“I would like to cancel my membership.”
I bet you have heard that statement more than enough times. Just the thought of it probably makes your hair stand up as you start wondering how you are going to replace the member that wants to cancel their membership. But don’t fret, you can capitalize on your cancellations just like a new prospect. You just have to learn to think of a cancellation request as a new-sales lead, and teach your staff to approach it with the same enthusiasm and attention to detail.
I bet you are probably still relying on the old “mail in your certified letter” approach to your cancellations, right? Well, lesson one is to stop that immediately. Confronting cancellations head on, face-to-face with your members is the only chance you have to save the cancellation. Forcing your member to come into the club to fill out a cancellation form and have a membership representative collect information as to why they wish to cancel gives your staff the ability to sell that client on the idea of staying.
Implement a system of face-to-face cancellations at your facility, and reward your staff equally for every cancellation that they save as you do new memberships they sell.
Chris Batchelor
Health Club Marketing Contributor
