Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. It's also a workout that appeals to the super-keen fitness enthusiast. But more of that later. First, we focus on sales, marketing, and retention of health club memberships. Visits are up, yet revenues are down. It’s the opposite of the Parkrun phenomenon where finish times are getting slower. Read on to find out more.
Lots of clubs did not experience the new member windfall predicted for September. If you are able to continue trading, you might now be starting to pin your hopes on January 2022. But unless you make some changes, the trend of lower sales and rising attrition is likely to continue.
Visits Up, Members Down
Some club KPIs are looking positive. Visits and visit frequency are up. There are more active members (those who have visited in the last 30 days) as a percentage of total members. Your keen members are visiting more than before, and even the regulars are finding more time to workout and boost their health and fitness. However, the stats look better because there are fewer members.
Sleepers Have Left
All gym owners and operators acknowledge that they lost a whole bunch of sleepers (paying members who didn’t visit) during lockdown. In fact, some sleepers are still leaving now, as membership freezes end and payments resume. Little is done to save them. For example, are they interested in a reduced monthly payment to access the online workout library or live-streamed classes? Do they only want to visit once or twice a month for a lower membership fee? What else can you offer to retain them now and rebuild engagement.
We’re not seeing much in the way of marketing and promotions to bring them back. They probably joined on a “NoJoinFee”, “OneMonthFree”, or similar offer last time, and know they can do so again next month. Many sleepers lacked motivation to visit the gym, so you need something different, along with a compelling journey. Demonstrate that you will support them along the way this time around and ensure they don’t become dormant again.
Most clubs’ membership would consist of 25-40% of dormant members pre-pandemic. They weren’t visiting before, yet they did have a membership and connection to your club. It’s possible to recover some of these low maintenance members, have them visit once or twice a month, and support their health and fitness in a different way to your regular members.
How Else Can You Engage Your Ex-Members?
Digital fitness is one option, although retention is harder for digital only memberships. You need to be laser focused on the onboarding journey. Sending a bunch of emails is simply not enough (and lots of clubs don’t even do that). Understand why your members are engaging with you, how many classes or workouts they’re doing, and where they need a nudge. Bringing them into the club once a month for a health check-up, coaching session, or workout plan ensures you keep them on track. If they can’t visit the club, then a scheduled monthly online call (video or phone) adds value and creates regular connection.
Transformation programmes offer a shorter-term commitment over a few weeks or months. Like online memberships, you need to be clear on the member’s focus and engagement… not only what happens during, but what happens next when the programme ends. Successful members make a successful programme. You need to do everything you can to make sure as many members make it through the programme as possible.
Build More Pathways to Joining
Another recovery strategy is to offer steps to re-joining, rather than asking an ex-member or prospect to join today. “Free to join” schemes include fitness challenges, downloadable home workout programmes, and running clubs. You are simply qualifying who is interested, focusing your funnel on who to nurture and follow-up on the next steps. If you can mix members with non-members in a challenge or running club, you can build some great engagement and banter which will help reinforce the value of becoming a fully paid-up member.
Events, whether educational, social, competitions, or a combination are also good ways of building a community of different types of member and hot prospect. Holding events is also a brilliant way to get feedback and you’ll discover more ways of doing things differently.
You can read previous articles on loving your leavers and getting back with ex-members.
Madness
Insanity workouts and more intensive sessions appeal to the super keen members who are unlikely to leave. NoJoinFee offers appeal to the yo-yo members who jump from one club to the next. Putting more resource and effort into these strategies is not going to help your long-term growth.
Drive Your Average Down
Parkrun founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt is proud that every year the average finish time at parkrun has slowed. They are reaching more people for whom physical activity hasn’t been the norm.
An increase in gym visit frequencies seems like good news at first but is inevitable now many sleepers have left. You need to broaden your club’s appeal, rather than narrow it. Do things differently to recover ex-members and attract new health and fitness seekers.
This article was originally published in Gym Owner Monthly Magazine. You can read the full issue here.
No comments:
Post a Comment