Balancing Retention Efforts and Resources: Making It Work with a Smaller Team

Retention has always been more cost-effective than acquisition, but in today’s climate, it's no longer just a smart strategy, it’s a financial necessity.

With rising operational costs, including increases in employer National Insurance (NI) contributions, many clubs and gyms are facing the hard reality of needing to do more with less. Staffing budgets are tighter. Teams are stretched. Yet the pressure to deliver results, including higher member retention, is greater than ever.

So how can your club maintain or even improve member retention without adding headcount or burning out your existing team? The answer lies in working smarter, not just harder. Here’s how...

1. Accept That Retention Isn’t Free… But It Can Be Efficient

There’s a common misconception that retention "just happens" if your gym is nice enough or your classes are good enough. The truth is that effective retention requires time, tools, and training, just like sales.

But it doesn't have to be expensive or resource heavy. The key is to focus effort where it matters most and remove unnecessary work through automation and clarity.

2. Segment Your Members: Not Everyone Needs the Same Level of Support

One of the most effective ways to stretch limited resources is to stop treating all members the same. Not everyone needs a phone call. Not everyone is at risk of leaving. While retention can be boiled down to talking to members, the secret to great retention is talking to the right ones, in the right way, at the right time.

By segmenting your members, you can tailor your retention efforts based on need. For example:

• New members (0–30 days): High priority. These are the most vulnerable to dropout. Assign proactive check-ins and guided onboarding.
• Subset of new: low or no visits in first 30, or fewer than 3 visits after 30 days – make the call!
• Engaged regulars: Low risk. These members are visiting often, a simple birthday message or milestone celebration (20, 50, 100 workouts or visits) may be enough.
• Irregular or absent members: Medium to high risk. These members need nudges, reminders, or support to get back into the habit, but time is of the essence... contact them 28 days after their last visit, not 180 days later!

This segmentation allows your limited team to focus their energy where it's most likely to have an impact, rather than spreading thin, reactive efforts across everyone.

3. Automate the Routine, Humanise the Important

With staffing costs rising due to increased NI contributions, it's critical to ensure human interaction is reserved for where it adds the most value.

Use your CRM, club management system, or email marketing tools to automate:

• Welcome emails
• 7-day check-ins
• Birthday or milestone messages
• Initial recovery comms to absentees (e.g., after 28 days of inactivity) This prepares the member for the call if they’re not back the following week

Then focus staff attention on:

• Personal follow-ups with new members
• Intervention calls for at-risk absentees
• Relationship-building interactions on the gym floor

You don’t need more staff, you need a clear system that handles the predictable, so your team can focus on the personal.

4. Empower the Whole Team, Not Just One “Retention Person”

Retention shouldn’t be the job of one manager, nor should it rely solely on the fitness team. In a leaner organisation, everyone plays a role in keeping members engaged.

• Front desk staff: greet all arriving members… particularly irregular members, or ones you don’t recognise... they’re the ones who need help!
• Fitness instructors: provide small wins or habit-building advice during sessions. Compliment good exercise technique more than you correct bad form.
• Sales staff: set expectations that onboarding and support are part of the package.
• Managers: coach the team and use data to spot trends or at-risk groups.

Make retention a shared responsibility, with each team member trained to deliver small, manageable actions that contribute to the bigger picture.

The Membership Retention Essentials course developed by GGFit with FutureFit for Business is a great starting point for all staff to understand retention.

5. Use Data to Drive Decisions, Not Guesswork

In resource-limited environments, intuition can be costly. Instead, use your member data to:

• Identify new members at risk (low First Month Visits)
• Measure engagement or uptake of programmes, measurements, challenges, club app, etc.
• Flag absentees, and track recovery success
• Use qualitative data (feedback) to show you’re listening and want to improve

Building dashboards, or simple reports like Active Member Percentage or First Month Visits give you a benchmark and target to aim for to improve your longer-term retention, help prioritise follow-ups and show your team where to act first.

When you know where the risk is, you don’t waste time guessing, and your reduced team becomes much more effective.

6. Set Realistic KPIs That Match Your Resources

You can't “save” every member, and with a smaller team, trying to do so will only lead to burnout and inconsistent delivery. Instead, set realistic expectations that reflect both your goals and your staffing capacity.

For example:

• “50% of new members receive onboarding within 7 days”
• “Call 50% of absentees after 28 days non-attendance”
• “Log at least one interaction per team member per shift”

The key is consistency. A modest retention strategy done well and regularly will outperform a heroic one that’s poorly implemented.

7. Upskill Your Staff in Behaviour Change Basics

If you can’t afford more staff, make your current team more effective by training them in the basics of behaviour change:

• How to ask good coaching questions (e.g., “What made you decide to join now?”)
• How to set meaningful goals (beyond “tone up”)
• How to handle drop-offs with empathy, not shame

These skills turn basic interactions into value-driven conversations that help members feel understood, and more likely to stay.

Small investments in upskilling can yield big returns in retention and reduce pressure on under-resourced teams.

8. Don’t Just Cut, Reallocate

Finally, remember that cutting resources isn't always about doing less. It’s about doing better, more focused work with the team you have.

That might mean:

• Pausing low-impact social media efforts to focus on member engagement
• Reducing admin by simplifying processes or templates
• Scheduling staff to overlap during high-risk member hours (e.g., evenings when new members are more likely to visit)

These kinds of reallocations make your limited staffing hours go further, and show your team that you're not just asking for “more,” but helping them work smarter.

Final Thought: You Can’t Afford Not to Focus on Retention

With staffing costs increasing, it's tempting to focus only on revenue-generating tasks like sales or upsells. But ignoring retention is a false economy.

Every member lost has to be replaced. And with acquisition costs rising too, keeping the members you already have is your best defence against budget pressure.

By segmenting your efforts, automating smartly, empowering your team, and focusing on high-impact actions, you can deliver a powerful retention strategy, even with fewer people on the floor.

Retention isn’t about throwing more people at the problem. It’s about creating the systems, culture, and focus to make every contact count.