Engage with your members

Building strong relationships with your members is key to retention. Remember, a happy member is a loyal one.

In such a competitive marketplace members will have many other options aside from your club. Creating a relationship between member and club will make a great amount of difference.

How do I engage with my members?

Great ways to communicate with your members include:

• Social media, in particular, Facebook and Twitter are great platforms to share useful tips, gym/club updates and handy information. Social media allows you to keep a constant presence without being intrusive.
• Emails/Text messages are also great ways to share important information and details of any events that may be taking place. Taking the time to communicate with your members through multiple channels will enforce how important their welfare and participation is to the club.
• Let’s not forget good old fashioned face to face communication. Friendly, approachable and personable. Three key traits of staff that should not only apply to those on the front desk but also on the gym floor.  Greeting a member on arrival, asking about progress and getting to know them and their goals are perfect ways to build rapport. They will also help a member to feel welcome and valued at the club.

2. Position yourself as a knowledgebase

Your members will be interested in nutrition, exercise, health and fitness. Ensure that your team is up to date with industry news and trends and that personal trainers are able to offer informed advice relating to a host of topics and goals. By positioning yourselves as industry experts you will add weight and value to your facilities, allowing your members to use you as an all in one resource rather than purely a facility provider. Once again achieving this will greatly add to the member experience.

3. Encourage member involvement

Run fun events or nutrition talks, keeping members involved with your club is a great way to add value alongside your facilities.

I’m running out of events to organise!

Why not sign up for a charity event as a group? Get as many members involved as you can. You can all train together in the months leading up to the event, plus you can put on special workshops depending on what the event entails. Taking part as a group will add a real sense of accountability between a member and their fitness regime, it will be great for the atmosphere within the club too!

4. Ask for feedback!

Ask your members what they are pleased with and what you are doing well, this way you’ll be able to identify what makes them happy and act upon it.

For example: You get great feedback on your early morning classes, particularly those that are cardio-based. You could introduce more classes like this or rework your less popular morning classes to feature more cardio.

Don’t forget to ask for the feedback that won’t necessarily be as positive. Areas that members are not happy with may often be things that can be changed with relative ease. By taking action on negative feedback you will show your members that you value their opinion and their custom.

Making a member feel values will no doubt improve their loyalty to your club.

5. Create a community

Actively encourage members to interact with each other. By building a friendly community, members will feel a sense of belonging. Your club will not only serve as an exercise facility but also a pivotal part of their social life. Not only will this add a sense of accountability in terms of their workout routine, but it will also ensure they stay members at your club, rather than moving to any competitors.

6. Offer loyalty schemes and Rewards

Offer loyalty programmes and rewards, or member discounts. By offering such rewards you are not only keeping your current customer base happy and engaged, you are also implementing opportunities for prospective customers to be introduced to the club.

What are good ways to reward loyal members?

An excellent way to not only reward, but also incentivise members, is to offer a prize or some form of recognition for those who come to your gym most frequently. For example perhaps giving a free guest pass and protein pack to the member who has the most visits per month. This will drive engagement not only with your club but also with the members within your club. A healthy sense of competition will drive your community feel.

7. Provide an unrivalled experience

You may think it goes without saying, but providing a great service really is one of the biggest factors within retention, ensuring your members are loyal and choose you over your competitors. To make sure you are providing a brilliant service you should regularly assess what you are doing to benefit your members, why you are doing it, if it is successful and how you can improve upon this. By regularly setting aside time to answer these questions you can make sure you are on track and providing the best possible service. Members who are happy with their service and feel that it is value for money will have no reason to look elsewhere.

8. Make sure you are easy to contact and highly responsive

It is vital that members are able to contact you with ease, whether that be over the phone or via email. When members reach out to you it should be a quick and easy process. It is really important to keep members of staff that will be answering the phone updated on all changes to timetables, maintenance of facilities and just general day to day news. Prompt replies to emails are another great way to show you are there to help.

9. Reach out to members who may be unhappy

Keep track of members who’s attendance has dropped significantly. If a members number of visits drops below a certain threshold it’s a good idea to reach out to them, whether that’s simply a phone call to check that they are still satisfied with their membership and your facilities or it could be a slightly different approach, such as a back on track email offering a new exercise programme or complimentary PT session. Let your member know you care.

10.  Go above and beyond

Fulfil your members needs and requirements to the best of your abilities. Reputation spreads quickly through word of mouth. Spending that extra few minutes being attentive to a member will stick in their mind. A glowing reference from a current member is more valuable than any campaign or marketing activity that you undertake.