Stick Around

The health-club member retention battle continues, but there is a light in the darkness... I'm really pleased to announce that my new book, Stick Around is available to buy from ggfit.com. It brings together everything that I've learnt and shared with all the clubs I've worked with over the last 5 years. 

The book sets out the three cornerstones of good member retention: people, communication and systems. It has proven techniques to increase and improve member interaction within your club. You will find out how to communicate better with members outside your club. It also describes how to build a retention system, as well as how to best use more complex retention and exercise management systems.


The first half of the book runs through the member journey from start to finish. Each stage is accompanied by easy to understand diagrams and flowcharts, as well as real-life examples and case-studies to illustrate the key points. Part two explains the people, communication and system processes in more detail.

Summaries and checklists for each chapter, along with message, survey and report examples provide an invaluable resource

Maintaining Motivation - Health Club Management

Kath Hudson • Journalist • Health Club Management Sept 2013

EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT... Maintaining motivation
Are clubs supporting their members in maintaining good habits, leaving them to motivate themselves — or worse, actually causing them to break good habits?

The health and fitness industry is based on the premise of improving people's health, but how well is the sector doing in supporting good habits and motivation levels? Are we doing all we can, or are we unwittingly causing members to break good habits?
A quick brainstorm in the office showed that everyone had an experience of how their club, or former club, had lost members as a result of not supporting their habits

Recession, Recovery and Retention - time to refocus!

Times are still tough in the leisure industry. Sales are always hard through the summer, but many clubs have struggled to hit targets in the current financial climate, and the recent glorious weather hasn’t helped either.
On the plus side, it’s great to see more focus on member retention in the industry as a whole; from clubs implementing or discussing retention strategies, to news articles and features in the industry press throughout 2013.

Some green shoots, yesterday (by Jeff Derbys on Flickr)

Shocking figures - beyond the 12 percent

We should be shocked by the numbers quoted by Mintel’s Michael Oliver in this month’s Talkback feature in Health Club Management.

The headline that grabbed our attention was that 24% of respondents are lapsed club members, and only 16% have a current membership. This is based on 2,000 internet users aged 16+. Now while 16% penetration is better than the oft quoted 12%, the fact that there are 1.5 times as many ex-members would be alarming in any other industry – some would probably pack-up and go home!

ABSENT & EX-MEMBER JOURNEY - Health Club Management Article July 2013

Ignore absent members at your peril, and use your ex-member database as a prospect list and a resource for feedback, says Guy Griffiths, in the third and final part of his series on retention and the member journey

Absent and ex-members are two under-utilised segments in many clubs’ databases. Not only can they provide critical business information on how you could adapt or improve retention, these member groups can also be a great source of sales.

Fear is the main reason that these members are not contacted. Club operators worry about awakening dormant members, and are also concerned that they will receive negative feedback from people who have left. But sticking your head in the sand is a much riskier alternative; if all your dormant members cancelled tomorrow, your business would be in serious trouble, and if you don’t know why people are leaving, how can you expect to make them stick around?

ONGOING MEMBER JOURNEY - Health Club Management Article June 2013

The member journey should last the full length of the membership – and, if possible, beyond – says Guy Griffiths, in the second of his three-part series on retention and the member journey

You've managed to lead as many members as possible through the new member journey, and they've hopefully developed the habit of coming to the club regularly. However, they haven't completed the full member journey – far from it. In fact, your job is to try and prevent them from completing the journey, instead keeping them on the path to lifetime membership.

Members will inevitably drop through the net, and we'll look at absent and ex-members next time around. But at the heart of the problem for many clubs is the fact that the member journey or service plan is often so focused on new members that it falls apart a couple of months after they join: a member only has to turn down a review appointment and they can drop off the radar, never to be spoken to again.

Measuring Member Communications - FitPro Business Article

The best type of communication is face-to-face and with new members these interactions happen regularly in the club. However, early on in the member journey it is also important to send other forms of communications, as this opens the channels to easily stay in touch with members in the event that they start to visit less.

NEW MEMBER JOURNEY - Health Club Management Article May 2013

It’s well known that the initial four to six weeks of membership are critical to building the exercise habit, and therefore key to member retention. Yet so many clubs still get this wrong. Once the sale is made, many think the hard work is over. In fact, it’s only just begun. Guy Griffiths reports, in the first of a three-part retention series 

“We sold 100 memberships last month!”
Great, how many of them are still visiting?
“Who cares? We have to hit 110 this month…” 

Health club operators invest so much in recruiting a new member that it's crazy to lose interest once they have signed up – and in principle at least, most operators know there should be an equal focus on retaining members, particularly just after they've joined. Yet in practice, clubs focus more and more on sales, particularly in today's economic climate and competitive market.

Do Something Before It’s Too Late

In tough financial times, many businesses concentrate so much on sales, that they often upset or overlook their existing customers. This pattern is particularly apparent in the fitness industry with clubs offering no joining fees, or undercutting each other on price to hit their monthly sales target, while members cancel after a few months.

Many clubs look at how many members cancel each month

Retention still not given the necessary attention by gyms - Health Club Management letter April 2013

Copy of letter published in Health Club Management magazine, April 2013 
Paul Bedford’s letter last month hit the nail on the head (HCM March 13, p6); there is a general lack of robust or clean member data in the industry, which can make retention analysis very difficult.

Two key factors for reduced focus on retention are the financial downturn, which increases pressure on sales, and new technology, such as social media, seen by some as the silver bullet for member engagement. The recession continues and shows no sign of abating, yet more new clubs are opening.