When should you focus on retention efforts?

When is a good time to focus on gym member retention? 

Since loads of people join the gym in January, and “will be gone by April”, surely March is the month to work more on retention? 

Time for some myth-busting…

It’s true that lots of members join a health club in January, and even in the fitness industry, there’s an acceptance (at bad clubs) that they’ll be gone by April. Admitting this as the norm is poor business practice, and incredibly short sighted. You need to constantly work at getting members to stay (and therefore pay) longer. The days of retention through a 12-month contract and 3-month notice period are thankfully nearly all extinct, and nowadays most clubs work on retention through good customer service, added value and communication.

Retention is something to work on all the time. There are typically more new joiners in January, but also in September. Perhaps you have twice the usual number of new monthly members in January, but new members are joining throughout the year.

So, there are more new members to retain early in the year, but starting the retention focus in March is another moot point. Retention efforts should start as members join (or even before), as you collect contact details and opt-in, encourage uptake of inductions, classes, programmes, and body composition measurements. You need to build rapport, confidence, and the habit of visiting regularly. 

Badly run clubs claim to be incredibly busy in January, and then take their foot off the gas in February and March. If you have had a busy January, you need to build on the success of your new member sales, not with more sales, but with double the retention effort.

Three types of New Member

January sees an increase in active member percentage too, which means you also need to focus on motivating your existing members. Some clubs will look at three subsets of ‘new’ member they are trying to retain; brand-new members, new members who’ve been members before, and existing members who have started visiting again. All three types need attention and motivation if you’re going to improve your retention, the returning members just as much as the brand-new ones, after all, they’ve dropped out before!

On the flip side, monthly attrition varies widely from business to business, but can often run higher in August (and December). Focusing your retention efforts in August will save a few leavers in September or October, but to save the August leavers, you need to put in the work in May and June. And like the January joiners, members are leaving most months.

The best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago. The next best time is today.

If you want to be raising your retention game this March, here are three tips:

1. Re-offer inductions (aka activations, welcome sessions, meet the coach appointments). Market these to all members who have not had one, especially no-shows, re-joiners, or existing members who started visiting again in Jan, etc. (or just all members!)

2. Offer a programme review / body composition / check-in to all members to see how they’re progressing with their 2024 goals or general health/fitness improvement.

3. Run a fitness challenge (simple, varied, inclusive) to keep all members active, visiting, competing with each other and themselves. Let’s Move for a Better World is a great example of a global challenge from Technogym.

Here to help

If you would like advice on strategy, definition, or implementation of your member onboarding processes, 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.