Once you’ve onboarded all your new members (and returning members) at the start of the year, you’ve hopefully looked at upselling, referrals, and rewards. By March, the motivation of some members will start to wane, so it’s time to challenge their fitness.
This is tip number 6 in a series to celebrate GGFit’s 15 years in business. Stay tuned for more
What makes a successful challenge?
A great challenge is one that most of your members take part
in.
Contrary to what many fitness instructors think, a hard challenge is not a good challenge, since most of your members either won’t take part, or will, and then will never join a challenge again.
An Olympic decathlon of exercises will probably be too much for all but the very keen member (who is unlikely to leave anyway), but a triathlon of rowing machine, upright bike, treadmill, will appeal to more members.
Ultimately, fitness challenges improve engagement and retention because they give instructors something to talk to members about. Really good challenges get members talking to each other too, and help increase the feeling of community, or club within your club. The more inclusive they are, the better. Build clubs, not cliques.
The best challenges
The best fitness challenges are simple, inclusive, and varied. Sometimes, it’s worth dropping the word challenge, as this itself puts off some members. Events that allow you to “Donate your moves”, or “Join the 5% club” can be more appealing to the masses.
Distance covered, visits/classes, and calories burned are all open to all your members. Switching from individual, to team, or whole club challenges can also bring variety. How long will it take us all to row across the channel is a much more interesting and inclusive challenge than the classic “who can row 1500m quickest”. [You can probably name the winner before it starts, whereas you have no idea which member will hit land across the channel]
Zero to Hero
There are lots of “Couch to 5k” apps, which are reasonably successful at getting inactive people active. Breaking down the huge (to some) goal of being able to run 5km into manageable chunks, and offering motivation and encouragement is why people buy into these apps.
So, offer your new members a plan to make them fully-fledged gym members within a month. Integrate them into the ways of your club as soon as possible. Some new members will do this by default, but others need a helping hand.
New member challenges like the Zero-to-Hero challenge check on new members’ progress and reward them with a high-five (or a t-shirt) when they finish. It also helps your new members to get into the habit of participating in challenges.
The Zero to Hero plan is not an app, simply a tick list of achievements. Pick a handful from these or make up your own.
- Gym orientation (attend and complete gym ‘induction’)
- Make at least 1 visit per week for the first 4 weeks
- Make at least 6 visits in the first 30 days
- Attend at least 1 fitness class in the first 30 days
- Complete the new member's survey (sent to you by email in week 2)
- Login to the member portal
- Follow us on Facebook or Twitter
- Check-in on Facebook or leave a comment
- Bring a friend with your guest pass
The list can be as short or long as you wish, with the
achievements simple or hard. You can run it on a simple member card with a
stamp for achievements, or through your front-of-house system with triggered
communications.
All italicised numbers can be tailored, but the trick is to
communicate with the member throughout the journey.
When they’re on track or achieve a milestone, congratulate
them. If they’re looking like they might fail, encourage them… for
example, someone who’s not visited for 6 days could get a nudge message to make
that weekly visit.
Of course, you want them to succeed, so deadline extensions and lenience can help as bonus interactions that get the member really integrated into the fabric of your club, after which, they’re never going to leave!
Lets Move For a Better World
It’s no coincidence that Technogym’s global challenge runs in March (14-31 March in 2023). It’s a great way for clubs to add a little extra motivation for their members, keep them visiting or being active, and even add a few extra members.
A global campaign to get more people moving, and a fight against sedentary lifestyles, LetsMove is about collecting MOVEs for your club. But it’s about a whole lot more, like learning new ways to become active, inspiring your local communities to move more, competing against other clubs and countries, and ultimately, creating a better world!
You need to be connected to the mywellness ecosystem to take
part, check Technogym.com/letsmove to see if there’s a club near you taking
part, or to see how your country is performing on the league table.
Or join our live-stream on Friday 10 March on LinkedIn, YouTube, or Facebook to find out more about engaging with members (specifically for LetsMove, but you’ll get some great ideas regardless of your system/kit).
Here to help
If you would like advice on strategy, definition, or implementation of your member challenges, please get in touch. This is what we do at GGFit. We work with public, private, and independent clubs, bringing learning and experience together from different models with a single focus on getting your members to stick around longer.
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