent to which communications were tailored to the individual.

• Rescheduling Attempts: Whether gyms offered prospects a second chance - and how proactively they did so.

Building On Previous Fitness Industry Research

This study builds on insights from our prior research:

• The Time to Reply Studies, which demonstrated how delayed responses significantly impact lead conversion rates.

• The FAQ Study, which revealed gaps in accessibility to information for gym prospects, underscoring the need for robust digital engagement.

• The After-Hours Study, which uncovered the volume of high-intent gym searches happening outside of operational hours.

Read our latest study to access actionable insights to help fitness businesses thrive in a 24/7 digital landscape.