What to ask at the trial class so they stay

The underlying mistake

Almost every box treats the trial class as a demonstration: let them come, let them suffer, let them enjoy it. And then they wait.

The trial isn't won by the WOD. It's won by the questions before and the conversation after. They're the last two steps of the journey someone makes before signing up.

The four questions before

They go in the earlier conversation, when they book. It isn't a questionnaire: it's four loose things asked in passing.

1. What brought you now?

The most useful question of all. Nobody joins a box for no reason: there's a trigger. They've moved, they've left another gym, they want to come back after an injury, they saw a photo of themselves they didn't like.

That's what you give back to them after the class. Someone who came because they want to feel strong again needs to hear something different from someone who came because their gym bored them.

2. What have you trained before?

It completely changes which class suits them. Someone with two years of CrossFit gets bored in an intro session; someone who has never set foot in a gym gets scared in a normal class, and doesn't come back.

3. Which days and times would work for you?

Not for the trial: for afterwards. If they tell you they can only make 9pm and your last class is at 8pm, better to know now than after they sign up and cancel a month later.

4. Are you carrying any injury?

For safety, obviously. And because telling the coach before they walk through the door makes that person feel expected, not processed.

The class

Little to add, apart from two things that get forgotten:

• Someone should greet them by name. The coach knowing who they are and why they came completely changes the first impression.
• Introduce them to two or three members. People don't stay for the method: they stay for the people. Whoever leaves having talked to someone comes back far more often.

The conversation afterwards, the same day

This is where most fall down. The trial went well, everyone says goodbye happy, and nobody writes again until three days later.

The message goes out that same day, a few hours later:

"How did you come out of today's one? You looked good on the thrusters 💪 If it suits you to keep going, unlimited membership is €79/month and you can start tomorrow. Shall I set it up?"

Three things in three lines: something specific about their class, the price without waffle, and a question that gets answered with a yes.

Why this doesn't happen

It isn't laziness. It's that at 9:30pm, when the last class finishes, nobody has it in them to start writing to the three people who tried today.

It's exactly the kind of thing that's worth having go out on its own: the questions before, the reminder on the day and the message afterwards. The coach does what they know how to do, which is take the class.