Trial & Intro Offer Management

How Martial Arts Software Handles Your Sales Funnel

The trial class is the highest-leverage moment in a martial arts school's revenue cycle. A student who books a trial is 10–15x more likely to become a paying member than someone who just visits your website. How your software handles trial booking, follow-up, and conversion tracking can make or break your student acquisition numbers.

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The Trial Funnel: What Software Needs to Handle

Before the Trial

  • Online booking form embeddable on your website
  • Intro/trial-specific landing page or booking flow
  • Automatic confirmation email with directions and what to expect
  • Reminder SMS 24 hours before
  • Lead capture to CRM before they arrive

After the Trial

  • Automated follow-up sequence (email + SMS)
  • Enrollment offer with limited-time pricing
  • Online signup and billing setup
  • Conversion tracking (trial → paid member)
  • Referral program trigger for new enrollees

How Each Platform Handles Trial Management

Zen Planner

8/10

Zen Planner has solid trial management with online booking, automated email follow-up sequences, and lead tracking from trial booking through enrollment. The conversion funnel covers the basics well — you can see which leads are pending conversion and trigger automated follow-up based on trial attendance status.

Where it falls short: the trial booking experience isn't as polished as Spark Membership's dedicated lead funnel. The automated follow-up sequences require more manual configuration to set up well. But for most schools, Zen Planner's trial tools are sufficient.

Spark Membership

9/10

Spark Membership is the strongest platform specifically for trial-to-member conversion. It was built with marketing in mind — the trial booking flow is polished, the automated follow-up sequences are pre-built and customizable, and the built-in referral program activates once a trial converts to a paying member.

If converting more trials to members is your primary software goal, Spark Membership's funnel tools justify its flat $149/month pricing. Many schools recover the cost difference from Kicksite or Zen Planner within 2–3 additional monthly conversions.

Kicksite

7.5/10

Kicksite has good trial management tools including online booking, lead capture, and automated follow-up. The CRM lead management is one of Kicksite's stronger areas — you can track where each lead is in the enrollment process and trigger communications accordingly.

WellnessLiving

8.5/10

WellnessLiving has advanced marketing automation that extends to trial management. Automated email/SMS sequences, loyalty program activation upon enrollment, and referral tracking are all built in. For schools where marketing and lead conversion is a top priority, WellnessLiving's marketing stack is one of the best available.

Trial Offer Best Practices

Regardless of which platform you use, the trial offer structure matters as much as the software. The most effective trial programs share these characteristics:

Single class vs. week trial

A single intro class converts better for kids programs. A 7–14 day trial converts better for adults who need time to build a habit.

Paid intro ($19–49)

Charging even a small fee for the trial filters out no-shows and increases show rate from ~50% to 75–85%.

Same-day enrollment offer

Have a clear enrollment pitch ready for after the class. The highest conversion window is within 2 hours of a positive first class.

Automated 3-touch follow-up

After a trial: email/text day 1, phone call day 3, final offer day 7. Automate the first two; personalize the last.

Kicksite vs Spark Membership Student Progress Tracking