Fitness business owners are facing a conundrum at the moment. Booking your gym visit became the new normal for a lot of members during lockdown, but as restrictions ease, should clubs continue to make their members pre-book sessions, or let members visit ad-hoc?
There are a lot of strong opinions and debates on this topic. Customer choice is important, but you also need to consider the business needs and model, and how you can best serve the majority of your members, not just the hardcore (aka the loud ones!)
Capacity and Confidence
While restrictions are being lifted (at the time of writing), it is still important to understand capacity, both for the club owner and members. Group exercise class users have nearly always had to book, so it is a process that people understand, if you have classes at your club. Also, booking a restaurant, cinema, or supermarket delivery slot is commonplace nowadays.
For the cautious member, being able to see busy or quiet times can be reassuring. All your positive marketing messages will help their confidence, but actually showing how busy the club is at a certain time of day, or even making live numbers available will really help many of your members to pick their visit times.
Some gym owners see this as enhancing the experience. If a member can choose to visit at a quiet time and get a better service as a result, that is a big bonus.
More Data, More Commitment
Data collection and visit information has vastly improved as a result of new processes implemented during the pandemic. This data is helping clubs to manage their resource, staffing rotas, and PT schedules.
More detailed analysis helps to show recovery patterns, recognise members at risk, and upsell opportunities. Understanding how many of your members attend classes is a good metric, now you can dive deeper into the data, if you wish.
Some members like to book a gym session because it provides commitment. This was seen as a real benefit, surprising the owners of a strength and conditioning gym. Members know when they plan to visit, and pre-booking holds them accountable.
One of the reasons that GroupX members stick around longer is because they must book a class, and then attend it at a certain time. The same applies to members who book their gym session – they are committing to a certain time and are less likely to skip it. They’re also more likely to create communities and friendships with other members who book and visit at the same time.
From another retention perspective, as well as seeing historical visit data, you can see when a member is next visiting (or not). With this information, you can plan a face-to-face interaction (or contact the member to book their next visit).
Of course, you need the right systems and processes in place. Simplicity is key, with clear and fair penalties for missed sessions or appointments. Some members will see this as tough. It can create conflict if not communicated well, or handled badly, so clarity and reasons for your policy need to be explained.
Windows and Bottlenecks
Clubs in favour of ad-hoc visits talk about the bottlenecks caused by members arriving and leaving for certain time slots. A rush for the treadmills at the start of a session may need to be handled with more balanced member programming, but that may be a bridge too far for some.
The visit window can be restrictive for some members too, so it is important to understand your average member visit period and perhaps allow for a certain number of overlaps from one session to another. You will get a good idea of who is getting great value from your club, and who might need a little more love or attention.
Back to Normal
The most cited reason for ending gym booking times is that members want to get back to normal. They like the convenience of turning up when they like, particularly now legal restrictions are being eased. Some will pay extra for this, and ad-hoc workouts could be a USP for your club over your competition.
However, there are also a bunch of members who would pay extra for a booking slot, whether it is for a class, a swim, or a workout, either to get access to a bike, lane, or equipment, or simply to know it is not too busy.
Member opinion is important. Some clubs have run surveys and found a 50:50 split of members who want to pre-booked or ad-hoc workout. Hence the conundrum. A well balanced, unbiased member survey is invaluable. Do not just listen to your loudest members, or those who type in ALL CAPS. They are not typically representative of all your members.
Conclusion: Hybrid?
Everything seems to be going hybrid lately; cars, bikes, golf clubs, the fitness industry. A hybrid booking model allows some members to pre-book at certain times, or for other members to turn-up ad-hoc at other times. Premium members might have access to certain time slots (think peak vs off-peak), or you could pay for a prime slot (think next day-delivery, or grocery delivery slots).
Personally, I think staying with the new status quo of booking slots for workouts has more benefits than downsides. It generates more data that can be used to better retain your members and understand and improve your club’s business.
Ultimately, you need to decide if you want to cater for your hardcore members, or the majority, or new members who have recently joined and know no other way. You might need to handle conflict, and even risk losing some members. But if you demonstrate the member and business benefits, then it will be worthwhile, and ultimately, help you to grow.
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