REALITY BITES

The fitness industry has buckets of positivity as clubs start to reopen. You need to plug the leaks now more than ever to ensure your fitness business survives.

New member sales at gyms in England have been very encouraging since reopening on 16 April. We expect to see a similar trend across the rest of the UK and Europe as lock-down restrictions are eased. Adding indoor group exercise will also bring a good boost to member numbers.

The fitness industry is enjoying the best April ever... but it's nothing compared with a good January.

You need to do two things to plug the leaks and fill your buckets. But first, let’s consider the problems…

More Attrition

Shrewd operators are keeping an eye on cancellations. As membership payment requests resume, there is an inevitable drop out of a few more members. Although clubs lost a lot of members during lockdown, there is further attrition to deal with now.

Unfortunately, many fitness businesses are reverting to their old ways of counting new member sales and neglecting leavers. While it is important to be welcoming new members (many of whom are re-joiners), you need to focus equally on what you have already got. You have made it through lockdown with these members, do not lose them now!

State of Independents Report

A new state of the independent gym sector report created by GGFit in conjunction with ukactive and 4global shows the average UK independent gym had 594 members in December 2019, which dropped to 515 in December 2020. Active member percentage dropped in 2020 but was back up to its previous level by December. And in terms of throughput, independent clubs recovered from lockdowns much better than the wider fitness sector. For more info on these stats, download the state of independents report here: ggfit.com/independents.

 

Get Real – Know Your Numbers

It is important to know your numbers. Sales are helping clubs to rebuild, some from ex-member recovery campaigns, others without any action. But like everything else, the big picture has changed.

A reality check is needed. Growing back to your previous membership peak is not likely to be enough to cover your costs. Bounce back loans, rent arrears, utilities price increases, and VAT deferrals need to be factored into budgets. The average club that used to have 600 members now needs closer to 700. Somehow, you need to achieve this whilst operating at reduced capacity. The old membership models are simply untenable.

New Membership Models

This is why online memberships, virtual classes, remote coaching, health seeker subscriptions, and other non-traditional or ‘hybrid’ offerings need to continue. They are not simply ways of keeping members engaged during lockdown, but ways to save and grow your business going forwards.

These products or programmes are the way to recover your leavers, re-engage ex-members and sign-up new ones without adversely affecting capacity and upsetting your existing members. If the best offer you can come up with right now is ‘No Joining Fee’ or ‘First Month Free’, then you are digging yourself into a bigger hole. And it is going to be a bigger struggle to climb out.

 

Action 1: Saving Leavers – More Important Than New Joiners?

Every cancellation request needs to be treated like a new member. Some have been members of your club for years, so they are actually more important than today’s new joiners. Seek to understand why each member wants to leave, how their goal or lifestyle has changed. What options do you have that will retain them for one more month, and beyond?

Thinking outside the box is important. We have all been through a lot of change over the last year. Many of your members are really happy to get back to normal, but some will want a new type of health and fitness support now.

New Members...
Welcome, or Welcome Back?

As well as understanding your attrition numbers, you also need to know where your new joiners are coming from. How many are brand new leads being converted, and how many are your past members. When you understand this, you can adjust your efforts, focus, and budget to bring more members in, or back.

 

Action 2: Recovery Campaigns

At least half of recent ‘new’ joiners are ex-members at clubs we are working with. Some see up to 80% of ‘new’ membership sales from ex-members. This may be down to a focus on recovery campaigns, but this is nearly always the best way to boost sales.

Your past members (particularly those who left in the last 12 months) are a rich vein of new member sales, if contacted properly and followed-up. As before, we are not talking about ‘No Join Fee’, or ‘First Month Free’. New membership options, that perhaps do not even include classes or working out in the gym, are the future for some of your members.

Keep Up the Great Work!

Most of the hard work you have been doing and the programmes you have been running through lockdown need to continue. There are now more ways to save or re-engage your leavers and ex members. You need to be working on these now more than ever.

Get in touch to book a call to discuss your membership retention strategies or fully managed member recovery campaigns.

This article was originally published in Gym Owner Monthly Magazine. Click here to read the full issue.