The Price Increase Every Operator Is Afraid to Make

Ask an operator when they last raised their rates and watch what happens to their face.

I have had this conversation more times than I can count, and it goes the same way almost every time. There is a pause, followed by some version of “it’s been a while.” Then, usually within about thirty seconds, a list of reasons why this particular year is the wrong year. The market is soft right now so I can’t. A new studio opened down the street and poached my members. Next quarter, maybe, once things settle.

Things never settle. That is not what businesses do.

Meanwhile, the rent, payroll, and insurance went up, and the equipment lease renewed at a number nobody enjoyed reading. Every input cost in the building moved except the one the operator actually controls. Pricing is the single most powerful lever an owner has, and it is the one most owners touch least, usually because of a fear that their own numbers would not support it if they ever ran them.

The Math Nobody Runs Before Deciding They Cannot Afford To

Here is the exercise worth doing before the next time you talk yourself out of it.

Take your membership base and your average monthly rate. Raise that rate by ten percent on paper. Now ask how many members you could lose and still be even. For most operators, the answer lands somewhere around nine percent, which is a considerably larger number than what actually walks out the door when a well-communicated increase goes into effect.

That gap between the attrition an operator fears and the attrition they experience is where the entire conversation lives. The fear is real. In most cases, it’s also unmeasured. An operator who has never raised prices has no data on what happens when they do, which means the number in their head came from somewhere other than their business.

Don’t take my word for it. I asked a professional. Ben Ludwig is a fitness industry leadership, sales, and strategy expert who has led trainings on fitness sales, marketing, and operations across more than sixty countries. He is President of Colossians 3:23-24 Fitness Holdings, host of the Revenue Machines Podcast, and a collaborative author of the bestselling Real Talk with Real Business Pros.

“I have never consulted an owner that didn’t at least pause before going back and forth on whether or not a price increase is a good idea. Fear is the number one reason why we as humans in general don’t like to take chances, and for business owners, fear can paralyze us. What if every member leaves? What if I have a mutiny on my hands, and then can’t pay my own bills?”

— Ben Ludwig, President, Colossians 3:23-24 Fitness Holdings

Ludwig continues: “The fear is real; the threat of losing everything usually is not. Are there markets where money is tighter than others? Sure, but as an operator, you have to remember that the value your members see that you offer will be directly correlated with the relationship you and your staff have with them. People will leave a gym for a cheaper gym, but they won’t leave their community even if it means paying more. It is not a secret that costs go up. Your members know that, and being afraid to raise your prices ever is simply ignoring the facts. Don’t be afraid to lean into your value, but also: review your profit and loss statements to see where your costs are now versus last time you raised your rates or opened; you may be surprised.”

There is another cost to standing still, and it rarely gets counted. An operator who holds rates for five years is not maintaining a price. They are quietly cutting one, because every year of inflation reduces what that same dollar buys. The choice was never between raising prices and keeping them flat. It was between raising them deliberately and lowering them by default.

Related: The Hiring Signal Most Operators Miss Until It Is Too Late

How the Ones Who Do It Well Do It

Operators who come through a price increase with their membership and culture intact tend to do a handful of the same things, and none of them are complicated.

They give real notice. Sixty days is common, and ninety may be better, but the point is not the number of days so much as what the notice communicates. A member who finds out at the register feels ambushed. A member who receives a clear message six weeks ahead feels respected, and respected members complain less and stay more.

They decide the grandfathering question early and then hold the line. Some operators protect founding members permanently, some for a defined window, some not at all. Each of those is defensible. What is not defensible is deciding case by case at the front desk, which is how an operator ends up with four different price tiers, a spreadsheet nobody understands, and a staff that cannot answer a simple question about what anything costs.

They add something. This one matters more than the mechanics. An increase that arrives alongside a visible improvement reads as a business investing in itself. An increase that arrives alone reads as a business that needs money. The addition does not need to be expensive, and new equipment is often the least effective option available. Extended hours, a new class format, an app that actually works, a better onboarding process for new members, all of these change the story the increase tells.

And they train their staff to talk about it. This is the step most operators skip, and it determines how the whole thing goes. Your front desk will be asked about the increase forty times in a week. If nobody has told them what to say, they will improvise, and the most natural improvisation for a person who wants to be liked is to apologize for their employer’s pricing. A staff member who says “I know, it’s a lot, I’m sorry” has just told a member the increase is unreasonable.

When planning a price increase, avoid emotional decisions and moving too quickly; use your data to do it well. Ludwig shares his strategic plan for price increases.

First: it is wise to consider the timing of these increases. Try to avoid the New Year price-shopping season and the summer slump. Late spring or early fall are usually the best times for a price increase. Outside of seasonality, a facility refresh or equipment upgrade is another great time.

Second: communicate transparently and give members time to digest. Six weeks’ notice is optimal. Be clear that you value your members’ opinions and want to continue offering the best service. Clearly communicate that cancellation is an option; however, you would hate to lose members, so please communicate with the team.

“Always communicate value and do not apologize. When a rate increase is imminent, many owners default to ‘I’m sorry I have to do this’; instead, be determined to ‘earn the increase.’ To make sure our class experience stays top-notch and we can take care of our world-class coaches! Members love hearing that the staff is well cared for.”

— Ben Ludwig

Third: communicate in layers. The leadership team needs to know first and likely have some input on strategy and decisions. Then, hold a team meeting to cover all the bases, ensuring the team knows how to explain the increase. Nothing frustrates a member more than being told they have to pay more and then your staff member not being able to explain why.

Lastly, Ludwig shares: “Know your data. Many fitness facilities average anywhere from 3% to 8% monthly attrition, which averages out annually to between 36% and 96%. This matters because, with member turnover, you will likely have between a third and almost all of your member base turning over over 12 months. If over half of your membership leaves over the course of a year, it may make more sense to increase new member rates more regularly.”

Who Actually Leaves

Now the part that deserves honesty, because a piece that promises nobody leaves is selling something.

Some members do leave. That is not a failure of execution; it is the mechanism working, and an operator needs to be prepared for who walks out.

The members most likely to go are the ones attending least. That is not a coincidence. A member who trains four times a week has built the facility into their life and evaluates a price change against everything they get from it. A member who has not badged in since February evaluates it against a bill they had been meaning to cancel anyway. The increase gave them a reason and a date.

Losing those members costs an operator very little revenue and a fair amount of anxiety, which is a poor trade emotionally and a good one financially. It also has an effect most owners do not anticipate: a facility full of people who chose to stay at a higher price feels different than one carrying a tail of half-committed members. The room gets better. The staff notices before the owner does.

What should worry an operator is a different pattern entirely. If the people leaving are engaged, high-frequency members who love the place, price wasn’t the problem. Something else was already wrong, and the increase simply surfaced it.

“The most important thing that most operators forget to factor in is that your members want you to succeed. They want to see you do well so they can keep their community, routine, and goals intact. A small number of cancellations will naturally happen with these moves, but it shouldn’t go beyond 10-20% of your typical monthly cancellation number. Also, the amount you raise prices typically matters more than the increase itself. 3-5% increases usually go under the radar for most, where 10% or more is where you tend to see a more substantial loss of current members. The best thing to do is more often incremental raises, such as 3% per year, rather than waiting 5 years to increase 15%.”

— Ben Ludwig

The Cost of Waiting

The hardest thing about pricing is that nothing forces the decision. No landlord calls to say your rates are too low. No member emails to mention they would happily pay more. The pressure to raise prices is invisible right up until the day the business cannot absorb another cost increase, and by then the operator is not making a strategic decision. They are reacting, from a weaker position, with less room to communicate it well.

The operators who handle this best are not braver than everyone else. They simply stopped treating pricing as an event that requires courage and started treating it as an ordinary part of running a business, reviewed on a schedule the way a lease or an insurance policy gets reviewed.

You do not have to raise your rates this month. It is worth knowing, though, whether you have decided not to, or whether you have simply not decided.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much can a gym or studio raise prices without losing members?

The more useful question is how many members an operator could afford to lose and still come out ahead. On a ten percent increase, most facilities reach break-even somewhere around nine percent attrition, which is typically well above what a clearly communicated increase actually produces. Operators frequently overestimate the risk because they have never raised rates and therefore have no data from their own business to draw on. The amount matters less than the execution, meaning advance notice, a clear grandfathering policy, something visibly added alongside the change, and staff prepared to talk about it confidently.

How much notice should members get before a price increase?

Sixty days is common and ninety is better, though what the notice communicates matters more than the exact number of days. A member who learns about an increase at the register feels ambushed, while a member who receives a clear explanation weeks ahead has time to absorb it and generally responds better. The announcement should state what is changing, when it takes effect, what the grandfathering policy is, and what the facility is adding or improving. Ambiguity on any of those points generates more front-desk conversations than the increase itself.

Should long-term members be grandfathered at their old rate?

There is no single correct answer, and operators reasonably choose permanent protection for founding members, a defined grandfathering window, or no exceptions at all. What creates problems is deciding case by case at the front desk, which produces multiple undocumented price tiers, confused staff, and members comparing notes. Whatever the policy, it should be set before the announcement goes out and applied consistently, since the consistency is what makes it defensible to the members who ask.

Which members are most likely to cancel after a price increase?

Typically the lowest-frequency members, which tends to surprise operators who expect to lose their most vocal ones. Members who attend regularly have integrated the facility into their routine and weigh a price change against everything they receive. Infrequent members weigh it against a charge they had already been questioning, and the increase provides both a reason and a deadline. That pattern means the revenue lost is usually small relative to the anxiety it causes. A different pattern, in which engaged high-frequency members leave, signals that price was not the underlying issue and that something else in the business needs attention.

Jessica H. Maurer covers Business of Coaching and Feature stories for Coach360News.

About Jessica H. Maurer
Jessica is a recognized fitness business consultant and strategist focusing on transforming businesses from overwhelmed to organized. Her international presentations, workshops, certifications, and consultations underscore her commitment to helping fitness professionals and businesses realize their full potential. When Jessica takes the stage, she’s sharing fresh ideas and inspiration that spark positive change. Jessica’s international presentations and consultations are about growth, career transformation, overall wellness, and making fitness a joyful journey. Her expertise spans education, program and instructor development, and brand evolution, making her a key player in elevating the industry. Jessica also played a pivotal role in developing the Mental Well-being Association’s certification for Fitness Professionals., always striving to bring a holistic approach to wellness that’s as uplifting as it is effective.

Jessica has presented at prestigious events like IDEA World, Fitnessfest ACSM Health & Fitness Summit, SCW Mania, AsiaFit, and more. She has worked with brands such as FIT4MOM, SFR, BOSU, Lebert Fitness, Savvier Fitness, SCW Fitness, FitSteps, canfitpro, IDEA, and VIBES music. She also has written content for the IDEA Fitness Journal, canfitpro Magazine, Mental Well-being Association, FIT4MOM, Motherly, and more.