Athlon Revolutionised Its Business with PerfectGym, Resulting in a 35% Revenue Boost

Facing the unforeseen changes brought by the pandemic, fitness clubs had to swiftly adapt their strategies from in-person to digital following the mandatory closure of the facilities. To navigate the crisis and allow its members to stay on the fitness track together with their club of choice, Athlon enabled its community live and on-demand video training access. 

The situation at that time meant Athlon required an open platform capable of integrating e-commerce software to sell subscriptions online and build a strong digital presence. When their existing management system failed to meet the company’s business needs, they turned to PerfectGym with four main objectives:

1. Generating leads online through API integrations or self-registration processes
2. Establishing an effective online sales platform, not limited to mere payment processing but encompassing a comprehensive e-commerce workflow
3. Centralising management of all family members within a single account
4. Enabling online sales and management of children's swimming courses, including provisions for missed lessons

Here is how Athlon revolutionised its business approach with PerfectGym.

Self-Service Solutions Influenced 35% Revenue Growth

COVID-19 has significantly disrupted the operations of all gyms around the world. Maurizio Taruggi, Athlon’s Founder and CEO, shared how he successfully transformed his business during this hard time with PerfectGym. “We closed the club for a month to align operations with pandemic guidelines. We aimed to minimise staff interaction and introduce solutions enabling seamless and self-service management of all club-related processes.”

Source: Athlon

Athlon's adaptation to health and safety requirements included providing members the convenience of self-membership management across all devices. This strategic shift not only met the standards but also resulted in an impressive 35% average revenue growth.

By implementing self-service solutions, Athlon was able to reduce business expenses, which positively impacted its profitability. “Client Portal and Kiosks enabled us to redirect all membership administration online, reducing the workload for our front desk staff. The possibility of purchasing and managing memberships on Kiosks is convenient for those unable to do so online on their own”.

Athlon Doubled the Number of New Leads in a Year

Athlon strategically optimised its member onboarding process by centralising all sign-ups through a single online channel - the Client Portal. It enabled the staff at reception to shift their focus from paperwork and phone inquiries to assisting members in navigating their profiles. Leveraging PerfectGym's intuitive interface empowered members to manage their memberships independently, leading to a significant reduction in operational costs.

Maurizio highlights, “Although the global and economic situation has forced us to cut our sales and reception workforce by half, with PerfectGym, we have simplified our business, becoming more efficient and effective”. One of the elements that contributed to this was providing its sales team access to a cutting-edge gym CRM. By doing so, Athlon empowered them to collect, nurture and convert leads with a higher success rate than before.

Athlon effectively doubled its number of new leads within a year by fine-tuning each stage of the member journey, visualising the sales funnel, and streamlining lead assignment and management. Despite a smaller sales team, the brand ensured they capitalised on every opportunity without missing a single one.

Automation Centre and Vouchers Improve Member Retention

While PerfectGym's CRM is an effective tool to track and manage leads, Athlon leverages the Automation Centre to attract interest and nurture them for higher conversion rates. Maurizio emphasises the impact of sending vouchers in generating interest and retaining members for longer. With an easy coupon setup and targeted segmentation of leads, they gain comprehensive insights into lead origins and measure the success of their campaigns accurately.

“Vouchers have been pivotal in Athlon’s member retention strategy. We've designed specific funnels to attract new members by offering them the opportunity to experience a free trial for either one week through a lead or two weeks through a referral,” explains Maurizio. “When individuals fill out the form, they receive automated email, SMS, and WhatsApp messages containing their exclusive voucher code. The Automation Center efficiently manages these communications, ensuring a seamless process. Using the newsletter module, we extend this benefit to our existing database by sending out targeted emails containing additional voucher codes”.

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Source: Athlon

Athlon Expands its Digital Ecosystem with PerfectGym’s Open API

For Athlon, having open software enabling integrations with a broad ecosystem of industry partners is crucial. This is especially significant as the fitness landscape is increasingly moving towards virtual experiences, making a robust digital presence essential for staying competitive. To achieve this, Athlon leverages PerfectGym’s Open API to integrate with other systems and applications, allowing for easy management of all data in one centralised platform.

For this reason, Athlon has connected the PerfectGym Client Portal to Egym, a mobile application that serves as a comprehensive tool for members. It allows them to invite friends for free workouts and manage bookings, memberships, payments, and training programs. Additionally, users can participate in challenges, access the monthly club chart, and watch training videos via Vimeo. Each feature is membership-specific, ensuring access based on membership tiers.

In October 2023, 44% of new contracts resulted from the referral program, proving the strength of this community-driven approach. Athlon maximises the referral leads conversion by waiving the membership activation fee for members who enrol in the gym before the trial period ends.

Source: Athlon

PerfectGym ensures that our clients can select from a range of comprehensive solutions or retain their existing apps, hardware, and third-party software, which they enjoy using. These can be seamlessly integrated with our platform through the Open API. Maurizio admits that “Open API and external integrations are the future.”

Courses Module Streamlines Enrolment and Boosts Sales

Kids swimming courses are Athlon’s key business component. The ability to sell and manage them online through PerfectGym’s Courses module simplifies payment tracking and member data oversight. It enables the creation of tailored courses, configuration of interactions, design of payment plans, definition of activity categories, and setting of enrolment parameters, ensuring a dynamic and versatile approach.

Source: Athlon

Each year, Athlon sets over 100 courses online, achieving impressive sales of more than 500 memberships in summer presales. This consistent success highlights the company's commitment to leveraging technology for enhanced customer convenience. Parents can effortlessly enrol their kids and monitor their progress through family membership functionality, enabling them to manage multiple accounts under one contract.

Concluding Thoughts

Athlon is an example of an agile business, ready to tackle unexpected challenges and leverage them for its advantage and sustained growth. PerfectGym provides it with advanced software capabilities, enabling it to execute business strategies and successfully navigate evolving member needs and industry standards.

“Shifting our business model was a strong decision, an ‘all-in’. Partnering with PerfectGym and focusing on digital experiences was a milestone, resulting in improved daily routine, happier members, less work-related stress and improved revenue”, says Maurizio Taruggi, Athlon’s Founder and CEO. “We use PerfectGym’s capabilities to improve the customer digital journey and plan to expand our online offerings in the future”.

Do you aim to improve your sales, reduce operating costs and leverage automation for business success? Schedule a free consultation with our expert to discuss how PerfectGym can help you achieve outstanding results.