Jack Ogilvie
Co-founder · Systems and growth
Built the systems that let a small regional team personally manage over 1,000 members.
WHY ONE PRICE TRAPS YOU
With a single membership, every conversation about value becomes a conversation about money. A member who wants more cannot buy more, and a member who wants less just leaves.
It also caps you. Your revenue is members multiplied by one number, so growth means more bodies, forever.
Three tiers turn one price war into three real offers.
THE LADDER, AND WHAT EACH RUNG IS FOR
Each tier has a job. The job matters more than the number.
TIER 1
Access
The room and the equipment. Its job is to exist, so the tiers above it have something to be better than.
TIER 2 · where most members land
Coached
Access plus a personalised program, a scan to measure it, classes and a coach who checks in. This is the one you actually want people on.
TIER 3
Premium
Everything above plus regular one-to-one coaching. Some members take it. Its other job is to make tier 2 look sensible.
THE 4 RELATIONSHIPS THAT SET YOUR NUMBERS
Pick the middle number first, then let these 4 rules place everything else.
- Tier 1 sits only a couple of dollars a week under tier 2. A small gap makes coaching look almost free. A big gap makes it look like an expensive add-on.
- Tier 3 sits about 50% above tier 2. Far enough to feel premium, close enough to be real.
- No lock-in costs more, on every tier. Flexibility is a product, so charge for it rather than pretending the 12 month term is a discount.
- Paying a year up front saves roughly a month. Enough to be worth it for the member, and it puts cash in your account today.
A WORKED EXAMPLE
Illustration only, using round numbers. Your actual figures depend on your town, your competition and what you can prove.
Say your coached tier lands at $20 a week on a 12 month term. The 4 rules give you:
THE SHAPE, NOT THE PRICE
Tier 1 access, $18 a week · Tier 2 coached, $20 a week · Tier 3 premium, $30 a week.
Add a few dollars a week to any tier for no lock-in. A year paid up front saves about $80.
Add a few dollars a week to any tier for no lock-in. A year paid up front saves about $80.
Look at the top row of that from a member's side. For $2 a week more than the room on its own, they get a program written for them, a scan and a coach. Said out loud, that is not a decision. That is the point.
KEEP 2, ELIMINATE 2
Pricing only works if the conversation matches it. In a walkthrough there are 4 possible outcomes: no membership, tier 1, tier 2, tier 3.
Your job is to eliminate 2 of them. Eliminate walking out, and eliminate tier 1, by finding out what they actually want and showing that access alone will not get them there.
That leaves 2 real choices, both good ones. And do not sell, solve. Take their own words and hand them back as a problem you can fix:
HOW THAT SOUNDS
"So because you want to lose 5kg, and you have tried this before but nobody gave you a plan or checked in on you, it did not stick. Does that sound about right?"
A NEW GYM DOES NOT START ON A MATURE GYM'S PRICES
Prices are earned with proof. A gym with 13 years of member results can charge what it charges because it can show what it does.
If you are opening, start lower and be open about why. Show members the tiers they can progress to, and say plainly that you are building the proof first. Then move up as real results arrive from your own clients.
We give partner gyms a reference figure to work from and the exact structure above. What we never do is set their price for them, because we do not live in their town.
QUESTIONS OWNERS ASK US
How many membership tiers should a gym have?
Three. One access-only tier, and 2 coached tiers above it. Fewer than 3 and you have nothing to move a member up to. More than 3 and you have given them a decision instead of a recommendation.
Should the cheapest membership be much cheaper?
No. Put it just under the tier above so the gap looks small and the extra value looks large. A big discount for less service tells a member the service is the optional part.
Why have a top tier almost nobody buys?
Because it makes the middle one obvious. Some members do take it, and it is genuinely the best service you offer, but its main job is to give the middle tier a shape.
Can a brand new gym charge what an established gym charges?
Not yet. Prices are earned with proof, and a new gym has none. Start lower, build results with real clients, and move up as the proof arrives. Show your members what they can progress to, and be honest that you are not there yet.