How We Replaced
Manual Operations With
Scalable Systems
at Tiger Eye MMA
01
The Challenge
Tiger Eye MMA had a strong brand and great coaching — but behind the scenes, outdated manual systems were slowing growth. Leads came in unpredictably, follow-ups were missed, and most trial students never became full members.
02
The Transformation
We rebuilt the gym’s front-end operations from the ground up — launching a 360° Automated Growth Engine that systematised lead generation, nurturing, and conversion.
03
The Outcome
Tiger Eye now runs on a modern, fully automated system built to scale. Lead flow is predictable, manual workload is minimal, and the gym is finally set up to grow aggressively — without burning out the team.
A Word from the Founder
We believe the best results are told by the partners who experience them. Here’s what co-founder Bashir Ahmad — a retired ONE Championship fighter and their former executive matchmaker — had to say about the transformation.
The Challenge
Tiger Eye MMA is a modern martial arts gym in Bangkok, Thailand — known for its great coaching, welcoming vibe, and an outstanding reputation backed by over 180 five-star Google reviews.
The gym is led by two seasoned professionals:
Bashir Ahmad — a retired ONE Championship fighter and former executive matchmaker known as the “Godfather of MMA in Pakistan”
Panop “Note” Udomkaewkanjana, a respected Muay Thai insider from a family of Lumpinee champions with deep ties to Bangkok’s top gyms.
At Tiger Eye, martial arts isn’t just about fighting — it’s a way to grow in body, mind, and character. The gym’s mission is to build not just fighters, but strong individuals who uplift their communities.
But even with world-class leadership, the gym’s growth was starting to plateau. Three common issues were holding them back:
01
Inconsistent Leads
The gym relied on unpredictable walk-ins. Some classes had 12 students, others only 2 — making steady growth hard to plan for.
02
Too Much Manual Work
Staff were buried in Instagram, WhatsApp, and email — answering the same questions over and over. Without a central system, follow-ups were missed and leads slipped through the cracks.
03
Low Conversions
Only 5–10% of trial students became full members. This meant much of the potential revenue from upsells was lost — and a lot of time and marketing effort went to waste.
The Solution
To solve these bottlenecks, we engineered a 360° growth system using our in-house platform. The system runs on three key parts that work together to attract, manage, and convert new students — turning their first click into loyal memberships.
Pillar 1: From Walk-Ins to a Self-Funding Lead Engine
Our first goal was to stop relying on random walk-ins. Instead, we needed a steady stream of quality leads. We started with a test campaign to make sure the system worked before expanding it.
The Pilot Campaign
We kicked things off with the Songkran Trial Funnel — a one-week trial offer for just 999 THB (~$30 USD), tailored specifically for Bangkok’s unique market. It worked well for two key reasons:
It filtered out tourists. A one-week trial appealed to expats and long-stay visitors, not short-term travelers.
It brought in committed leads. That small payment meant people showed up ready to train.
The campaign was a big success: 35 trial claims on a $342 ad budget, with a net profit of +$283.
Even better, the funnel paid for itself — its revenue more than covered ad costs. That means every new long-term member after that was pure profit. We break this campaign down step-by-step in our guide to building lead funnels.
The Evergreen System
After the pilot worked so well, we turned it into a permanent offer: the Trial Pass. We raised the price a little, making it a strong but more standard way for people to start.
Instead of running ads for it, we added it to our website and social pages so anyone could find it easily. This way, we could keep the price higher while still having the option to run big ad campaigns in the future. It also became our main upsell for other lead funnels.
Expanding the Reach
With the main lead system in place, we created two more funnels to grow key parts of the gym:
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Goal: Grow the gym’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) community.
Offer: A completely free trial class — making it easier for new people to give BJJ a try.
System: A special landing page with automatic follow-ups. After their free class, students are encouraged to upgrade to the paid Trial Pass.
Kids Classes
Goal: Reach local families and grow the kids’ martial arts program — a key source of income.
Offer: A free trial class so parents can see if the program is right for their child.
System: A landing page with powerful parent testimonials and automated follow-ups promoting any upcoming seasonal program.
Long-Term Visa Training
Goal: Improve lead nurturing for the gym’s high-ticket visa program and boost conversions.
Our Contribution: We built a 7-part automated email sequence and upgraded the AI chatbot to handle visa-related questions more effectively.
The Impact: Turned a basic sign-up form into a smart, trust-building system that keeps international leads engaged and increases the chances of conversion.
Automatic Follow-Ups
Every lead funnel was connected to an automatic follow-up system. As soon as someone signed up, they got messages through WhatsApp and Email.
The messages helped leads show up for their trial, offered an easy upsell after their visit, and followed up with a quick Google Review request to build the gym’s online reputation.
This system turned sign-ups into real visits — without anyone from the team having to send a message manually. But generating and nurturing leads was only half the battle — the next challenge was handling all the incoming interest efficiently.
Pillar 2: Scaling Operations Without Burning Out Staff
A powerful lead engine only works if the gym has the backend to handle the new student flow. The next step was to move beyond manual processes and build a modern, scalable operation — one that saves time, streamlines communication, and supports long-term growth.
One Inbox for Everything
Before, the team had to juggle Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and email — it was messy and easy to miss things. We fixed that by setting up a Unified Inbox using our in-house system.
Now, every message from every platform goes to one clean dashboard. No more jumping between apps or losing leads. It keeps things organized and helps staff reply faster.
AI Chatbot
To take things even further, we added a custom-built AI chatbot right inside the unified inbox.
Trained on the gym’s FAQs, this bot could instantly answer the most common questions — like pricing, class schedules, and how trial offers work. The chatbot now handles most incoming messages automatically — saving the team hours each week.
The Team to Support The Systems
Automation is powerful — but delivering a great student experience still depends on the right people. To ensure the gym could scale without sacrificing quality, we focused on two key areas:
Strengthening the Front Desk:
To handle the rising lead volume, we led the full hiring process — from writing the ads to screening candidates — which directly resulted in two new front desk assistants. This gave the gym the support needed to stay responsive and organized.
Planning for Coaching Leadership:
While the current Muay Thai setup worked for now, it lacked leadership. We created a plan to hire a Head Coach who could bring structure, mentor the team, and maintain class quality as the gym grew.
With a modern operational foundation in place, the gym was ready for the final step: optimizing its financial engine for long-term profitability.
Pillar 3: A Member Journey Built to Maximize Retention
With a solid foundation in place, the final step was optimizing the gym’s financial engine for sustainable growth.
We found that the gym’s old pricing was holding them back. It didn’t reward commitment and actually pushed away serious students.
To fix this, we built a new member journey — one that was profitable, easy to follow, and based on smart pricing.
The Perfect Upsell
To bridge the gap between trial and membership, we introduced the Beginner Package — a simple, high-value offer that helps new students commit. Here's what's included:
1 Month of Unlimited Training
1 Private Training Session (to speed up progress)
1 Tiger Eye T-Shirt (to feel part of the team)
This package helps students stay motivated and connected. It gives the gym a full month to show value and build trust — which makes long-term commitment much more likely.
The New Pricing Ladder
The Beginner Package was part of a bigger pricing upgrade. The old pricing was flat and didn’t reward commitment. We replaced it with a tiered system designed to boost retention and lifetime value — without scaring off tourists.
Short-Term Options Stayed Pricey: Drop-ins and 1-week passes were priced high on purpose — ideal for tourists, and they made monthly plans look like a better deal.
Clear Monthly Plans with Real Value: We introduced three monthly memberships tiers: “Contender” (1 class per day), “Fighter” (unlimited classes), and “Champion” (unlimited + 3 PT sessions). Each plan encouraged consistency — the key to better results and member retention.
Long-Term Packages with Perks: For committed students, we added 3-, 6-, and 12-month options with big discounts and useful perks like travel freezes and PT session credits.
This new pricing gave members a clear path to follow, with better rewards the longer they trained.
The Results
This wasn’t just a quick fix — it was a full transformation. We took a high-potential gym running on outdated systems and rebuilt it into a modern, automated business ready to scale.
BEFORE
Tiger Eye MMA had a strong brand, great coaching, and a loyal community. But behind the scenes, the gym was stretched thin — relying on manual systems that couldn’t keep up.
Leads came in inconsistently. Follow-ups got missed. Pricing didn’t reward long-term commitment. The gym was still growing, but it was nearing its ceiling. It needed a better system to grow further.
WHAT WE DID
In under 90 days, we rebuilt the front-end engine from the ground up:
1. A Self-Funding Lead Funnel
Built a system that covers its own costs — turning ad spend into profit from day one.
2. Expanded Growth Channels:
Launched three new funnels to grow BJJ, Kids, and long-term Visa memberships.
3. Automated All Communication
Set up WhatsApp and Email follow-ups, plus an AI chatbot that now handles over 90% of new messages.
4. Pricing that Scales
Redesigned the pricing system to boost long-term value and reward student commitment.
5. A Stronger Support Team
Led the hiring of key staff to help the gym scale smoothly and deliver a great member experience.
AFTER
Tiger Eye now runs on a modern engine. Leads come in predictably. Conversations run on autopilot. And the member journey — from first interest to long-term commitment — is smooth and scalable.
Every major bottleneck in getting and keeping members has been solved. And with the ceiling removed, real growth can finally begin.
Want to Know How We Can Help Your Gym?
The results at Tiger Eye weren’t luck — they came from applying a proven framework to their specific challenges and goals.
We don’t sell cookie-cutter tactics. We partner with a small number of serious martial arts gyms to build scalable systems tailored to their brand, team, and long-term vision.
If you’re ready to move past manual guesswork and start running your gym like the modern business it deserves to be — let’s talk.
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