Chelsea Jung had to close her Seattle gym during the global pandemic. When she reopened Tiltshift CrossFit and relocated, she figured it was a perfect time to make some big business changes.
First, she switched to PushPress, which she said has made her life “a whole lot easier on the back end.” She also decided to explore options for offering membership to those in the low income tax bracket. She said she wanted to help people who would never be able to afford $150 to $200 a month.
Jung sat down and crunched her numbers. She realized that if her CrossFit membership rates averaged $150 a month, she’d be able to make a go of it.
“We had just relocated to a new neighborhood in Seattle, and this neighborhood is really economically diverse. It runs the gamut (when it comes to income), and with COVID, there are also many unemployed folks,” Jung explained.
“We had set our finances to have a super low overhead, really low rent, so we created a sliding scale option,” she added.
Putting The Plan Into Action.
Today, anyone who earns between $30,000-$49,000 a year pays $100 a month for their membership. Those who are currently unemployed or earn less than $29,000 pay between two and four percent of their incomes, with a minimum of $20 for a membership.
Those who earn more than $150 a month, and a number of others, pay $200 a month. When all is said and done, 12 percent of her clientele are taking advantage of the sliding scale CrossFit membership, and her average monthly rate is $150 a month, right where she needs to be, she explained.
A year into the experiment, Jung said the vibe in her gym couldn’t be better.
“It has actually been the coolest thing we have done. We started out in a new neighborhood, and it has become a community where we give when we can, but we also ask for help when we need help. The whole vibe in the gym is super giving and everyone feels like a part of this community,” she said.
This attitude has led to all kinds of efforts from her community members to help out when they can. Most recently, for example, one of her members had their gym bag stolen from their car parked at their house.
“And within 24 hours, people from the gym raised $500 to help this person replace their gym stuff. It was amazing,” she said.
Jung’s community has grown so much that she’s even expanding her gym at the moment. She’s adding a coffee shop to the gym in an effort to introduce people to CrossFit who might otherwise never find it.
“We’re trying to reach people who would be too scared to come into a CrossFit gym, so there has to be something here less scary than CrossFit. And people in Seattle, we love our coffee, so we’re tricking them into walking through the doors,” she said, laughing.
Next Steps: Growing Her CrossFit Gym.
Since she’ll be able to accommodate more people in her soon-to-be bigger space, she has just started using PushPress’ Grow software. Grow is an all-in-one platform that lets gym owners create inventive, personalized marketing campaigns, connect with current clients, former clients and new leads and ultimately convert them into clients.
Pro Tip: Want to find out how Grow can help your gym? Book a demo today with the PushPress team!
Based on how helpful PushPress services have been to her business already in the last year, Jung is confident Grow will help her CrossFit gym continue to do just that: Grow.
“I love PushPress. Their software is easy-to-use and intuitive, and their customer service is second to none,” she said.
