Case study · Sequence Fitness
How tripling the price turned a struggling club around.
A newly opened 23,000 square foot club in Panama City Beach was losing on price. We bought it, tripled the membership price, cut monthly cancellations by 30% in two years, and have run it successfully for twelve years.
The problem
Sequence opened as a low-price, high-volume club in a market that was not built for that model. Competing on price meant competing with everyone, and the club was losing.
The insight
The members this club could win were not shopping for the cheapest gym. A low price did not attract them. It told them the club was not for them.
They wanted coaching, community, and a reason to show up. So we stopped discounting and started earning a higher price.
The moves
- 01Raise the price, then earn itOver our first three years, we moved the membership from a $10 price point to $29.99, and matched every step up with a better experience, not just a new rate card.
- 02Rebuild the brand around the new positionMarketing stopped selling cheap access and started selling results, coaching, and community.
- 03Launch Push FitnessA group training program sold as a separate add-on averaging $99 a month. When boutique studios surged from 2015 to 2018, members got that experience without leaving the club, and the club gained a second revenue stream from members it already had.
- 04Make personal training a core businessNot an afterthought. Personal training became one of the club's most dependable revenue lines and its best retention tool.
- 05Never let the club go staleRenovations, new equipment packages, and fresh programming rolled out throughout the year, every year.
The results
- Membership price tripled in three years, from $10 to $29.99. Membership held through every increase, then grew.
- Push Fitness created a premium add-on averaging $99 a month.
- In the first two years after these changes, the monthly cancellation rate fell from 5% to 3.5%, a 1.5-point drop and a 30% relative reduction, as personal training and group training kept members engaged.
- Member loyalty carried the club through COVID, and it came out the other side still growing.
- Twelve years later, Sequence is still operating successfully.
What this means for your property
Whether it is a club, a hotel, or a residential amenity, the space needs a clear reason to exist before anyone decides what to charge.
The right programming is not a cost of the amenity. It is a product people will pay more for.
People stay when coaching and community give them a reason to. That is built on purpose.
The takeaway
Cheaper is not always the answer in a struggling market. Sometimes the fix is a clearer position, a higher price, and programming that earns it.