Three ways to start rebuilding health club membership from the inside out.
For those who were able to navigate their way through and survive 2020, it is time to rebuild! Growth mode sure feels way better than survival mode. Growth mode for most usually means a heavy emphasis on acquiring new members, however the key to massive growth is closing the back door.
Acquiring new members is great. Marketing and sales make the machine go. However, if your existing members are not renewing or canceling, you are losing a ton of people out the back. If you spend a ton of money to gain 50 new members but lose 40, it can get expensive to just gain 10. Rebuilding your health club membership from the inside out means maximizing your existing membership base in three key ways.
Keep Them
First and foremost, the No. 1 focus for maximizing your existing membership is to keep them. You don’t want to be running your air conditioner with the windows open. Spending a ton of money to acquire new members while losing a bunch of existing ones is just that. It is an inefficient way to grow and will cost you more money for less result. For ideas on how to engage your members, check out these resources:
- Summer Engagement Strategies for Gyms and Health Clubs
- Fitness Routines: Fresh Ideas for Your Members
- Prioritizing Well-Being in Health Clubs
Maximize Member Value
Are you getting the most out of your members? What percentage of your members are just doing a base membership versus additional services? Are they buying supplements or merch? Properly engaged members will spend more money and stay longer. Take a look at your systems and processes to upsell members into higher value offerings to ensure you are getting the most out of the members you already have before overspending to add more.
Create Raving Fans
One of the cheapest and best paths to growth is through referrals. Not only will properly engaged members spend more money and stay longer, they will also send you their friends, family, coworkers and anybody else who will listen to them. They will share your content on social media to boost your reach. They will market and “sell your facility” for free. Of course, you can also incentivize them to do so to encourage the behavior. Are you delivering quality service that makes your members want to share your content and send everyone they know to you? Once you are, have the systems in place that provide and reward these opportunities for your members.
Rebuilding time is upon us. Take these steps to rebuild from the inside out and you will create the foundation for massive growth in the years ahead!
Stay ahead in the fitness industry with exclusive updates!
Ryan O'Toole is the regional manager for Anytime Fitness Cheswick, Leechburg and Kittanning, and the founder of Culture First Fitness. He can be reached at ryan@culturefirstfitness.com.
