I was recently asked by another fitness professional what kinds of discounts I was going offer for Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday. My answer was, “None.” I’ve always held the belief that I would never discount our personal training or group fitness programs. Discounting has been a debated issue in the industry for a long time and, while many facilities do offer sales and discounts, I stick to the belief that you don’t discount health services. You also don’t want people putting off starting until you have a sale (let’s face it, we all do that for certain products.)Now that isn’t to say that I don’t promote during these sales times. In fact, while people are in the shopping frenzy, it’s the perfect time to remind them that they can give the gift that can change people’s lives. Create a marketing campaign to promote/highlight a specific program for beginners, or for skiers, or for the new year. Make the program the attraction, not the discount.

While hitting sales is on people’s minds, so is getting the right present for those they love and that takes priority over whether something is on sale or not. So, promote the gift, the program, and don’t get sucked into thinking you need to discount.