7 Simple Steps To Membership Retention

by Compiled by Gymlink.Biz (Business Resource)

1. New Member “Welcome Pack”
Each new member should receive a “Welcome Pack”, which outlines their membership and provides a listing of club facilities and services, hours, mission statement, letter from the owners and a thank you card for choosing your fitness centre. This may also be an opportunity to identify staff members by listing a picture of each person and by giving a short biography of their time with the club, qualifications, and other relevant information. The pack must be professional and convey the image of the club but it does not need to be expensive. A well-designed “Welcome Pack” can be put together pretty inexpensively.

2. Create A Position/Find the Right Person
Every club should have a “Retention Specialist”. Much like a hotel concierge, this person must be organised, enthusiastic and truly be a “people person” with the necessary skills for considerable social interaction. Before placing an ad in the paper, we suggest looking around your club first. Is there a high-energy fitness trainer or aerobic instructor that wants to pick up a few extra hours per week? Is there a well-liked staff member who sparkles with your members that may desire some added responsibility? Or maybe even a current member who enjoys the atmosphere of the club and always seems to be smiling? For small to medium sized clubs that generates under 100 memberships a month, we only suggest 6-10 hours a week allocated to these retention efforts. If your club generates in 100-200 new members per month, we suggest 10-20 hours per week allocated towards a retention specialist. If more then 200 memberships are sold each month, you may want to create a full-time position for retention. Do not let the extra payroll costs sway you from adding this position. The immediate benefits of increased renewals, reduced attrition, and more revenue from profit centres, referrals and less bad debt outweigh the investment of adding this position. If you really cant fit a retention specialist on to your staff then why not share the role between your current staff.

3. Follow Up Phone Call
Within the first week, the retention specialist will call each new member and again, thanks him or her for choosing your fitness centre. This also provides the opportunity for the specialist to introduce themselves, and to begin building a ‘relationship” with each new member. Make sure each new member understands the financial obligation and time commitment and gauge their satisfaction level regarding their first time visit to the club. This is an excellent way to ensure salesperson’s accountability. You can defuse all potential problems before they fester among your members and feel comfortable with the representation of your club. You can schedule a time for them to meet with a personal trainer, or attend an aerobic class based on their fitness goals. You can answer general questions and most importantly, make them feel comfortable about their recent investment and eliminate any intimidation they may feel as a novice work out participant. This also reduces the risk of the buyer’s remorse, and drastically reduces cancellations in the first 30- 90 days of a membership.

4. Recurring Follow Up
Having a good membership management system will allow you to follow up withy your members. With so many members it’s important to keep as much information on each of them as possible. Get e-mail addresses, track birthdays, and identify areas of interest or filter information among your vast array of members. This permits you to call them on their birthday, contact all the body pump enthusiasts or squash players when a special event may be of interest to them or to occasionally place a call to “see how they are doing”. This recurring follow up maintains your “personal relationship” with each member and will significantly increase your usage and membership renewals. Watch as your profit centres grow when contacting your members about solarium packages, nutrition discounts, new training programs, personal training specials or even the new juice bar protein smoothies. How about e-mailing them with guest passes to encourage them to bring a friend, relative or co-worker to visit the club?(Future sales!)

There are many things you can do to reduce your membership retention and all you need is a little creativity and follow up to keep your members excited and coming back for more!!

5. Staff Participation/Set A Goal
Your staff- front desk workers, child-care attendants and trainers are just as important as the retention specialist when it comes to keeping your members motivated & happy! Empower your staff to reward each other when they see another employee go “above and beyond” the normal job description (see “I caught you idea”), and allow them to make front line decisions to defuse a potential problem a member may have. For example, if a personal trainer has called in sick and was unable to contact the member and reschedule the appointment, a front desk employee can apologise for the inconvenience, reset the appointment and offer a free PT session as a way of saying “we’re sorry”. These small acts of goodwill go a long way towards minimising complaints and reinforcing positive actions and decisions among your staff. Set a goal among your employees that focuses on member satisfaction, retention and renewals. You can track renewal percentages easily and member surveys, discussions and tracking complaints are just a few ways to measure the effectiveness of their efforts

6. Rewards/Frequent User Club
Much like the frequent flier miles that recognises and rewards high users, set up an incentive system for your members who use the club regularly and achieve their milestones during the road to better fitness. This does not have to be expensive. Giving small denominations of gift certificates for your in-club profit centres or from local businesses is an effective way of saying, “Keep up the good work” and “we appreciate your business”. Consider a referral bonus for each member that brings in another person to join. Again, creativity and working with the seasonality of our business will allow you to keep your offerings and ideas fresh.

7. Member To Member To Club Communication
Member bulletin boards within the club or occasional newsletters are an effective way to communicate with your members and let them know “what’s new” at the club. This is also the perfect forum to introduce new staff or highlight and recognise member’s achievements. Make this a networking tool for your members to advertise their business or for seeking a new workout partner. Does one of your local business’s want to advertise to a captive market and give your members a special discount?

Virtually anything can be done with a newsletter and the most cost effective form of communication tool these days is email. Why not send a “Monthly Update” from the club in the form of an email newsletter.

These 7 simple steps will allow you to retain your members and build your business from within. If each new member uses the club more often, purchases more in-club items and refers more people, your revenues and renewals will soar.