Memberships for activity businesses: are they worth it?

Memberships turn one-off visitors into regulars who pay you every month. For many activity businesses, from ski clubs to watersports centres, they’re well worth it, as long as they’re set up so members get real value from them.

Here’s what memberships do for your business, whether they suit what you offer, and what makes one people want to buy.

What memberships do for your business

• Income through the quiet months. A membership payment comes in every month, rain or shine. For outdoor and seasonal businesses, that steadies the winter, when bookings slow down.
• More visits from your regulars. Once someone has paid for a membership, they have a reason to keep booking, and every visit is a chance to sell them something else.
• A community around your centre. Members’ sessions, club nights and familiar faces make people feel part of something, and members bring their friends.
• Customers who progress. Like a gym, a membership lets people build their skills over months. That gives you a reason to run improver sessions and courses, not only tasters.
• Room to upsell. Members already trust you, so they’re more open to add-ons, kit hire and members-only sessions.

Is a membership right for your business?

Memberships work best when customers come back often: weekly lessons, open sessions, club nights, park and play, open water swims, climbing or a kids’ club. If people do something once a year, such as a stag do or a family rafting trip, gift vouchers usually suit them better.

A good test: look at who already books with you several times a season. If there are enough of them, a membership gives them a better deal and gives you their income up front.

What makes a membership people want

• Keep the plans simple. One or two plans is plenty. In eola one membership can have several price plans, so you can offer monthly and annual side by side.
• Make the benefit obvious. For each product, members get it free, get a percentage off, or get a fixed amount off. “Free open sessions” or “20% off lessons” is easier to sell than a list of perks.
• Think about families. A plan can cover a set number of adults and children, so a family plan might cover two adults and two children.
• Match the season. A plan can renew weekly, monthly or annually until it’s cancelled, or run for a fixed length, such as a winter season.
• Give people a reason to join now. A membership discount code can take money off the first payment or the first few months. Discount codes are part of the Pro plan.

How memberships work in eola

Products with a member benefit show it on their page in your booking widget, with a note such as “Members save 20%” or “Free for members”, and customers can buy a membership there and then.

Members can name everyone who uses their membership. Each person gets their own login and QR code, and can add a pass to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet to show at your front desk. With the Check-in app on Pro, your team scans the pass to see who it is and whether the membership is active.

Memberships are included on every plan, including Starter. Our guide to setting up memberships in eola takes you through each step.

Planning a January launch?

January is one of the best months to sell memberships, while people are picking up new hobbies and goals. Our January memberships playbook covers what to offer and how to launch it.

See eola in action

Want to see how this could work for your business? Book a demo or get in touch with our team.