Marketing dollars are often thrown towards large scale recruitment efforts at fitness facilities in order to attract new members. Creative marketing and advertising campaigns are created, special promotional pricing and other incentives are doled out, and flashy customer service is shown to prospective new members. How do you think that makes your current membership base feel? The answer is undervalued. Retention efforts are just as vital to the operation and profitability of a fitness facility as recruitment efforts. So how do you convince current members to keep gym memberships? Follow these tips for effective ways to keep gym memberships up at your facility.
Get Your Members Invested
If your gym is only stocked with equipment, then you are missing fundamental opportunities to keep gym memberships up by getting your members invested in your fitness facility. Members like to feel invested with their gym. Staff your facility with trainers who are personable and engaged with the membership. Create a fitness class schedule that includes a variety of classes. Add a cafe to your gym to create a social space for members.
Watch for Signs of Drop Off
Are your members dropping off without any efforts to retain them? You can keep gym memberships up by watching out for member drop off through administrative programs. These programs allow fitness facility owners and managers can monitor monthly check-in habits of members to see if any irregularities arise. Watch out for members who only come to the gym a few times a month. Ask your facility’s personal trainers if they have clients who have phased out their services or talk to instructors to determine if regular members have stopped coming to their classes. Stay on top of member usage habits in order to keep gym memberships up.
Offer Member Only Incentives
Consider offering member only incentives to keep current members happy while you are brainstorming your next recruitment marketing campaign. Member only incentives let your current members know you appreciate their business and care about their health and well being as much as you do prospective members. You can even tailor benefits to specific member habits or try to entice them to try new services by offering discounts on personal training, massages or cafe items. Member only incentives are a great way of saying “thank you” for continued business.
Retention efforts are an easy and effective way to keep gym memberships up by investing in your current clientele.