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!
Of those 2,000 people surveyed by Mintel, 420 were interested in joining a health club, but never have. 460 are lapsed members, 120 of whom would consider rejoining.
To put these figures another way, say you have 1,000 active members at your club, the research says that you’ll probably have another 1,500 lapsed, 375 of whom would rejoin.
Well done to Michael for putting a positive spin on Mintel’s research, and for looking ahead with his summary. There’s clearly a lot of work to be done, whether it’s offering more flexibility as Michael suggests, tapping into your ex-member database, or just becoming known as a “Good Club”.
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