If there is one area that gym managers find most challenging, it is member retention.
Almost all gyms struggle with it.
It's one of those things that can be extremely complex yet simple at the same time.
Let's try and simplify things for a moment.
Member retention strategy can be divided into three core areas.
These three ingredients must be in place for having a strong member retention outcome.
- Ingredient 1 - Onboarding
- Onboarding is the actions you take to help get new members started. Half the battle is overcoming the inertia of new members. In many cases, a new member must go through behaviour changes to develop the habit of coming to the gym.
A classic example of onboarding is online software. If I buy online software or tool to use in our business, it is likely I will receive a number of emails, videos etc. over the first weeks and months of using the service. These software providers know the importance of educating clients to help get them a result or value as quickly as possible.
The same applies to the gym. How can you help your new members get value or a result as quickly as possible?
Your onboarding should be a pre-planned and automated set of communications or touchpoints with members. Every piece of that content should be strategically planned for maximum impact.
- Ingredient 2 - A system to deliver a result
- The next vital ingredient in our retention process is a system to deliver a result.
In every gym, some members will need more support than others. In order to keep them, we need to help these members get a result. This result might be to lose weight or feel more confident.
For example, with some of the clients I work with, we have noted that members who complete more induction appointments (typically 3-4) have a much longer average length of stay compared with new members that only complete 1 or 0 appointments.
These clients have a system in place to track new members and identify those who have not yet completed the target 3-4 induction appointments. This tracking allows them to proactively reach out and assist these new members who may need more time and attention invested in them. This process helps ensure more members build a routine that delivers the result they want to achieve. This, in turn, ensures the more members continue to invest in their membership because they are getting value (a result) from it.
- Ingredient 3 - Member interaction
- The social element of the gym is critical to its feel and culture. Member interaction and communication has a huge impact on member retention rates. That's why it's important to train your staff on how to interact with members effectively. It's also important to schedule time that is dedicated to interacting with members to ensure that it gets done.
By including these 3 vital ingredients in your member retention strategy, you will have the foundations of strong member retention.
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