A parent brings one child to a trial class. The younger one watches from the side and wants to join. She does the arithmetic in her head, two sets of fees, two uniforms, two licences, two gradings a year, and decides to leave it until next year.
Next year does not happen. The club lost a member it would have kept for a decade over a number nobody ever showed her.
A worked example
Two children at a club, for a year, priced honestly.
Line 1: the monthly fee per child
Published per child, then published again as a family figure. Parents need both and most clubs show only the first.
Line 2: the family rate
A second child rate, a third child rate or a household cap. Whatever the structure, publish it as an actual number rather than an invitation to ask.
Line 3: uniform for each
Cost per child, whether a second hand scheme exists and how often a growing child needs a new size. This is a real recurring cost that nobody warns families about.
Line 4: licence or association fees
Per child, per year, and whether the club has any discretion. Families are surprised by this one every single time.
Line 5: grading fees through the year
How many gradings a typical year contains, what each costs and whether siblings are graded at the same session, which is the ground in grading and belt progression questions from parents.
Line 6: equipment as they progress
Pads, gloves and whatever is needed at later stages, and when. It arrives in year two for most families and lands as a surprise.
Line 7: competitions and events
Optional or expected, entry fees, travel and whether parents pay to attend. Say plainly what is optional so families do not feel obliged.
Line 8: the honest annual total
Two children, everything included. It is a bigger number than the monthly fee suggests and publishing it converts serious parents while filtering out nobody worth having.
Whether to offer a family rate at all
It makes sense when classes have spare capacity, when siblings train in the same session and when retention matters more than headline price. It makes less sense where classes are full and a waiting list exists.
Consider a household membership
One price for everybody in a household, including adults. It is simple, it is memorable and it brings parents onto the mat, which is the most reliable way to keep the children coming.
Publish the sibling timetable practically
Whether siblings train at the same time or consecutively, and how long a parent is at the club. For families with two children this decides everything, as in grading, uniform and membership questions at a dojo.
Publish the pause position
Holidays, injuries and term time only options. Families need to know they are not locked into paying for empty months.
Answer enrolment questions off season
Enquiries arrive in August and after Christmas, when nobody is at the club, which is the pattern in sports clubs and membership enquiries out of season and an AI assistant for membership organisations.
Getting started
Publish per child and family figures with the full annual total, then answer enrolment questions at any hour. SpideyChat for clubs answers from your published pages, plans are on the pricing page, and the chatbot ROI calculator works through the numbers.