Membership retention lessons from 2015 that gyms need to know in 2016

Looking into fitness club membership activity and its impact on retention, The Retention People's 2015 TRP 10,000™ study highlighted three key findings that will impact club operations in 2016: reception staff, personal training and wearable technology.

The following extracts from the report are published for readers to take note of.

Reception Staff
It all starts at the front desk. Especially important at the start of a new year, reception staff are the first members of your team who new and potential members come into contact with. 

They play as important a role in your retention efforts as fitness staff do and should, therefore, be aligned with your vision for exceptional member experience in your club.

TRP 10,000 research shows that members who are never spoken to by reception staff are 2.8 times more likely to cancel their membership than members who are always spoken to by reception staff. 

Taking into consideration 35% of the members who took part in our study reported never being spoken to by reception staff, it is clear this is something which needs to be addressed.

Personal Training
A great way to build a strong relationship with a member is through personal training.

The impact of personal training on retention is dependent on how often a member works out with their trainer. 

Members who purchase more than one personal training session per month are less likely to cancel than members who don’t use a personal trainer; members who purchase one or fewer sessions per month are actually more likely to cancel their membership than members who don’t use a personal trainer.

What is clear is the positive relationship between taking part in personal training and visit frequency. 

Compared to just 32% of members who don’t take part in personal training sessions, 42.3% of members who purchased one to three personal training sessions in the three months prior to the TRP 10,000 survey date reported visiting their club twice or more per week. 

Wearable Technology
A fitness tracking device is sure to have been on many of your members’ wish list for Christmas 2015. 

From wearables to apps, members have a wide choice of how they measure their progress and ensure they are living a healthy lifestyle.

But, what impact does this have on retention at your club?

Members who use wearable technology reported a higher level of motivation to exercise, but we found that this did not result in an increase in club usage or a better social connection to the club. 

It did, however, result in a higher awareness of progress (or lack of progress) towards fitness goals. These factors lead us to the conclusion that clubs need to make sure they focus on promoting the social connection to the club even more to these users as, according to our research, removing age as a factor (younger members are more likely to report using a fitness tracking device), members who use fitness tracking devices are 7% more likely to cancel than members who do not.

Click here to access the full report via The Retention People's website.

Click here to contact The Retention People Australia via their entry in the Australasian Leisure Management Supplier Directory.

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