Free Gym Voucher - No Guilt!

I'm straying away from the flogging your talent for cash idea here, but bear with me...

I went to the gym tonight. Fear not, while the thought of parading around in a bikini in a few months makes me tremble more than my thighs do at the moment, I haven't succumb to reinstating my gym membership. As a former member they emailed me a free voucher to go and use the facilities for two weeks. The idea being I will have a sudden epiphany whilst on the treadmill, wonder why I ever ditched my £35 per month subscription and instantly sign up again.

Let me tell you - I have absolutely no intention of becoming a member again. For starters I have more important things to spend £35 on, and secondly going to the gym is totally boring. Even with the abundance of TV and music stations to tune into I still find myself atop the exercise bike groaning because I've only done 5 minutes and it feels as though I've been there for hours.

Knowing this when the voucher pinged into my inbox I almost deleted it. But looking closer I noticed that there was absolutely no obligation to join. Hmm, I thought. Then it struck - voucher guilt! You know that feeling when you've got a voucher that you'd really like to use, but you somehow feel bad about it. Take for example the Lucozade voucher I mentioned the other day. There's nothing stopping me marching into my local retailer and claiming that tomorrow. But, well, I'd feel bad if I just went in to get a freebie and didn't buy anything, so I'm going to wait and get it from Waitrose the next time I need to buy some Soya milk.

How sad is that?! And, worse still - I work in marketing - I should know better! At the end of the day vouchers are a company's way of enticing you in, making you trial a product or service that you perhaps wouldn't consider. Think of it as a grandiose form of advertising with the opportunity to save a bit of cash thrown into the equation. Then, once you've succumbed to the power of the mighty voucher it's up to the brand to wow you with how fantastic it is and make you wonder how you ever lived with out it. Something that I think a lot of us forget. At the end of the day, if they want more than a trial purchase or subscription, the company really needs to work for our loyalty. We shouldn't feel guilty for our flirtation with the brand, even if we are literally 'using' the voucher with no intention to make further purchases. Think of it like a first date, you tried it, it was OK, but you wouldn't bother again - unless they can make you an offer you can't refuse!

With this in mind, check out my 'fantastic' brand experience at my ex-gym this evening...

Babe pulls onto gym car park, it's very full and the car parking spaces are tiny. At the moment Babe is driving a courtesy car while hers is being fixed. She still hasn't got used to the dimensions of the car, so spends about five minutes manoeuvring in and out of a parking space trying not to scrape the cars which seem impossibly close on either side. With all the kerfuffle one driver seems to think Babe is leaving her parking space, he sits there waiting for the spot and looks very disgruntled when he realises she's there to stay.

Babe then walks into the gym and is 'greeted' by two male members of staff at the reception desk. They're mid way through a conversation and don't stop even though she's stood there. She presents one with the print off of the voucher and asks if she can use it. He looks it over and asks if she's interested in becoming a member. Babe says: 'No'. He makes a phone call and asks Babe to wait in reception and that someone will be with her shortly.

Eventually a guy comes over, his facial expression suggests sucking lemons is part of his fitness routine. First of all he walks past me. Eventually...

Gym Guy: "Hi, are you interested in becoming a member?"


Babe: "Not really, I've just got this voucher I'd like to use"


Gym Guy takes voucher off Babe and surveys it as though it were a piece of rock from Mars.


Gym Guy: "Have you phoned?"

Babe: "No, I just bought the voucher to reception to see if I could use it."

Gym Guy: "Hmm, well we normally have to book you in, bear with me I'll go and check."

Gym Guy scurries off, Babe is stood there thinking it didn't say anything on the voucher about booking in. Gym Guy returns.

Gym Guy: "Yeh, we can do it, but have you seen this"

Gym guy points out that the voucher is only valid for 7 days as the expiry is 30th April, so I won't get my full two weeks.

Babe: "Yeh, that's fine"

Gym Guy: "Are you interested in becoming a member?"

Babe: "No, not really. I used to come here a while ago, and they sent me this and I thought I'd come along for the freebie."

Gym Guy: "Oh, just bear with me I'll get a pass for you."

A pass is then issued and I scuttle off to be a gym bunny for a while. Gym bunnying over I shower, change and then head back out into reception to get my pass back.

Babe: "Hi, Can I get my pass back please?"

Gym Guy: "What's the name?"

Babe gives name

Gym Guy: "Oh, we need to give you a different pass, can you bear with us?"

Babe: "Oh OK"

Gym Guy: "Do you know who wrote the pass out?"

Babe: "Er no, not really, it was a bloke?!"

Gym Guy: "Hmm, if you could take a seat in the lounge I'll get someone to sort it out"

Babe sits down in the lounge and original Gym Guy comes in to issue a new pass. He has an aura about him, which if it could speak would say, "Bovvered?".

Arrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhh! My marketing brain screams. By issuing this voucher, this gym's HQ were hoping that I would have such a fab experience that I would want to join again. As it is, the membership staff ask closed questions and don't even try and find out if there's any way they could entice me into becoming a member. Where are the questions like "why did you leave?" "is there anything we could do/change to make you come back?" "what are your fitness goals and how can we help you achieve them?". They missed out on a fab sales opportunity.

On the plus side for me though - I got free use of the gym for one week with no hard sell and I now feel empowered, no longer will I feel guilty when I meekly hand over vouchers, I will boldly present them as if it is my right to save some cash - and you should too. Remember, it's up to them to win your custom, so go for it!*

Back to using my talents to make cash tomorrow...x

* although always read the small print to make sure you're not getting into something you don't want to be!