Should your group squash programmes be free or paid?

Your club’s income model is critical and while there’s no right or wrong answer, it is possible to make a wrong call for your club. Many factors need to be considered.

When choosing your business model there are a number of things to look at:

• The external environment - other sports clubs, the needs of your community, and the catchment area for new members.
• You existing value proposition - do you offer a range of programmes and services for your members? Are these offered to meet the needs of your members or are they at an extra cost?
• The internal environment - is your club at capacity or can you take more members?

There is no black or white answer for your pricing. You might decide to decrease your annual membership fees and charge per programme, or you might decide to increase your fees and offer programmes for free to your members.

When user-pays work best:

• Your membership fees are low.
• You have a big membership and few courts.
• You have no more growth potential in terms of adding more membership and increasing participation.

In all other cases, clubs should consider including the cost of participating in programmes in their membership fees. You might decide to increase your fee by an a few extra dollars, but still offer maximum financial benefit. Either way the financial benefit to the club through increased participation of your member base, and its subsequent effect on retention will outweigh the financial benefit of the additional income from charging per class.

Learn more

Click here to find the perfect programme for your squash goals.

Click here for assistance with choosing the right programme for your club.

Click here to see what programmes are most popular and when they are best run.