What is in this article?:
- Fitness Facility Operators Can Lower Attrition through Software that Monitors Member Usage, Participation
- Pay Attention to Participation
- Use Positive Reinforcement
To improve retention rates, the first step is to identify members who may be at risk of bolting. The most obvious sign is someone who has stopped paying dues, but a second obvious sign is someone whose usage rate has dropped.
Fitness facility operators and staff spend countless hours, an enormous amount of energy and a tidy sum attracting new members.
But for clubs with high attrition rates, it could begin to feel like you are continually on that hamster wheel of new member sales, feverishly trying to replace exiting members.
Most operators know that having top-notch on-boarding practices, a well-managed business, a clean facility, and personable and knowledgeable staff members are keys to retaining members, but too few operators may be using all the tools at their disposal to recognize members who are about to leave. And that means they are not employing tactics that could help re-engage and retain those members.
To improve retention rates, the first step is to identify members who may be at risk of bolting. The most obvious sign is someone who has stopped paying dues, but a second obvious sign is someone whose usage rate has dropped.
A club's software system should be the main source for determining check-ins.
For example, Motionsoft, Rockville, MD, has a data warehouse that uses up to 10 indicators and a complex algorithm to predict which members are trending toward quitting, says Al Noshirvani, CEO of Motionsoft.
ABC Financial, North Little Rock, AR, also offers a reporting system that allows club owners to configure reports that can be auto-emailed to them or staff members that show check-in history, frequency of club usage and club activities, says Steve Ayers, chief revenue officer at the company.
