The network asks every athlete it sends you for a Google review after their class, so you never have to. The intro email your members get when you upload your list asks them once. This step is the asking that is yours to do after that: your own members, in person and through your CRM, and every other visitor who has trained at your gym.
Run these numbers for your gym. Most owners have members who would write a review this week if somebody asked them.
Say you have 100 members. They like this gym enough to still be here, and odds are nobody has ever asked most of them for a review. Ask, and about 20 say yes. Those are 20 reviews no ad budget gets you.
Think about how many people trained at your gym as outside visitors over the last 12 months. Each one was a potential Google review. If even 30 of them had left one, that's 30 reviews from real athletes telling your city what a class here is actually like.
A significant part of your Google ranking comes from recent reviews as well as your total. More reviews makes it more likely you're the gym somebody finds when they search. Nobody can promise where Google puts you, and we won't. Here's the only math we'll put in front of you: about one in five members says yes when you ask, so a 150-member gym is looking at around 30 new reviews in the first month. We don't have completed-drive numbers to show you yet, so we're not going to make any up.
Every outside visitor who trains at your gym and leaves without being asked for a review is a missed opportunity. A simple policy: a visiting athlete's class is free, no strings, and it stays free whether they ever write a word about you. After class, ask them the same way you ask everyone: 'Hey, a quick Google review really helps us out.' Some will, some won't, and the class was free either way.
Your current members already trust you, and most of them have never been asked for a review by you, in person. One message to your full list, sent at the right moment, is the biggest single ask in your 30 days. Here is how to run it.
The best moment to ask is right after something good happens. Ask right after a PR, the end of a program, or a long attendance streak, because people say yes when they're proud. If the gym has something coming up worth celebrating, send the email that week.
Search your gym on Google, open your Business profile, click "Write a review," and copy the URL from your browser. Save it. This is what you will send.
Send it through your CRM to everyone currently active, on a weekday morning when people are checking their phones anyway.
Generate a free QR code at qr-code-generator.com using your review link. Print it and stick it somewhere visible. Members who see it are reminded to do what the email already asked.
Say it out loud once during warmup or cooldown. People listen to their coach more than they read their email. One mention is enough, so do not repeat it every week or it stops sounding sincere.
Hey [First Name],
We've had a good stretch here at [Gym Name] lately, and honestly a big part of that is you guys showing up the way you do.
We have one favor to ask. Would you mind leaving us a Google review? Whatever you would tell a friend who asked about the gym is exactly what we are after, good or bad.
It's quick, and it helps other people in [City] find us when they are looking for a gym that actually cares.
Here is the direct link: [YOUR REVIEW LINK]
Thanks. And if there's anything you'd change about the place, tell me at the gym, I actually want to hear it.
[Coach Name] / [Gym Name]
"Quick favor before we wrap up. If you have not left us a Google review yet, we'd really appreciate one, whatever you want to say. I'll put the link in the group chat. That's all I've got."
The one-time ask gets you a burst of reviews in one week. Triggers keep asking after that, one member at a time, for as long as you leave them on. Set these up in your CRM once, next to the BoxEx email you already installed:
Day 30 - catch them while they're fired up. New members are never more enthusiastic than their first month.
A month in, and we're glad you're here. Would you leave us a Google review? Whatever you'd tell a friend about your first month is what the next person wants to read: [YOUR REVIEW LINK]
Milestones - first pull-up, PR, comp day, 100th class. The coach celebrates it in person, and the text with the link goes out within the hour.
That was awesome today. If you ever felt like bragging about this place, today's the day: [YOUR REVIEW LINK]
Anniversaries - every membership year, automated. Set it once in your CRM and forget it. And whichever trigger brings a review in, reply to it within the week, good or bad. The next person reading sees an owner who pays attention, and that matters to somebody picking a gym.
Any CrossFit athlete who walks in off the street, not through BoxEx, might come back as a regular paying drop-in, might leave you a review, or both. The suggested policy is simple: their first class with you is free, and it stays free no matter what they do afterward. After class, you ask them for an honest Google review, the same way you ask everyone.
Think about the math: One free class costs you a spot in a class you were running anyway. What you might get back is an honest review from a CrossFitter who picked your gym out of every gym in town, and some of them come back as paying drop-ins the next time they are through. Count how many outside visitors you saw last year, and that is how many times you could have asked.
"Hey, welcome in. First class is on us, no strings on that. On your way out I'll ask you for an honest Google review, and if you'd rather not, that's totally fine too."
"Great having you today. Here is that review link I mentioned: [YOUR REVIEW LINK]. It's quick, and we really appreciate it."
Make this a standing policy your coaches all know. Any outside visitor gets the same welcome and the same free first class. After class, ask everyone for an honest review, and let them know that if anything was off, they can always tell you directly, because you want to fix it. Never make the review a condition of anything; deliver the experience first, then ask everybody the same way. Brief your coaches once so it happens consistently whether you are there or not.
Turn the waiver into a lead. Add one field to your visitor waiver: 'Home gym (if you have one).' Every visitor either has no gym, which makes them a membership lead, or names one, and you have just learned which gyms your visitors come from. Cap the free walk-in class at one per person, and your CRM can enforce that from the waiver info.
Every athlete who trains at your gym through BoxEx gets asked for a Google review after their visit. You do not need to ask, and you do not need to follow up. The request goes out from the network on your behalf, and any review they write goes on your Google profile like any other. This is already running for every gym in the network, including yours.
How many visitors you see depends on where your gym is, and it grows as more gyms join. Every one of them is a class you were already running, with one more athlete in it. What matters is being ready when one walks in:
They reserved ahead, so you knew they were coming. Greet them like a member who's been away, because in the network that's what they are. Introduce them to the coach, point them to the whiteboard, and ask where they're from. The review request goes out from the network after class, and if they write one, it is about the hour your coach just ran. Brief your coaches once so it goes the same way whether you are there or not.
If you’re sitting on the top review count among the CrossFit gyms in your area, the drive isn’t about out-counting the box down the road. You’re not really competing with other CrossFit gyms at all. You’re competing with the convenience and the low price of everything else: the globo gym membership, the bootcamp-circuit gym around the corner.
We know CrossFit is the best fitness and the biggest lifestyle upgrade a person can buy. The problem is all the people who believe it’s out of their reach. And the surest way we know to reach them is to show them somebody like them doing it at your gym. People want to believe they can do it. When they see someone like them doing it, they know it’s possible. That’s what every review is: one more person, in their own words, telling your next member it’s possible.
So if you are the leader, the job is keeping your reviews recent, not winning a count. A significant part of your Google ranking comes from recent reviews as well as your total, and future members weigh the newer reviews more heavily too. The rotation below is how you keep asking all year, and the network asks every visiting athlete for you.
The 30-day drive captures the members who love your gym right now. After that, the rotation takes over, and it’s built so nobody has to remember anything: five names go to the coach who runs the morning classes one week, five to the lunch coach the next, five to the evening coach after that, and back around, so the whole roster gets asked eventually and nobody gets asked twice. On top of the rotation, every new member gets asked, and every visiting athlete gets asked automatically.
The Ask List makes the five names easy: print your member list, open your gym’s Google reviews once, check off everybody who’s already left one, and mark when each remaining person usually trains. That’s your rotation order. (We’re building the version that does this for you and emails you the week’s five names. The paper list works today.)
Print one per coach per rotation week. It fits on a card, and the coach never needs this page.
Want to put a reward behind it? Reward your coaches for making the asks: new shoes when their asks produce 10 reviews, a personal barbell at 30, or dollars if that’s more your style. The reward goes to the coach for doing the asking, never to the member for reviewing. That line is what keeps your gym clean with Google, and the weekly five-name card is what makes each coach’s count fair.
Search your gym on Google. Screenshot the review count and star rating. Save it, because that is your Day 1 number. (Your review link is the one you saved on the Start page. Need it again? google.com/business, click "Ask for reviews," copy.)
How to send: your CRM's message blast (text beats email). No CRM messaging? One email, everyone in BCC. Never a group text from your phone, because one reply pings 150 people.
Hey [First Name] - [Your name] here. Quick favor that takes two minutes and means a lot: would you leave the gym a Google review? What stood out when you first joined? What keeps you coming back? That's exactly what someone deciding on a gym wants to hear. [Your review link]
Paste this to your CRM's support chat:
Hi - I want an automated message (SMS if available, otherwise email) sent to every new member 14 days after their join date. One message, once per member. Message text below. Can you set this up?
The message:
[First Name] - two weeks in. How does it feel? A quick Google review would mean a lot, whatever you have to say. And if something is not working, just reply and tell me. I want to fix it. What surprised you? What would you tell someone thinking about joining? [Your review link]
The Ask List (10 min, once): print your member list, check off everyone already in your Google reviews, highlight the rest. That is the Ask List. Keep it at the front desk.
One time slot per week, five names: week 1, five morning regulars to the morning coach. Week 2, five lunch athletes to the lunch coach. Week 3, evening. Then back around (no lunch classes? alternate morning and evening). The coach asks in person after class and crosses each name off. Nobody gets asked twice. The ask:
"Hey, would you do me a favor and leave the gym a Google review? Mention the [class they do] and your neighborhood if you think of it. That's what helps people near you find us."
The QR: free QR generator (Canva has one), paste your review link, print it with "LEAVE US A GOOGLE REVIEW" above it, tape it at the whiteboard.
The coach line for right after a PR or a compliment:
"That was awesome. Would you put that in a Google review? It helps us more than you'd think, and the code is on the whiteboard."
Every week: reply to every review within a day, good or bad, and share one review in your stories with a thank-you. People leave reviews when they see other people doing it.
Day 30: screenshot your count again and post the before-and-after: "30 days ago we had [X] reviews. Today we have [Y]. That happened because you took two minutes and wrote one. Thank you."
Three rules: never ask the same person twice. Ask right after the good moments, not randomly. Never offer members anything for a review. If you want rewards in the mix, reward your coaches for making the asks, never the reviewer for reviewing.
Step 4 of 4 - the last one. About 10 minutes.