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Have an AI agent text every new lead and new member to book a tour or a phone consult, and answer the gym phone after hours
Abraham Gerving, owner of Affinity Fitness, a 24/7 key-card gym with two locations (Washougal and North Bonneville, Washington) that is staffed only part of the day, on Daxko's Fitness Forward podcast (Daxko makes the club's membership software)
An AI agent texts everyone who fills out the website lead form to book a club tour, and texts each new member a link to the app and an offer of a phone consultation that can lead to a personal-training appointment. A voice agent answers the phone during unstaffed hours, emails callers links to update payment details or join online, books tours and notifies staff, who follow up.
The club's AI agent vendor isn't named (he says it connects to his membership software through an API), so no price is given
Medium · or we set it up for $197
Varies
The problem
The gym is staffed only part of the day, so web leads, new online sign-ups and after-hours callers had no one to talk to.
What happened
Self-reported: he expected a customer-support bot, but it turned into "more of a prospecting and sales agent"; reading its conversations led him to reach out to members, and the gym gained some long-term personal-training clients that way. No lead, booking or revenue figures are given. Early on he accidentally sent a text blast to 100% of his contacts while setting it up. Some members prefer to talk only to a person, and he reviews the conversations because it sometimes says things that aren't right. Note: the podcast is produced by Daxko, the club's membership-software company; he is a customer, and the tools in this story aren't Daxko's.
Quoted in the source: Abraham Gerving, owner, Affinity Fitness. Source: Fitness Forward (Daxko) Ep. 06: Small Club, Big Moves: How One Independent Operator is Winning with AI (Abraham Gerving, Affinity Fitness) (2026-10-01) · Added 2026-10-20.
How to set it up yourself
- What Affinity Fitness uses: a text agent tied to its membership software that messages web leads (goal: book a club tour) and new members (goal: book a phone consultation), plus a voice agent on the phone during unstaffed hours that books tours, emails self-service links and notifies staff. The vendor isn't named, so these are general setup steps, not vendor instructions.
- Before you buy, list the jobs and the links the agent may send: the tour booking link, the app download link, the join-online page and the account login for updating a card. Ask each vendor to show a demo that uses your own list and connects to your membership software.
- Set it up in test mode with only your own phone number as a contact, and check the audience of every message before you turn it on, so a setup message can't go out to your whole list.
- Turn on the voice agent for unstaffed hours only, and set it to notify staff (not to transfer the call) when a caller needs a person.
- Read the conversations every week like you'd supervise a new front-desk hire: fix wrong answers in the agent's settings, call or text anyone it answered badly, and contact members who opened up to it.
Copy-paste prompt
Write the first text our AI agent sends to {LEAD OR NEW MEMBER} at {GYM NAME}. Goal: book {A CLUB TOUR / A 15-MINUTE PHONE CONSULTATION}. Facts it may use: staffed hours {HOURS}, booking link {LINK}, app link {LINK}. Keep it under 300 characters, friendly, one question at the end, sign it {STAFF NAME} from {GYM NAME}, and say that a person reads replies. Then write two follow-ups for no reply after 1 day and after 3 days. Don't promise prices or offers I didn't list.We set up one AI automation in your tools, live within 48 hours of getting access, for $197. No call needed. Founding price for our first 10 customers (regular $297).
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