CLUB MANAGEMENT
NEWS

A 2021 survey reported that 1 out of 5 adult Americans is a member of a health club, either using virtual services or the physical gym. However, only 67% of them retain their membership for 12 months. So, what happened here? Clearly, people are interested in keeping fit and engaging in some physical activity, whether it’s through weight training, yoga, or a dance studio. However, the factor that interrupts this zeal is mostly a lack of motivation, partly from the clients’ part, but also due to the inability of the health club trainers to engage their members as needed. In this post, we share some out-of-the-box ideas to engage your members and improve retention.

Individual Interaction

When a client signs up for a single class or becomes a member of your health club, they’re joining with a purpose in mind. And it is your job as a service provider to quickly understand their goals so that your trainers can assist them accordingly. Interacting with each member individually on a near regular basis is a simple way of making them feel welcomed, heard, and attended to in the right capacity.

Change with the Mode

Even with the initial jolt of the sales rut caused by the pandemic lockdowns, the health and fitness industry transitioned quickly to virtual training, and everyone loves it! Now that physical fitness centers are welcoming back members, one cannot really ignore the virtual audience. So, as you draft your engagement methods of communication with your clients – both online and on-site, one size may not fit all. Meaning the engagement style of each group must be unique and tailor-made to their needs for a supreme effect. Some ways to achieve this are:

• Social Media All businesses today leverage the use of social media. But posting content with one purpose only may not be the best strategy. For example, if all your posts are about your marketing campaign, offering the best prices, free trials, etc., you’re failing to engage the enrolled clients. So instead, mix it up with informative content like videos of current members performing exercises, your in-house nutritionist giving out diet tips, etc., to encourage organic engagement in the form of likes, shares, and comments.

• Emails Direct communication with members through emails is a good way to keep them updated about recent developments, offers, etc. However, emails are often left unread or go into spam if not engaged with by a potential client or even members. A safer, more interesting way is to opt for more personalized messages like wishing clients a happy birthday, congratulating them on completing milestones, or sending them a personalized meal plan. Such communication will always be well-received rather than an automated email sent to hundreds of addresses and will improve client retention.

• Member Achievements Reflecting on a member’s personal goal is the best way for clients to feel appreciated and honored, especially when they see a target fulfilled. Thus, a shoutout on your social media or on the member’s portal for each member for their significant fitness achievement is guaranteed to have a snowball effect in motivating the honoree and others as well.

Honoring Requests

Quality customer services will always be the biggest contributor to client retention, which applies the most in the health and fitness industry. While it’s the discipline that is the key to a healthy routine, it’s the initial motivation that is deemed more important to push a person. People take time out of their busy, tiring days to work out, and they expect it to be an enjoyable experience. Hence, it is the club’s responsibility to provide them with an environment where they want to attend every day. This can be achieved through simple actions like switching up the music playlist as per the members’ request or arranging a boot camp through a group poll can be great.

Essentially, the key to member engagement lies in the business’ devotion to its clients. When you listen to them and make them feel heard, they will enjoy working with you. So, wing the workouts, provide a fun games session to all virtual and on-site members once in a while, and see your health club become a popular hotspot!