Follow Up · 10 min read
Most gym owners lose leads in the first text. The mistake is trying to book the consultation. The fix is selling the call. Real scripts inside.
The pipeline does not die from no.
It dies from nothing.
Most gym owners do not lose leads at the close. They lose them in the silence after the lead came in and before the next text went out. The lead got bored. The lead forgot. The lead joined the gym down the street that texted them in eleven minutes.
This is the first post in the follow up pillar. We are starting with text because text is where the relationship lives now. More than email. More than your first phone call. The prospect is going to read your text inside ninety seconds of you sending it. They are going to read your email three days later if at all. They are going to send your phone call to voicemail.
If text is where the relationship lives, the question is what you are actually doing with it.
Most owners and their salespeople are doing the same thing wrong.
They are trying to sell the consultation in the text.
Here is what almost every gym sends.
"Hi Sarah! This is Mike from FitGym. We have an opening tomorrow at 10am for a complimentary consultation. Would you like me to book you in?"
That message died the second she read it.
She does not know you. She does not know what a "consultation" is. She does not know if it is going to be a sales pitch, a workout, or a forty five minute interview. The text is a stranger asking her to commit forty five minutes of her life she has not budgeted for.
Of course she did not respond.
You did not lose the lead. You scared her off.
Read this twice.
The text is not where you book the consultation.
The text is where you earn the right to a five minute phone call.
That is the whole job of the follow up text. Not the close. Not the appointment. Just the call.
Why? Because once you have the prospect on the phone for five minutes, your close rate goes through the roof. The qualifying call is where you build certainty, surface the real goal, and earn the consultation. The text exists to get you there. Nothing else.
So stop selling the consultation in your text. Start selling the call.
The text has to sound like a real human being typed it. Not a script. Not a CRM template. Not a marketing automation that someone set up six months ago and forgot about.
Here is the line I use, almost word for word.
"Hey [first name], this is [your name] from [gym name]. Listen, a lot of people like to do text. A lot of people like to do a phone call. Which one works best for you right now? Do you prefer to keep texting, or is there a good time for a quick call?"
Read that out loud.
It sounds like a person.
It does three things at once.
It makes a connection. You said "listen" the way a friend says listen. You acknowledged that they have a preference. You did not assume.
It gives them an out. They can say "just text" without feeling cornered. That tells you exactly what mode they want to be in.
It opens the door to a call. If they say "yeah, you can call me at 4pm," you have moved them from a cold form fill to a warm phone conversation in two text messages.
That is the entire move.
This is from the book and it is non negotiable.
Under 200 characters per send.
You are starting a conversation, not writing a novel. I have seen some of the texts gym owners send. They scared me. I thought they were from an ex.
If your text has three paragraphs, your text is dead. Cut it. Cut it again. Then send it.
A new lead does not want to read a paragraph from a stranger. They want to know who you are, why you are texting, and whether they are about to feel pressured. Two sentences answers all three of those questions. Anything longer makes you sound desperate or makes them stop reading.
When a lead comes in, you have less than an hour to respond. That is the reality in this industry.
If a lead opts in at 10pm, you do not need to call them at 10pm. But you better be texting them first thing in the morning.
And if someone responds to you during business hours? You have minutes. Not hours.
The person who was motivated at 10pm is half as motivated by noon the next day. By Thursday they have forgotten they even filled out the form. The gym that responded first is the one they joined.
So your system is simple.
Every new lead gets a text inside ten minutes. Always.
Use a short, human first message. The "do you prefer text or call" line. Or a line that names something specific they said on the form.
If they answer, you respond inside three minutes.
If they do not answer the text, you call them in two hours.
If they do not pick up the call, you text again the next morning. Three messages. Bang, bang, bang.
This is the play from the book. When you call a lead and they do not pick up, you text immediately. Three messages, sent fast.
Text one.
"Hey [first name], this is [your name] from [gym name]. That was me that just called."
Send.
Text two.
A short, human line that names something they said on the form. "Saw you said you wanted to drop ten pounds before your sister's wedding in October. Is that still the goal?"
Send.
Text three.
The choice line. "Would you prefer texting so I can learn more about you, or is there a good time today for a quick call?"
Send.
Bang, bang, bang. Inside ninety seconds of the missed call.
That is what makes the difference between a lead who comes back and a lead who never resurfaces.
Fine. They told you what they want. Now you have to be sharp on text.
Texting can disappear very fast. You are not somebody they know or care about yet. They are not going to keep texting you if you are boring. They are going to put their phone down and forget about you in the next twenty minutes.
So when you text, every message has to do one of three things.
Make them feel seen.
"Hey, you mentioned you wanted to drop ten pounds before your sister's wedding in October. Is that still the goal, or has it shifted?"
That works because it proves you actually paid attention. Most owners send a generic "just checking in" text that signals the opposite.
Make them curious.
"Quick question. When you tried Orangetheory two years ago, what made you stop going? Was it the workouts or something else?"
That works because it gives them something specific to respond to and starts a real conversation about what did not work for them.
Move them toward the call.
"I want to make sure I do not waste your time. The fastest way I can tell you whether we are even a fit is a five minute call. Are you free at 4pm or 6pm tomorrow?"
That works because it frames the call as a gift, not an ask.
Notice what is not on this list. Selling the program. Pricing. The free trial. The consultation. None of that lives in the text.
Eventually almost every lead goes quiet on text. That is not the end of the lead. That is the next play in the system.
The book has the full follow up cadence. For text specifically, the rule is simple.
Mention the next follow up before you stop messaging.
Tell them: "If I do not hear from you, I will check in on Thursday morning."
Then on Thursday morning, check in. Specifically. Not "just following up." Reference what they said. Reference the goal they told you about. Make it personal.
If you said Thursday and you do not text on Thursday, you just proved you cannot be trusted. Trust is the only thing keeping the conversation alive.
They wait too long. They text too long. They text too often. They text like a marketer instead of like a human.
They write three paragraphs when one sentence would have worked.
They send the same automated "just checking in" message that every other gym sends.
They try to close in the text. They send pricing. They send the free trial offer. They send a calendar link.
They forget that text is the front door. Not the close.
The owners and salespeople who keep their leads alive in the text channel are doing one thing differently. They are treating each text like a real conversation with a real human, not a data point in a CRM.
If you would not text it to a friend, do not text it to a lead.
Texting is the front door of the follow up pillar.
The full system also includes phone calls, email, missed call sequences, and reactivation outreach. Each one has its own rules. Each one shows up later in this series.
The book has the complete chapter on follow up, the ten commandments that govern all of it, the cadence, the timing, and the exact words. The post you just read is a piece of that chapter, expanded and pulled apart for the part that lives on text.
If you have ever lost a lead because "she just stopped texting back," that is what the chapter exists for. Five dollars plus shipping at tomleonardis.com/claim, or on Amazon Prime.
If you would rather have me on the phone with you while you build the follow up system, that is what the one on one coaching is for. Five spots open at a time.
How fast should you text a new gym lead?
Inside ten minutes if you can. Inside the hour at the absolute outside. The first gym to text has a massive edge over every gym that texts later. A lead is at peak interest in the first ten minutes after they fill out the form. By noon the next day, the interest has dropped fifty percent. By Thursday they have forgotten which form they filled out.
What is the best first text to send a new gym lead?
A short, human message that gives them a choice between text and call. Something close to: "Hey [first name], this is [your name] from [gym name]. Listen, a lot of people like to do text. A lot of people like to do a phone call. Which one works best for you right now?" That message makes a connection, gives them an out, and opens the door to a phone call. Do not try to book a consultation in your first text.
Should you sell the consultation in a follow up text?
No. The text is not where you book the consultation. The text is where you earn the right to a five minute phone call. If you can get them on the phone, your close rate goes through the roof. Sell the call in the text. Sell the consultation on the call.
How long should a sales follow up text be?
Under 200 characters per send. You are starting a conversation, not writing a novel. If your text has three paragraphs, the lead is not going to read it. Two sentences gets read. A paragraph gets ignored.
How many times should you text a gym lead before giving up?
Five at the minimum. Twelve is closer to what closes deals across phone, text, and email combined. Most gyms quit after one or two and then blame the leads for "going cold."
What should you text after a missed call to a gym lead?
Three messages, fast. First: "Hey, this is [name] from [gym]. That was me that just called." Second: a specific reference to something they said on the form. Third: the choice line that gives them text or call. Send all three inside ninety seconds of the missed call. Bang, bang, bang.
What do you text a gym lead who stops responding?
Make them feel seen. Reference something specific they told you. "Hey, you mentioned you were trying to drop ten pounds before your sister's wedding in October. Still the goal?" That works because it proves you actually paid attention. Most owners send a generic "just checking in" text that signals the opposite.
Should I use automated text follow up for gym leads?
Use automation for timing, not for content. The first message can be templated, but the second message onward should be written by a human responding to what the lead actually said. Pure automation reads like a robot. Leads stop responding to robots inside two messages. Keep the cadence automated. Keep the words human.
Want one of these every Monday morning?
Short note from Tom in your inbox every Monday at 6am. Sales, hiring, team building. The first chapter of the book is yours when you join.
Join the Club