Why is it that when a friend invites a guest to their gym, the gym is committed to annoying everyone by making the guest jump through endless hoops and listen to sales pitches just to try out their product?  They could make it easy: (1) have guests sign a simple waiver, and (2) let them enjoy the facilities with a member who already thinks it’s worth paying for.  Seems like a recipe for success until management starts worrying about free riders and the lost opportunity to make an annoying sales pitch. My advice to the gyms: do whatever you can to make members want to bring guests and make guests want to come back.  Reasonable restrictions are okay to maintain the desired member experience and prevent abusive free riding, but that leaves a lot of room to make favorable impressions and to move your members from being mere consumers to being your most effective marketing arm.…