Six rules that make the difference
The templates below are ordinary. That is deliberate — the reason most gym follow-up fails is not the wording, it is the timing, the volume and the fact that it reads like a company. Six rules first, because a good message sent at the wrong time is worse than an average one sent at the right one.
1. The first message goes out in minutes, not hours
Someone who fills in a form at 9:40pm is at the peak of their intent at 9:41pm. By Monday morning they have looked at two other gyms and remembered they are busy. The first text should be automated for exactly this reason: no human is reliably available at 9:41pm, and a human is not needed for the first message.
2. One ask per message
Every text below asks for exactly one thing, and the thing is nearly always a yes/no or an A/B. “Let me know if you have any questions” asks for nothing and gets nothing.
3. Short, lower case where natural, no marketing voice
No exclamation marks stacked up, no all-caps, no emoji as punctuation, no “Great news!”. It should read like it came from a person standing in a gym, because it did. Two lines is usually enough.
4. Signed by a person, from a number that receives replies
“— Sam at [Gym]” on the first message and then never again. If your texts go out from a number nobody monitors, the whole exercise is theatre. Someone should be checking it during opening hours.
5. Stop the automation the second they reply
The fastest way to burn a lead is to send them the scheduled 72-hour “still thinking about it?” text after they already booked. Whatever tool you use must halt the sequence on any inbound message. Test this yourself before you turn it on.
6. Get the consent and the opt-out right
In the United States, marketing texts to a mobile number are governed by the TCPA and FCC rules, which require consent before autodialed or prerecorded calls and texts and give the recipient the right to revoke that consent in any reasonable way — see the FCC’s own consumer guide to unwanted calls and texts. In Canada, CASL governs commercial electronic messages including SMS, and requires consent, sender identification and a working unsubscribe in every message; the CRTC publishes the act, regulations and guidelines.
Practically, for a gym: put a clear consent line next to your form (“we’ll text you about your enquiry”), include “Reply STOP to opt out” on the first message of any sequence and on the dormant re-engagement, honour STOP instantly and permanently, and keep a record of when and how each person opted in. If you are sending from a business number in the US, your provider will also need you registered for application-to-person messaging before anything delivers reliably. None of this is legal advice — check your own setup with someone qualified.
The cadence, message by message
Stage 1 — five minutes: the one that matters most
Automated, instant, and phrased so a reply is easier than ignoring it.
Hi [First Name], it’s [Staff] from [Gym] — thanks for getting in touch about [Offer]. Are you looking to start straight away, or just having a look around first? Reply STOP to opt out.
Why this works: It asks a question with two easy answers, neither of which is a commitment. “Just looking” is a perfectly good reply and it tells you exactly which follow-up to run. A message ending in “let us know if you’d like to book!” gets silence.
Alongside it, call them. The text is not a substitute for the phone in the first ten minutes — it is what catches the ones who do not pick up. The enquiry call script is the other half of this, word for word.
Stage 2 — same day, no reply
[First Name] — just tried you, no worries. Easiest thing is to come see the place. I’ve got [Tuesday 6pm] or [Thursday 6:30pm] free for an intro with [Coach]. Which suits?
Happy to answer anything by text too if that’s easier — what’s the main thing you want to know?
Two options, never “when are you free”. And the second one lowers the bar: some people will not book but will ask a question, and a question is a live lead.
Stage 3 — 24 hours
By now they have not replied to three touches. Change the shape of the message: stop asking for the booking, give them something.
Morning [First Name]. Not chasing — just so you’ve got it, here’s what the first session actually looks like: [Link]. Most people’s worry is being the newest person in the room, and the first two weeks are set up for exactly that.
Name the objection before they do. In the threads we read, the real hesitation is more often intimidation than price, and a message that says so out loud gets replies from people who would never have raised it themselves.
Stage 4 — 72 hours
[First Name], is it the timing that’s the issue, or the cost? Ask because we can usually work around one of them, and I’d rather know than keep texting you.
Naming two acceptable reasons makes it easy to answer honestly — you have handed them a socially acceptable excuse, so replying costs nothing. Expect a good share of the answers to be some version of “sorry, been mad at work”, which is a live lead you would otherwise have written off.
Stage 5 — day 7: close the loop
[First Name] — last one from me, promise. Should I close this off, or do you still want to come see the place? Either answer is fine, just let me know and I’ll stop cluttering your phone.
Asking permission to close the file is the easiest message in the sequence to answer, because “yes, close it” costs the recipient nothing and ends the thing they have been avoiding. That is why it tends to shake loose the people who went quiet. Send it — and when someone says close it, actually close it.
The ones that book: confirmation and reminders
Booking is not showing up. Three messages between the yes and the appointment.
You’re in — [Tuesday] at [6pm] with [Coach]. We’re at [address], park [where]. Wear whatever you’d train in. Reply with a thumbs up so I know this came through.
Looking forward to tomorrow [First Name]. [Coach] knows you’re coming and that you mentioned [their reason]. Anything you want them to know beforehand?
See you at [6] — door on [the left], I’ll be at the desk. If something’s come up just say and we’ll move it.
The “if something’s come up just say” line feels like it invites cancellations. It does the opposite of what you fear: it converts silent no-shows into rescheduled appointments, and a rescheduled appointment is still a lead.
The no-show sequence
A no-show is not a rejection, it is a Tuesday that got away from someone. Treat it as an admin problem and most of them rebook. The tone must contain zero guilt. (If your no-shows cluster around one kind of offer, read which gym intro offers convert.)
[First Name] — everything alright? [Coach] is here if you’re running late, no problem at all.
No worries about yesterday, life happens. Want me to put you in for [Thursday 6:30pm] instead?
Still keen, [First Name]? I’ll hold a spot this week if you want one — otherwise I’ll leave it with you.
Waking up a dead list
Every gym has a list of a few hundred people who enquired months ago and never joined. Most owners consider it dead. It is not dead, it is stale, and the reason they did not join in March has often stopped being true.
Two cautions before you send anything to this list. First, check they have not opted out. Second, if the consent is old or you cannot prove it exists, do not blast the list — re-permission it or call instead. The rules referenced above apply to old leads exactly as they apply to new ones.
Hi [First Name], [Staff] from [Gym] here. You got in touch a while back about training and it never quite happened — totally fine. Is it still something you’re thinking about, or should I take you off the list? Reply STOP to opt out.
Good to hear. What got in the way last time — timing, money, or just life? Want to make sure we don’t repeat it.
All good [First Name] — I’ll leave you be. If it ever comes back round, we’re at [address] and the [Class time] class is the friendliest one to start with.
Note what message one does not do: it does not offer a discount and it does not announce a new promotion. It asks whether to remove them. That question earns a reply from people who would ignore an offer, and the replies sort your list into live and dead in about forty-eight hours.
Send it in batches
Do not text four hundred people at nine on a Monday morning. You will get forty replies in an hour, answer eight of them badly, and lose the rest. Fifty a day, sent mid-morning, with someone assigned to answer. The bottleneck is your ability to reply, not your ability to send.
What to do when they reply
The templates get you the conversation. The conversation is where the sale is, and the rules are simple.
- Reply within minutes during opening hours. A reply that arrives the next day restarts the whole problem.
- Move to a call or a booking within two messages. Texting is a scheduling tool, not a sales channel. “Easier to explain in two minutes on the phone — alright if I ring you now?”
- Answer the price question with a real number and then a question. “[$X] a month for [three] days a week, no contract. Want me to hold you a spot Tuesday so you can see if it’s worth it?”
- Never negotiate by text. If they want a discount, that is a conversation with a human being, in the building.
- Log the outcome. Booked, not now, or dead. A cadence with no outcome field turns into a list nobody trusts within a month.
The one-page summary
| When | Channel | The ask |
|---|---|---|
| 5 min | Text (automated) + call | Starting now, or looking around? |
| 1 hr | Text + call | Tuesday or Thursday? |
| 5 hrs | Text | What do you want to know? |
| 24 hrs | Text | None — give, don’t ask |
| 72 hrs | Text | Timing or cost? |
| Day 7 | Text | Close this off, or still keen? |
| On booking | Text | Thumbs up to confirm |
| Night before | Text | Anything the coach should know? |
| 3 hrs before | Text | None — reduce friction |
| No-show +15 min | Text | Everything alright? |
| No-show +1 day | Text | Rebook Thursday? |
| Day 30+ | Dormant sequence | Still thinking about it, or remove you? |
Automate the sending, not the conversation
Automate: the five-minute text, the hour and five-hour nudges, the 24-hour and 72-hour messages, the day-seven close, all three appointment reminders, and the first no-show text. Those are timing problems and software is better at timing than you are.
Do not automate: the replies, the price conversation, the rebooking after a second no-show, or anything to a person who has already spoken to you. The moment a real human says something back, a real human answers. Gyms that automate the reply as well end up with a system that is efficient at annoying people.
This is the part we build for gyms who would rather not wire it together themselves — instant text, voicemail drop and a multi-week cadence, plugged into whatever CRM you already use — and it is the piece we put in before touching the ad budget. When Josh at CrossFit Prior Lake took eleven signups in week one, the campaign supplied the enquiries and this supplied the speed. If the ads side is what you are weighing up, our gym Facebook ads service sets that out separately — and if you are judging those ads by their cost per lead, read what a gym Facebook lead actually costs first.
Take these, put your gym’s name in them, and turn on the five-minute text first — that single message is usually worth more than the other eleven combined. If you want someone to look at where your enquiries are actually going cold, that is a thirty-minute call with no card and no pitch at the end.
