Why do people cancel their gym membership? Did they move away? Die? Switch gyms? Lose their job? Those four reasons account for less than 10 percent of terminations. And many gyms experience attrition levels around 50 percent annually. What is the reason that accounts for the remaining percentage of club cancels?
The answer: Most members just quit coming to the gym. But let’s not stop there. Let’s keep asking “why?” Why does Joe Bag of Donuts stop coming to the gym?
The answer: He lost his motivation. But let’s not stop there. Why did Joe Bag of Donuts lose his motivation?
The answer: He stopped seeing results. And no, we’re not stopping there. Why did Joe Bag of Donuts stop seeing results?
The answer: Okay, this one has more than one answer, but at or near the top is the likelihood that Joe Bag of Donuts was never told what to do, or better yet, shown what to do.
I predict that I don’t have to lecture you on how every member you save makes you X amount of dollars. Therefore, if you can reduce your attrition from 50 percent annually to 25 percent, HUGE dollars will have been saved. But how do you get from a 50 percent attrition rate to 25 percent?
The answer: Get as many of your members to “visit” the club eight or more times per month. The magic number is eight. If you don’t know this already, write it down, repeat it, share it with your staff and work hard to get your member visits to the magic number and beyond. How do you do that?
The answer: It starts with the next step. In most mainstream gyms, after the paperwork is processed, and before the member goes home or goes to experience their first workout, an effort is made to get that new member with a trainer. This needs to happen to 70 percent or more of your new members. Make it a priority and track it. What you make important becomes important. Work with your staff on this daily.
In addition, this appointment needs to happen within 48 hours of the member joining and must include an actual workout or session. It can’t be just an FMS or score of some sort. Yes, the goal is to sell them training, but you know that not all will buy training. The best way to sell training is to allow them to experience training firsthand. And the ones who don’t purchase training need a plan. Show them a workout, one that will be effective for at least a while.
Embrace technology. I recommend using MYZONE. This allows your member onboarding process to go smoother, makes it easier to sell training and keeps members engaged through contests and friendly competitions, thus getting them to the gym more. MYZONE requires them to upload data only at the gym, so they “visit” more often. I put “visit” in quotes because if a member goes for a run near their home, they need to stop by the gym to upload their data. This presents more pros than cons, as it gets them to stop in, if only for a few minutes. They will likely talk to a few members and some staff, and feel more engaged in the process.
Lastly, focus on the first 45 days, monitoring the number of visits. When you see a dip below two times per week, get on the phone, e-mail or text — whatever you can do to reach out to that member and get them back into the club. Did they get a free workout? Did they get hooked up with MYZONE or something similar? Find out the reasons their activity has dropped and never forget that people only need two “visits” per week, or that magic eight per month, to become the kind of member who never leaves.
Keep changing lives.
Jason Linse is president and founder of The Business of Fitness, a consulting company. He graduated from Minnesota State University with a degree in public health and corporate wellness. He started working in the fitness industry in 1995. In 2005, Linse started with Snap Fitness at its headquarters, helping them grow from 14 locations to 1,100 locations by October 2010, when he left to start the Business of Fitness. Linse also owned a gym for two and a half years before becoming a consultant. He also owns a personality assessment company called People Plus+ Fitness. He can be reached at jason@jasonlinse.com or at 612-310-1319. Visit www.jasonlinse.com.
