Class A's for new members #FWQQ #4

We all know that members who attend classes or group exercise stay longer. This is partially due to the community aspect, but more down to the fixed time, commitment and instructor interaction.
We also know that classes aren’t for everyone, but if you can persuade more members to attend a class, they’ll be more likely to stick around.

So look again at your list of January (or last month’s) joiners, and work out who’s attended at least one class, and who hasn’t. There’s your ClassA KPI; a percentage of new joiners who’ve attended a class, say 60 out of 100, or 60%.

Now contact the other 40 and persuade as many as you can to try a class. One contact (email, sms, call) is rarely enough, so try again a week later, and see how many new members you can ‘convert’ into class attendees.

Click here to read the intro to #FWQQ : Four Weeks to Quit Quitting, or click here to see all the #FWQQ articles

The Fitness Business Network Podcast - Why?

Podcasts are awesome. To borrow from a Public Service Broadcasting album title (or the BBC mission), they Inform, Educate, and Entertain. And I’m proud to say that we’ve put out an episode with the Fitness Business Network. We hope you’ll find it Informative and Educational, and that it helps you to retain your members.

Do your new members know what they’re doing? #FWQQ #3

Some new joiners claim they know what they’re doing… they don’t want an induction or welcome session, and certainly don’t want a programme or review.
However, the customer is not always right, and some really need help and are at more risk of leaving if you leave them to their own devices.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to tell which members need more attention, and which don’t. So, you need to be pushy and sell the induction, or set up a programme for as many new members as possible. If you push it so hard that you’re losing the odd member, you’ll probably be saving 5-10 memberships, so keep it up.

Review your list of January joiners, and check how many have had an induction or welcome appointment, and how many have had, or have booked a subsequent programme review.

Click here to read the intro to #FWQQ : Four Weeks to Quit Quitting, or click here to see all the #FWQQ articles

What is your club’s minimum FMV? #FWQQ #2

List your January joiners, along with their total visits to date. Pick a minimum visit target for your new members and check how many members make the cut. 4 first month visits (FMVs) is a good standard; it’s not going to break any records, but should give you a manageable list.

So, you’ll have a group of new members who make the grade, typically 80-90% of joiners, and a few (10-20%) that haven’t made 4 FMVs.

[Note, running this at the start of February for January joiners will show up some members who’ve not had a chance to make 4 visits yet, e.g. if they joined on 31 Jan. You might like to monitor this ongoing through the month, or split the Jan joiners into two segments.]

Click here to read the intro to #FWQQ : Four Weeks to Quit Quitting, or click here to see all the #FWQQ articles

The New Member Challenge : FWQQ #1

You have some form of new member challenge, right? A simple, getting started programme that checks visits, classes
How many of your January joiners started your new member challenge? And how many completed it?

Call it what you like, FitStart, Zero-to-Hero, your new member challenge should appeal to all new joiners, so that they all enroll as they join. It can be as simple as you like, but there are a bunch of ideas in our Zero-to-Hero article.

So for example, if you have 100 joiners, maybe 80 started the challenge, and 50 completed it. Give the 50 ‘winners’ a t-shirt, water bottle, or a pat on the back. You can also give the 30 non-finishers an extension of a week, or another chance to do the challenge. And then you should find out why the other 20 new joiners didn’t sign-up, and think about how you can improve the numbers next month.

Click here to read the intro to #FWQQ : Four Weeks to Quit Quitting, or click here to see all the #FWQQ articles

Four Weeks to Quit Quitting (Intro)

Quitting smoking is relatively hard. To keep on smoking is easy (but expensive and bad for your health).
Conversely, quitting the gym is easy. Sticking at it can be hard (and expensive), but it’s good for your health. It’s especially difficult for new members.

This year, we want to help your new members to stop quitting, and stick around as long as possible. We’ve got 8 quick tips to stop your members quitting this February. Each will take 30 seconds to read, will give you a simple KPI (Key Performance Indicator) and some actions that you can take straight away.

January is traditionally the month for high health club memberships sales. Clubs sign up most new members, shaping the business and cashflow for the rest of the year. But February is the month when it can all start to go wrong, if you don’t ensure all your new members are engaged.

We’re going to run through engagement processes for all members, not just January joiners, although they will be our focus. Also, these tips are not just for February, but now’s a good time to start. If you don’t do it now, when will you?

The psychology of the January gym joiner

Everyone knows that the fitness industry has its best month for new member sales in January. These new members are looking for a new start in the New Year, perhaps setting resolutions to get fit, shed the extra weight from the end of year eating and drinking excess, and get in shape for that (distant) summer holiday. 

Are you setting up your new members to fail?

January is a great time of year to get new members. Most people are eating more (we’re not talking about Christmas, it’s winter here in the UK, so it’s just natural to need more fuel). Many want a new start in the new year, everyone’s talking about fitness, and there are some unbelievable offers to join health clubs.

So, what do we recommend they do? We devalue the membership by giving a month free and/or no joining fee, and then tell them they need to visit 3 times a week!

Managing Customer Reviews (Sales & Retention Convention pt4)

We were honoured to have Wayne from Feefo present as our guest speaker at the Sales & Retention Convention. Wayne delivered a very educational half-hour talk on managing online reviews and how to improve your web presence.

We avoided the customary “if you’re not on social media, someone’s talking about you on social media” commentary. Instead, the presentation was packed with fascinating stats, for example:

• 83% of consumers are influenced by online reviews
• 75% of consumers expect to be able to feedback on their experience
• 25% of reviews on open platforms are fake

Get More Referrals, and Better Referrals (Sales & Retention Convention pt3)

Referrals have been a key topic at the last two Sales and Retention Conventions, for good reason. 45% of new memberships sales can come from direct member referral. So, the case for sales is obvious, but how do referrals help retention? 

Put simply, members who join with friends stay longer. If you reward your member for referring friends, and keep reminding them to refer, with more rewards, then members can get into the referral habit, as well as the exercise habit.