A very common line of thinking in a jiu-jitsu school is that you need to get more people in the door.

But getting people in the door is really pretty easy. It’s getting them to keep coming back that is where we make or break things.

In order for that to happen, we need to be bringing the right people in. People that are like the people already in our classes, those are the people that already stayed.

The best source of people coming in your door that are like the people that already choose to stay, are those people that choose to stay.

This is why referral drives, bring a friend events, parents nights, community events and, with kids, Birthday Parties can be major game changers in getting a program to grow and retention to be strong.

When you hold a birthday party for a member you have a kid who is already a good fit for your program and whose parents believe in the value of your program. They bring 10-20 of their friends. Kids like them and their closest friends. You get to introduce them all to your facility and your program, with a negative cost per lead… the gym gets paid to introduce them.

Internal events play a big role in growing successful kids programs, make sure to register for the webinar this Friday to see how we do nearly 200 parties in a single location per year 🙂