Thank Yous & Congratulations! Why are new member communications so important

We've been focusing a lot lately on absentees and how you can get recently absent members back into the club. But as we approach the New Year, we want to ensure all of your new members are engaged and stick around as long as possible.

The face-to-face interaction such as a good welcome session and setting goals with a new member are really key (for a full service club) to engage with new members. It's also critical to get the new member communication journey right, whether you're running a traditional or budget club. There are loads of reasons why, here are our top three. Please add yours in the comments below, and we'll include them next month:

Say Thanks and Congratulations

The new member has just bought something from you. So say thank you.

Is our attrition good?

Part of the GGFaqs series: We’ve had a few questions asking if a club’s member attrition (rate of dropout) is good, and this is always an interesting topic for discussion. What most operators want to know is whether they are better than average…

Attrition rate is defined as:
The average number of members per thousand who cancel every month.

Firstly, there’s always some debate as to whether attrition is relevant. Attrition is a good measure because you can look at it regularly (say monthly) and get a gauge on performance. However, it can also be affected or skewed by a good sales month, as this increases the total members used to calculate the attrition percentage.

BeatBoxing in Wokingham - Getting more people active

Wokingham is regularly voted as one of the best/healthiest/happiest places to live, but over the last month, we've been a lot more active. This is thanks to MyJourney, a great initiative that has its roots back in pilot schemes that ran in South London a few years ago. The inspirational and brilliant Dr William Bird and team at Intelligent Health are behind the project.

Social Media for retention?

We've been really surprised by discussions and questions* at LIW and other events over the last couple of weeks about social media about how clubs should use social media for retention. 

Social Media is a useful marketing tool for clubs looking to engage and interact more with members, and while it is possible to run targeted social media marketing campaigns, sending targeted retention messages is practically impossible, and certainly not as cost effective as sms, email or direct mail.

LIW 2014 - highlights

This year’s Leisure Industry Week is smaller again, having moved to hall 1 at the NEC, with a few companies noticeably absent from the exhibition, and other industry players not attending even for meetings.

For GGFit, it is still one of the key events in the Leisure Industry calendar, bringing key partners, customers and prospects together for a ‘week’ to network, connect, share ideas, and do business. One thing is clear,

When is an absent member too absent?

How many absent members should we contact, or how dormant is too dormant?

A good question asked when we were speaking at the FitLinxx client seminar at the Lotus F1 facility recently… and a classic frequently asked question. To clarify, when we start contacting absent members, we begin sending messages from around 21 days’ absence (depending on the policy or journey we define with the club). We call these members recoverable. But what about members who are already absent for longer than this; the dormant members? How many of those should we contact?

Will messages make members cancel?

Part of the GGFaqs series: Will sending messages to absent members cause them to leave your club?

The short and honest answer is ‘Yes’. If you send messages out to members who have not visited for a few weeks, then (contracts aside) some will cancel their membership. However, there should always be many more members who return because of these communications, making the overall effect worthwhile.

Here are three details that will help more absent members return and less cancel;

What’s the best way of contacting members?

A great question submitted by Mark on the GGFaq website this week. There are many reasons for contacting members; we’re going to focus on absent members for this answer. 

Considering all absent member communication methods, a phone call is nearly always the most effective, as you are having a meaningful interaction with the member. But phone calls are time consuming, and it’s often difficult to get through. If you encounter voicemail, we always recommend leaving a message, as it shows you’ve made the effort.

Should gym inductions be mandatory?

Part of the GGFaqs series.  The GGFit Frequently Asked Questions page is buzzing at the moment, here's the latest posting hot off the press…

Some clubs let people skip the gym induction process these days. Does this affect sales/retention and what should we do from a health and safety point of view?

Many years ago, you'd struggle to join a gym without having to go through the “gym induction”. This appointment has various names, from welcome session, to getting started. At best, it is a chance to outline exercise goals and get to know the member's needs and build their confidence, at worst, it's a glorified tour and standard exercise programme template.

Does online joining increase membership sales?

Part of the GGFaqs series.
This is one of the most frequently asked questions at the moment, with many clubs offering on-line joining, often trying to keep up with the competition. Here's how to beat them!

The quick and easy answer is “Yes, having an online joining option will increase sales.”
How much by? “Well, that depends…  Read our 4 step process below, or check out the abandoned shopping trolley graphic from dotMailer below.