People Power - culture as the cornerstone for great retention

Great member retention is only really possible with great staff. There are lots of strategies, tools, and systems that help, but without good people, they are just not as effective.

A whole chapter is dedicated to people in the book Stick Around (strategies to keep your gym members motivated). Staff is also a recurring theme discussed by many guests on the YourDreamGym podcast, and is often prioritised above certain equipment, spaces, or types of gym.

Motivating and inspiring staff is also one of the hardest nuts to crack, in any industry. There’s a wealth of articles on this across the internet, so we’re going to focus on three key areas that you can look at in your business, that will help with your member retention.

Are Dormant Customers Healthier? (for business)

On health club membership retention, the age-old debate endures on the value of dormant members - those who have memberships but rarely use them. Are they a burden or an opportunity? In this article, we explore the concept of dormant members, highlighting the potential benefits for both gym and member. We'll discuss the art of re-engagement, optimal timing, and strategies to transform these sleepers back into active members.
Discover why it's not only ethical but also a smart business move to prioritize these members, reshaping the fitness industry into a healthier, more sustainable business.

There’s been some discussion in health club news recently about how ‘sleeper members’ of gyms and health clubs still get ‘real benefits’ of being a member despite not visiting. Some feel it will motivate them in future or enjoy the fact that they can [could] go when they want to, while others 'feel good' about having a membership they don’t use.

Measure your members progress to get them to stick around longer

Progression is key to keeping people engaged in any activity, particularly one that is hard, or part of a choice. Measuring progress through school with assessments, exams, or reports, music exams, colour belt gradings in martial arts, or levels on a computer game keeps us motivated to continue.

So, when fitness industry veterans ask, “remember when we used to measure everyone as they joined”, the response is “why don’t we do it so much anymore?”

This is tip 11 in a series to celebrate GGFit’s 15 years in business. We discussed progression briefly in tip 3, but want to expand on this important topic now. Read all the tips here.

There are so many better ways to measure progress now, without using scales, tape, or callipers. With body composition, we have medical grade devices providing so many stats on people’s health and fitness, and 3D (and 4D!) body scanners to show how people’s body shape has changed as they progress.

HealthSeeker Stories

Conversations to encourage the health and fitness industries to share, collaborate and grow together. 

Guy Griffiths talks with fitness and health professionals about HealthSeekers. Can we improve the health of the population, whilst giving the fitness industry a boost. 

Hosted on The Collective, and in partnership with WhySports, this series can be found on all good podcast platforms via anchor.fm/healthseekers or YouTube youtube.com/thecollective286  

Time to tap into your ex-member data to boost September Sales

August is a great time to try to re-engage with your ex-members. We know that September is the second peak joining month (after January), so now’s the time to put your club in the front of people’s minds with a compelling ex-member campaign.

This is tip number 10 in a series to celebrate GGFit’s 15 years in business. Stay tuned for more, or read the series here.

We’ve been talking to lots of clubs about ex-member campaigns lately. Many businesses haven’t done much with ex-member data since re-opening post-pandemic. There are almost certainly some big improvements that you’ve made since then, or since those members left, so tell them what’s changed.

The ex-member database is a vastly under-utilized resource at many clubs. We find that most ex-members (over 50%) are not currently exercising, and they all know your club, so asking them to re-join will yield results, and ROI is clear compared to trying to recruit new members.

Saving Cancelling Members - The Downgrade Save

Maintain engagement and payment on some level with members who want to cancel.

The panel debates around the Xplor attrition report have brought leavers into focus again for the industry. This is great timing, given we expect more members will to be looking to cancel in the coming months. In addition to seasonal trends, the war on attrition is likely to step up a gear as the financial crisis intensifies and people look to tighten their financial belts (and loosen their physical belts as a result!)

We’re going to cover some of the data you should be collecting on leavers, particularly reasons and feedback, and then look at ways of saving members who want to cancel.

The Attrition Battle

We’ve talked about bringing absentees back in the last article (8/15). If you ignore your absentees, they’re more likely to leave, so the key message was to do something to try to bring them back. Even imperfect action is better than perfect inaction.

However, when members cancel, lots of clubs still stick their heads in the sand. If nothing else, it’s important to look at why and how members cancel. And to state the obvious, why and how are separate questions. Why is the reason (or excuse) that a few of your leavers tell you, or you find out through a call, cancellation form, or survey. How is the method, often cancelled at bank or payment failed, occasionally by letter, message, phone call, or in club.

Independent Gyms: 24/7 & Unmanned Opening

A Gym Owners Panel debate about unmanned and extended hours opening.

The opening panel debate at the Independent Gyms conference is designed to get delegates thinking, asking questions, and networking through the day. There is a wealth of information from all the talks at the conference, but all delegates (clubs and suppliers) get heaps of value from hearing what other gym owners are doing, and there are always great questions and engagement from the opening session.

Three gym owners joined host Guy Griffiths to talk about one of the hot topics that is talked about in the Independent Gyms forums every week, namely 24/7 opening and unmanned gyms.

The shift to unmanned or 24/7 opening is driven by competition with local budget clubs who offer extended opening hours, but also changing work habits, and the stress of running a club. It was also interesting to hear the panellists views around staffing, community, and growth. We discussed the concerns and realisations that they had before and after making the change.

Absentees are back!

Dormant memberships were mostly wiped out in the COVID Pandemic. But old habits die hard, and the member absentee problem is back to normal. How do we affect this new normal, in new ways?

This is tip number 8 in a series to celebrate GGFit’s 15 years in business. Stay tuned for more

What is an absent member?

Cut-off times vary from business to business, but the typically accepted benchmark is that if a gym member hasn’t visited for the last 30 days, then they’re an absentee. Setting a cut-off time is important so that you can set KPIs, then measure and try to improve your active member percentage.

What do Communities mean to your members?

There’s lots of talk about building communities around your club, but what are the best ways to do this, and how can it help with member retention?

This is tip number 7 in a series to celebrate GGFit’s 15 years in business. Stay tuned for more...

What is a Community?

The difference in definition between a club and a community is that a club is a group of people who come together for a common purpose, whereas a community is a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.

So, a club is not necessarily the building or venue

Challenge your members – to stay longer!

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.