Friday 27 June 2014

"Zero to Hero" - new gym member motivation

There is a plethora of “Couch to 5kstyle apps on various app stores, and they’re hugely popular, as well as being reasonably successful at getting inactive people active. Breaking down the huge (to some) goal of being able to run 5km into manageable chunks, and offering motivation and encouragement is why people buy into these apps.



What if your club could offer people a similar plan to make more new members into fully fledged gym members within a month? Your member engagement and retention would improve, members would get better results, and would tell their friends. And if you were to sell the ‘plan’ you might even see sales increase too!






Club apps generally engage the already engaged, but we were talking to a London trust about the new members who don’t seem to click in the first month. They’re looking for a way to make sure every new member becomes integrated into the ways of the club as soon as possible in their new member journey. Some new members do this by default, but others need a helping hand.




The Zero to Hero plan is not an app, simply a tick list of achievements…


  • Gym orientation (attend and complete gym ‘induction’)
  • Make at least 1 visit per week for the first 4 weeks
  • Make at least 6 visits in the first 30 days
  • Attend at least 1 fitness class in the first 30 days
  • Complete the new members survey (sent to you by email in week 2)
  • Login to the member portal
  • Follow us on facebook or twitter
  • Check in on facebook, foursquare, Google+ or leave a comment
  • Bring a friend with your free guest pass

The list can be as short or long as you wish, with the achievements simple or hard. You can run it on a simple member card with a stamp for achievements, or through your front of house system with triggered communications using the Stick Around Service.

All italicised numbers can be tailored, but the key driver is to communicate with the member throughout the journey.
When they’re on track, or achieve a milestone, congratulate them.
If they’re looking like they might fail, encourage them… for example, someone who’s not visited for 6 days could get a nudge message to make that weekly visit.
Of course, you want them to succeed, so deadline extensions and lenience can help as bonus interactions that get the member really integrated into the fabric of your club, after which, they’re never going to leave!

Alternate names:

  • Sofa to SoGood
  • Couch to GymBunny
  • Couch to GymRat
  • Couch Potato to Hot Chip
  • Gym no-no to Gym go-go
  • ...
please add yours in the comments below!


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