Who is calling, and what do they need?
Prospective members ask about classes or memberships, current members need schedule help, and instructors may need to reach the studio. Route member service separately from new enquiries.
Keep the top-level menu in the caller’s language. In Auto Attendant each option does one thing: it rings up to three phones one after another (each for 10 to 60 seconds, never together), takes a voicemail, or plays a message and hangs up. Point each option at the person, or the shared phone, that actually handles this call, and add a backup only where a missed call costs you.
How fitness studio calls actually go
Fitness studios field membership enquiries, class bookings, billing questions and freeze or cancel requests. Instructors are usually mid-class when the phone rings, and front-desk coverage is thin outside peak hours. The calls that matter commercially are first-time visitors asking about trial offers, and those arrive in bursts at lunch and after work.
Keep the menu to the decisions that change who answers: trying the studio, an existing membership, and class or schedule questions. A recorded answer to “what time is the 6 a.m. class?” is better placed on the website, with the menu pointing to it in one sentence.
Recommended menu
| Caller’s choice | Role to ring | What it does | Why this route |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Classes and membership enquiry | membership lead | Rings one phone | One membership contact answers prospective-member questions. |
| 2. Current member question | studio office | Rings one phone | A common destination works better than listing instructors. |
| 3. Instructor or schedule contact | studio coordinator | Rings one phone | One route gives instructors a clear operational contact. |
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
Shaded text is a fill-in field: replace it with your own.
This example uses 3 menu options. Auto Attendant allows up to seven; add an option only when it sends a distinct kind of caller to a meaningfully different destination. A call that rings every phone you listed without an answer goes to voicemail. The menu can be in English, French or Spanish, and a line can also skip the menu and go straight to one action.
Greeting script
Business name. For classes or membership, press 1. If you are a current member, press 2. For an instructor or schedule question, press 3.
Shaded text is a fill-in field: replace it with your own.
24 words, about 10 seconds spoken at 150 words per minute. The estimate is calculated from the script above; allow extra time for pauses and clear delivery.
Read each reason before its key, as in “For a new enquiry, press 1”. Replace the shaded fields and any role or service wording before you type the greeting into the menu; a text-to-speech voice reads it to callers.
A worked example
Illustration: a boutique studio offers 1 for first-time visitors and trials, 2 for existing members, 3 for classes and schedule. Option 1 rings the front desk. Option 2 rings the member services contact only, since billing issues need account access. Voicemail for option 1 asks for name, number and when they would like to visit.
The usual failure is a greeting that reads the entire timetable aloud. Callers hang up before the end; a short greeting that points to the schedule online keeps the phone for questions only a person can answer.
After hours, weekends, and holidays
Give the next staffed time and direct routine class questions to voicemail. If classes run while the office is closed, make clear that the phone is not monitored during class.
Update the greeting for schedule changes and closures. Avoid advertising a staffed line simply because a class is taking place.
Outside the hours you set, Auto Attendant plays your closed message and then takes a voicemail or ends the call; it does not forward calls after hours, and holidays are closed all day. Where the advice above mentions an on-call route, either keep that person’s option within your set hours or give the arrangement in the closed message.
Check the greeting after every schedule change. A voicemail arrives by email with the recording attached and a transcript when one is produced, but it does not make the call live or guarantee a response time.
Rules and standards worth knowing
Gyms and studios are places of public accommodation under the ADA, which covers businesses open to the public 1. The Department of Justice’s guidance on effective communication describes the duty to communicate with people who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities 2, and the regulation lists auxiliary aids that include text telephones, videophones and captioned telephones 3.
Reminder and promotional messages sent by text are subject to consent rules in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act 4. Auto Attendant places no outgoing messages, but staff texting members after a missed call should follow the same rules.
Staffing a front desk means hiring and scheduling employees; the SBA’s summary of hiring obligations for small employers is a general reference 5.
This is general information, not legal advice. Rules differ by state and change; confirm anything that affects your business with the source or an adviser.
Common menu mistakes
- Sending callers to instructors during a class.
- Using the phone menu as if it can reserve a place in a class.
- Leaving a holiday timetable unreflected in the greeting.
Keep the greeting short, use the same names callers see elsewhere, and make sure every route has a sensible end when nobody picks up.
Check the menu before you publish it
- Point to the online schedule in one sentence rather than reading it.
- Send billing and freeze requests to someone with account access.
- Write a seasonal message for January and for the summer lull.
- Offer a non-voice route for visitors who cannot use the phone.
- Test the number during a class to hear what a caller hears.
Related guides and templates
- Salon or barbershop: phone menu guide
- Photography or events studio: phone menu guide
- Nonprofit office: phone menu guide
- Cleaning service: phone menu guide
- Appointment-based business: call-flow template
- Seasonal peak greeting: call-flow template
- Holiday closure: call-flow template
- Lunch-hour greeting: call-flow template
- Call routing and menu design
- Missed calls and what they cost
Further reading
Longer research pieces on this topic, each with its own source list and a downloadable PDF.
Articles on this topic
Topics Small business phone Auto attendant Call forwarding Voicemail All topics
Sources
Every regulatory and pricing claim on this page links to the primary source it came from. Figures were checked on the date shown at the top of the page; rules and prices change, so verify before relying on one.
- ADA.gov, Businesses That Are Open to the Public (Title III). Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.ada.gov/topics/title-iii/ - ADA.gov, ADA Requirements: Effective Communication. Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.ada.gov/resources/effective-communication/ - 28 CFR § 36.303, Auxiliary aids and services (ADA Title III regulation). Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/28/36.303 - 47 U.S.C. § 227, Restrictions on use of telephone equipment (Telephone Consumer Protection Act). Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/227 - US Small Business Administration, Hire and manage employees. Retrieved 14 Oct 2026
https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/manage-your-business/hire-manage-employees