@ilovejesus33 As a fellow CrossFit box owner, I truly appreciate you taking the time to reach out with your insights. It’s a wake-up call for us to stay diligent with our communication channels, especially the “contact us” forms. The community is the heart of our business, and every email or drop-in request is an opportunity to not only grow our member base but also to strengthen the community bonds. Your experiences have reminded me to ensure our team is responsive and welcoming to all potential and visiting athletes. We’re committed to making every CrossFit enthusiast feel at home, whether they’re local or just passing through. Thank you for your support and for reminding us of the importance of staying connected!
@ilovejesus33 This! As someone once new to CrossFit, going to a box after not getting a reply just makes me feel unwelcome. Unless a box has an online option to just buy a drop-in pass in advance, getting no reply just makes go someplace else.
My thought is that if I want to give someone money, they at least have to reach out to take it.
@ilovejesus33 I went through this last summer traveling to NJ/NY. I reached out to several gyms months in advance and still almost didn’t get into a box. It really blows my mind. I don’t understand why there isn’t a “drop-in” banner on the top of every gyms website that flashes. It’s maybe the easiest $35 the box can make. Maybe even make a package deal if drop-in AND a t-shirt ($5 cheaper or something). I would purchase this literally every time I dropped in.
@ilovejesus33 Hmm. I see I'm in the minority here so I'm not saying this to be argumentative or snarky, I'm just genuinely confused? Isn't the point of a drop in to...drop in? Why do you need to email first? I've only dropped in at 2 boxes while traveling but I didn't email either time...I got the class and drop in fee info from the website and showed up. No issues. If the box didn't list drop-in info I chose a different one. Is it normal for boxes to expect drop in members to notify them ahead of time?
@flishflake86 Some places can get very busy at certain times. My gym has 16 slots available for class and there is frequently a wait list at 6am, 7am and 530pm. The reason for the cap is both available space and available equipment. So not contacting the gym ahead of time could end up impacting everyone else in the class if the coach has to make additional adjustments to the workout to accommodate your drop-in. If they have time to prepare, they can minimize those impacts
@ceecee111613 Of course, duh! This makes so much sense. My local gym is huge and very accommodating and hasn't required pre-registration or wait-list since 2020 social distancing required it. I forget that that's not the case everywhere.
@ilovejesus33 I wanna second this! When I was about to start college and was looking for a new gym both myself and my coach reached out on a gym's contact us page and got no response. I reached out over their instagram page and got an almost instant response. Of the two gyms I tried, this gym was a much better fit for me despite the contact page issue, so I have now been a member for about 2.5 years. I do still think about that first impression though. Had the gym not been such a perfect fit I would've probably not joined just based on business management
@ilovejesus33 Agreed. My gym owner responds very fast and it's the main reason I tried them out and eventually started going and coaching. Those that don't respond don't get my drop in. I'm introverted and last thing I want is to blindly show up to a gym without speaking to anyone.
@ilovejesus33 There is always someone at the desk at my box. They hire people part time who come in on a rotation. They get paid and a free membership. They're not "gym bros"
@ilovejesus33 This is a good one! How I got my start 7 years ago, dropped an email into the contact is firm on the website. Guess I’m very lucky they pay attention to their email boxes. You can leave that part out of your website by the way if you aren’t going to look at it, just make sure you have a point of contact by other email or phone number.
@ilovejesus33 Yes! I knew my old gym changed owners so I emailed their Contact Me link to ask when it would be best to drop in and fill out paperwork so I wasn't surprising the 5am coach and they took 6 weeks to get back to me.
@ilovejesus33 It matters! I recently submitted a form on the website of a box in my city to get some info and never heard back. I assume it went to spam. I took that as an indication as to how they ran their business and never followed back up.
Box managers: constantly test out your submit forms. Just because they work today, doesn't mean they'll work tomorrow.
@ilovejesus33 Just responding to voice-mails or texts would be a big improvement for some. I generally just go somewhere else if I don't hear anything.
