No Sleeping Members: Why Your Membership Has To Work For You
In many gyms the business model is simple. They sell as many memberships as possible, knowing that a big part of the members will not show up.
You keep paying, you do not come, and the gym floor stays nice and quiet. That makes it easy to keep prices low, but there is a problem. You do not get fitter, and nobody calls you.
At CrossFit Leiden we work completely different. We do not have sleeping or inactive members. If you do not show up, we notice it, we contact you, and if training really does not fit your life anymore, we help you stop your membership instead of letting it run forever. Our whole gym is built around coaching, community and real results, not around selling as many keycards as possible.
We actually see our members
Right now we have about 450 members. Every week around 400 of them train with us. That means more than 90% of our members are active every single week.
That is not normal in the fitness world. It means:
- Our classes are full of real people, not names in a system
- Coaches know who you are and how you move
- You feel part of a living community, not a number on a list
To make that possible, we keep a close eye on attendance.
What happens if you stop coming?
We do not wait 6 months to react. We start much earlier.
After about 2 weeks of no shows
We reach out. A WhatsApp, a mail or a quick call:
- "Hey, everything ok?"
- "Did something change in your schedule?"
- "Can we help you find a new training moment?"
No pressure, just contact. Life happens. Kids get sick, work explodes, you move house. We get it.
Between 2 weeks and 100 days
If you stay away, we will contact you more times. We invite you for a goal review, or we look together at another plan:
- Maybe you need a different time slot
- Maybe small group or personal training fits better
- Maybe we adjust your goal because your life changed
The point is: we do not let you quietly disappear.
After about 100 days of no training
Then we ask a different question:
"Do you still want this membership?"
If you have not trained for 100 days, it is clear the current setup does not work for you. At that moment we often propose to stop your membership, or to freeze it if that makes more sense.
Not as a punishment, but as honesty. We do not want you to pay for something you do not use.
Why we do this
There are three big reasons.
1. Your membership should give value
You work hard for your money. We want that money to give you something back:
- More energy
- A stronger body
- Less stress
- More fun in movement
If you do not train, you get none of that. Then your membership is just a monthly bill. That feels wrong to us.
2. We keep spots open for people who really come
We are not a 3000 square meter gym where everybody can just walk in. Our classes have limited places and coaches give personal attention.
If we would fill the system with sleeping members, it becomes:
- Full member list
- Empty gym
- Or packed classes where nobody gets good coaching
We choose the opposite. We keep space and energy for people who show up and want to move.
3. We are a community, not a card swipe
We see CrossFit Leiden as a second living room for parents, expats and busy people who want to feel strong in daily life. In a living room you notice when someone is missing.
That is why we plan a goal review every three months for our members. We sit down with you, look at your goals and your life, and ask:
- "What do you need in the coming months?"
- "How can we help you better?"
If we see that you are not coming at all, we do not ignore it. We talk about it.
Is that not bad for business?
In the classic gym model, yes. If your income depends on people paying and not coming, then calling inactive members is not smart.
Our model is different:
- We earn our money by helping people who actually train
- We invest in coaching, community and follow up
- We focus on long term relationships, not quick sign ups
That means our prices are not the lowest in town. But you also do not pay for nothing.
What this means for you if you join
If you become a member at CrossFit Leiden, this is what you can expect:
- You will not disappear silently from the system
- If you are gone for a while, we will notice and contact you
- Every three months we invite you for a goal review
- You train in a group where almost everyone comes every week
- Coaches know your name and your story
Short version: we are happy if you are here, sweating with us. If you cannot or do not want to train anymore, we help you find a solution, including stopping your membership.
It is very simple. We want you to be active, not sleeping.
Want to experience how that feels?
If this sounds like the type of gym you were looking for, come and meet us.
Book a no pressure intro, drink a coffee with us, and see if our way of working fits your life. If you join, we promise one thing:
You will never be just a number in our system.