The 'solution' is to get members involved in your facility by creating member relationships; showing members results by designing an overall assessment plan; providing superior customer service; and making facility cleanliness a top priority.
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The 'solution' is to get members involved in your facility by creating member relationships; showing members results by designing an overall assessment plan; providing superior customer service; and making facility cleanliness a top priority.
Attrition is the No. 1 talked-about business topic in the fitness industry. The old adage that says it costs more to acquire a new member than to retain an existing one is a key concern among fitness facility operators. Unfortunately, while this appears to be a main focus of concern, Ray O'Connor, owner of Wisconsin Athletic Clubs, states that, "More people have joined and quit clubs today than are members today." With less than 14 percent of the population currently fitness facility members, you have to wonder how many of that other 86 percent has "been there, done that." And, if they have, is it even possible to get them to come back? While attrition is certainly a part of doing business, it can be reduced. "There are always going to be cancellations," says Doug Ribley, director of administrative and wellness services at Akron General Health & Wellness Center, Akron, Ohio. "People's lives change. It is a part of our business, part of what happens." In fact, the majority of those who quit fitness facilities do so because of relocation, financial hardship or illness. What we must identify is why individuals drop their memberships due to dissatisfaction, and then create ways to reduce the likelihood of that continuing to happen.
Retention requires a program
At the Club Industry trade show and conference held in Chicago in October 2006, Bob Esquerre, owner of Esquerre Fitness Group, Weston, Fla., in his seminar "Member Retention: 17 Steps to Success and Profitability," asked attendees how many of them had a retention program in place at their facility. Out of all the attendees, only three raised their hands. Since the seminars on retention at the major industry shows tend to be the most well-attended, it's clearly not a question of whether attrition is important but, rather, confusion about what to do about it. Esquerre believes that, for fitness centers to be successful, they must be able to change and adapt. They must have a retention program in place, which includes the following:- implementing a new member "meet and greet" program
- establishing an interactive/pro-active fitness floor management process
- creating a synergy between personal training and group exercise programming
- developing a comprehensive staffing plan
- positioning personal training to support member retention
- developing monthly special events to expose members to programming options
- developing a selective staff recruitment program
- executing trainer performance expectation agreements and contracts
- developing a program design and training progression process
- identifying and correcting your trainers' skillset weaknesses
- increasing personal training sales at the membership point-of-sale
- enhancing staff professionalism and training competencies