According to the 2020 IHRSA Global Report: The State of the Health Club Industry, most gyms lose 50% of new members within six months.
With 12% of those new memberships happening in the month of January, the clock is ticking to ensure you are creating an environment members don’t want to leave.
On the latest installment of the Thought Leaders Series, panelists Colleen Kennedy, the director of membership sales at The Houstonian Club; Jacob Thomas, the owner of Razor Sharp Fitness; Jersey Giambrone, the founder of Fuel Bootcamp; and Marie Gonzalez, the CEO of ClubFitness Greensboro, sat down to discuss how to keep new members engaged.
For Kennedy this starts with helping new members find their club within the club.
“I had a membership meeting with a young couple today that just moved here,” said Kennedy. “They have small children, and they don’t know very many people in the area. And so, I’ve already got a plan for them to get connected with other moms and families. You’ve got to figure out when they come in and what they’re interested in. We try to just figure out exactly where they’ll fit, and then we try to help them fit there.”
At Razor Sharp Fitness, they really focus on how they can get their core values around the member journey. They do this by focusing on three big things — results, fun and community.
“From the community standpoint, we start that by sitting down and getting to know them,” said Thomas. “When you become a member of Razor Sharp Fitness, we are going to surround you with a fitness team, and that team is going to be people who are going to help you through your fitness journey to exactly where you want to go.”
With that, Gonzalez stressed the importance of thinking about the member and their journey, not the journey your business wants them to go on.
“We are in the people business,” said Gonzalez. “I think that’s one thing we have to always remember. How are we making our clubs that space where people can share with others and where people can meet other people? Yes, we can be their support system. Yes, we can be their accountability and offer programs, but at the end of the day they’re going to continue to come back because they’re going to be meeting their friends. Meet people where they are. Always think about them, not us. Not what we want to do and create an environment that’s a community.”
And creating this community members want to be part of starts with your staff.
“I always believe you got to take care of your people,” said Giambrone. “If you take care of your people, they will stay with you for a long period of time. I truly believe — instilling in your people, trusting the process — the more you step away and give them more responsibility, your business will thrive.”
Gonzalez added it’s important to think about staff in this, too. “As we think about caring about our clients, what are the things that we’re doing as leaders to help our staff?” she said. “Do they have the training they need, have the tools they need, so that way they can take care of our clients the way we would like to?”
Overall, keeping new members engaged at your facility starts from the moment they step through the door. Ensure your staff are making one-on-one connections with members, making it a point to introduce them to other members who have similar goals or interests, and helping members find success whatever that means to them and their wellness journey.
“It’s just not a one-stop-shop,” said Thomas. “It’s an opportunity for us to really find an engagement point with members. Also make sure we’re not pushing people down the journey we want them to go down, that we’re truly open to the idea of how they want to go through their journey.”
