A potential member walks up to the front desk. They’re excited, motivated, and ready to commit. Then they see your pricing board: single entries, punch cards, trial weeks, flexible memberships, seasonal offers, family packages… Suddenly, they freeze. Too many options. They walk out. You just lost them.
Simplicity sells. Complexity kills.
Your job isn’t to offer every possible variation, it’s to guide. One clear path makes buying easy. Too many choices create paralysis, and paralysis means no sale.
Choices Feel Good, But It Costs You Sales
Choice feels good in theory, but in practice, it overwhelms people. Unless you have a rockstar salesperson at the front desk, potential members won’t know which product is right for them. They’ll hesitate, compare, and second-guess until they give up.
And when the decision shifts from value (“Do I belong here?”) to money (“Which is cheaper?”), you’ve already lost ground. That’s when competitors can undercut you.
The Only Two Products You Need
Strip it back to the essentials:
- Get them through the door (single entry or trial session).
- Get them to keep coming back (membership).
That’s it.
Everything else creates friction.
Example of products
| Child | Youth/Student | Adult | Family | |
| Single Entry | €10 | €13 | €15 | – |
| Membership | €30 | €45 | €50 | +€20/child |
The only question is: “Will I come 3+ times a month?”
Yes → membership.
No → single entry.
Crystal clear. No math required.
Are Punch Passes Killing Your Sales?
Punch passes seem harmless, but they often shift the decision from value to math.
- 10x pass: €135 → €13.50 per visit
- Membership: €50 → breakeven at 4 visits/month
Now the customer is calculating instead of committing and that hesitation can cost you the sale.
That said, punch passes do serve infrequent climbers. The question isn’t “should I remove them completely?” but “am I offering them in a way that blocks membership growth?”
Here’s how to find out:
- Track conversion paths. Measure how long it takes for a first-time visitor to become a member; directly vs. via punch pass.
- Hide punch passes online. Test removing them from your webshop for 3 months and see if membership uptake rises.
- Limit availability. Offer passes only to kids or students, while adults choose single entry or membership.
Use data, not guesswork, to see if punch passes
are helping or hurting your business.
The Hidden Advantage: Easier Admin
A simplified product range isn’t just good for customers; it’s a gift to your staff.
- Price adjustments? Fewer products to update.
- Customer issues? Easier to troubleshoot.
- Billing problems? Faster to resolve.
Finally, fix your discounts. One rule: -10% for students, pensioners and youth. No special products, no complexity. Your software solution should do this is all automatically under one and the same product. No need for duplicate products with different prices that increases complexity.
Your front desk, sales team, and admin will all thank you.
How WisePlatform Vertical Helps
Simplifying your product range isn’t just a pricing exercise — it’s a systems challenge. WisePlatform Vertical makes it easy to:
- Run all discounts under one rule (–10% for students, pensioners, youth).
- Eliminate duplicate products with different prices.
- Keep your webshop and front desk simple, clear, and conversion-focused.
Less admin. Fewer mistakes. More time spent on members, not managing spreadsheets.
Your Challenge
Keep it simple. Give customers only two choices: pay once, or keep coming back.
Audit your price list this week. If a new climber needs a calculator to figure it out, you’re losing sales. Cut at least one product and watch memberships, and customer satisfaction, rise.
Key takeaways:
1. Simplicity sells, complexity kills
2. Your job is to guide the customer
3. Recognize the hidden costs of customers getting stuck
4. Test product changes with data, not assumptions
5. Simple product assortment helps customers make a decision and you to handle admin tasks easier
Max Mäki
Sales Expert / WisePlatform Gym
Max Mäki is a sales professional with extensive experience in B2C and B2B sales, staff training, system integrations, and customer experience within the sports and recreation industry.
Before joining WiseNetwork, he worked as Head of Sales at Finland’s leading climbing gym group, where he led major improvements in sales processes and customer journeys — increasing both membership and overall revenue significantly.
At WiseNetwork, Max applies his expertise to help climbing gyms streamline operations, boost sales, and enhance customer experience through WisePlatform.
You may also be interested in:
How to stop unauthorized use of the gym – and at the same time improve the customer experience?
Do you want more visitors to your website? Do you want to offer your products, services, or information precisely when they are actively sought?