The simplest things can get one of your members off their schedule. Maybe they have a prior engagement, they go out of town, they work late or they just don’t feel like hitting the gym that day.
Regardless of their decisions, what is your stand on their choice? Are you OK with paying members missing out on gym time, or do you want them in your club as much as possible?
Hopefully, you’re of the second mindset. But, even if you priorities are in order, what do you do about your members and their routine?
How about discussing their availability with them during the sales process? Maybe they think they have a full-proof plan for getting into shape, but they are really set on a path for destruction.
Perhaps, their schedule looks like the following:
Monday – Lunch/Workout
Tuesday – Rest
Wednesday – Evening/Workout
Thursday – Rest
Friday – Lunch/Workout
Saturday – Workout
Sunday – Rest
Why is this schedule bad? It provides the member with four days of exercise and three days of rest — which is typically good. However, it doesn’t have enough consistency. Going at different times on different days allows for other obligations to get inserted into a member’s exercise time. Members need to find a time each day that they can get away from everything and exercise at your gym. It needs to take a severe situation to keep them from being able to make that time. This is one reason why a non-morning person shouldn’t set a schedule that has them waking up at 6 a.m. to exercise — that’s two new routines they must master.
I’m not a morning person. I set my alarm each evening for 6 a.m., but that snooze usually gets hit until about 7:15 a.m.
However, it’s hard for me to face that I’m not a morning person. I want to get up and watch music videos and the show on MSNBC that my buddy works for in New York. But, it’s hard for me. I’d love to get up and knock out a three-mile jog, but it ain’t happenin. That’s one reason why I don’t try and go exercise that early. So, I exercise on my lunch break.
Right around noon each day, I’m dying to get out of the office and get a little Tyler time. I’ve read studies that suggest strength training prior to cardio, but that doesn’t really work for me. I get in the club, change quickly, get a little pumped with the iPod, then hit the treadmill. I bust out some quick mileage, then I lift. I attempt to do this routine five days a week, but I still have things that get in my way. Last week, a friend asked me to go to lunch, so I missed my Friday workout. I could’ve gone at night, but I don’t typically plan on going at night and my band had a show that night, so I was worried about being too tired.
Monday, I had a meeting in the morning that I had to attend across town. These are two exercise days I’ve missed due to some other commitment. I could go at night as soon as I get off work — but, I did that once and I saw the intense crowds, and the amount of time it took me to do my one and a half hour workout ended up pushing up near two and a half.
I’m typically pretty good at sticking with my workout schedule. However, everyone has something that gets in the way. For someone that hasn’t been exercising for much of their life, a minor tick in their schedule can be the end of a routine. One day can turn in to two, and then snowball into three months. Next thing they know, they pay for a gym membership they don’t even use.
Get to your members on the front end. Set up member text messaging that allows you to contact them from the club and see how they are doing. Use your management software to keep track of your member check-ins. If they’ve gone a couple of days without checking in, send them a quick e-mail. After the initial e-mail, send them another e-mail after a week — if their absence reaches two weeks, give them a courtesy call and offer them a free month of personal training.
Not only will this get your members back in the club, but also they will see you care. By offering a free month of personal training, you are able to help them set another routine and potentially get them to enroll even longer in personal training once they build a great connection with one of your amazing personal trainers.
Remember, it’s easier to retain a member, than it is to go out and find a new member.
Tyler Montgomery is the Editor of Club Solutions Magazine. Contact him at tyler@clubsolutionsmagazine.com
