When member numbers drop off in November, the gut reaction for many independent gym and fit club owners is to ask ‘what went wrong in November’. But as with any business, the answer isn’t always that simple.
Increasingly in our conversations with gym owners and managers, it is being recognised that the ‘Winter damage’ starts as early as Autumn. And there are many reasons to believe this is the case.
While the information required to understand a retention rate can be shown on a single row in an excel spreadsheet, or a single chart on a BI dashboard, it isn’t the whole story. As with any figure, it is a figure that is the culmination of hundreds of stories. When it comes to retention, the story has one of two endings as far as we are concerned, either they kept their membership, or they didn’t.
But the factors that contribute to a member leaving in November can start much earlier. That is why the focus of today’s blog is looking at all the best ways to act now, here in September and October, rather than down the line in November and December.
Building Habits in September and October
For many members, habits are easier to build in September and October. Many are still riding high from Summer, the mornings and evenings are still light, and the novelty of returning to a regular post-Summer routine is still alive and well.
We’ve talked at length about how gyms can best utilise seasonal behaviours, and this is no exception. A gym that uses this time to help their members build positive habits has a much better chance of ensuring their retention as the colder months start to arrive.
Same Place, Same Time
There’s a reason gyms that push new and drifting members towards a establishing a weekly routine, and that reason is habit.
A widely cited fitness habit study tracking real attendance data found that roughly 50% of members had stopped maintaining any regular attendance by the six-week mark, and that members who made it past that point had typically been training around twice a week to get there.
What this tells us is that the members who survive through that window aren’t necessarily the most motivated ones. Many people like to find a weekly rhythm that works for them, and it is no surprise that the ones that successfully integrate their workout routine into their week are more likely to stay.
The stats alone are a good enough reason for gym’s to encourage their staff to steer members towards a stable attendance pattern. It doesn’t need to be formalised, but anything that helps establish that habit across a gym’s members will have significant benefits as those habits harden into routines.
Of course the most prominent example of a weekly routine within a gym or fitness club needs no introduction.
Classes are the most effective tool in the ‘same time, same place’ routine, not only because they are formalised but because they are social as well. There is an expectation of attendance not only from the instructor but from their classmates.
When a member knows that missing their Thursday-evening gym slot will mean a dozen members and one instructor will notice they weren’t there. That is an effective, habit-forming amount of pressure. It is accountability the gym gets for free.
And if our theoretical member builds that routine across September and October, they are that much more likely to keep going to class as the evenings draw in.
The ability to setup new classes on the fly, change slots to fit the changing seasons.
The Power of Autumn Comms for Independent Gyms
Good communication is another vital habit to cultivate, but one that comes from the gym’s team, rather than the member base. In our experience it is very easy for a gym to say ‘we are focusing on comms this month’, and another to actually find the time across a hectic month to do so.
But good comms can make all the difference, especially during the crucial habit-forming months of autumn. Whether it is a message when someone hits a milestone or a note when someone signs up to a new class, every personalised interaction reinforces to a member that their gym is actually paying attention to them throughout the month, not just processing their direct debit.
Of course, independent gyms should strive to keep a high level of comms throughout the year, but it is especially important at the points where member-habits are most easily predictable. And in the fitness industry, more often than not, those points of predictability will revolve around the seasons.
Member Experience: Data, Attention, Satisfaction
Data is a vital for any gym owner looking to bolster retention rates, but it is only value if the right people have eyes on it at the right time.
A good early-warning system powered by attendance data can show when members have dropped from three visits a week down to one. Research into member churn has always shown that visit frequency will start to slide in the weeks ahead of the actual cancellation. Even if not every member who experiences is a drop in attendance consistency is a cancellation waiting to happen, checking in costs little and can protect from a significant drop-off in revenue.
The throughline with many of these habit-building, retention-boosting approaches it attentive and attention. Much like comms, it is the sort of thing that is easy for a team to ‘say’ it is prioritising, and harder to make the time and capacity for staff to actually implement it.
But as studies have shown time and time again, the reward for attentive can be substantial. An IHRSA’s Member Retention Report found that inactive or at-risk members who received what it calls a successful commitment interaction, a staff member re-engaging them and getting a real commitment to come back, were 45% less likely to cancel the following month than similar members who were left alone.
Meanwhile separate research tracking 10,000 members through TRP found the effect builds the more consistently it happens. Members who reported good progress towards their goals and being spoken to by staff on every visit had roughly a one-in-ten chance of cancelling over the following seven months, against better than one-in-five for members making little progress and getting no staff interaction at all.
The Importance of Staff Culture
Another factor that can’t be overlooked when trying to build habits and reinforce retention is staff culture.
You may have noticed it has been something of a throughline throughout many of the previous sections, but it deserves it’s moment in the sun. Very few of the measures we’ve discussed will be able to go anywhere without a team that is well trained, motivated, and empowered. And it becomes all the easier for a gym’s staff to focus on members when the tedious busywork has been automated away.
There is a reason that the big chains, with their rotating staff and thin management structures, find these systems genuinely hard to build and even harder to maintain. Independent gyms have the ability to do it better, providing a professional service that still feels human.
And increasingly, this is one of the clearest reasons members choose to stay loyal to a local independent over the cheaper option down the road. Developing a positive culture can take time and maintenance, but the rewards for the independents that pull it off can be spectacular.
The Most Important Question: How To Tell If It Is Working?
But the final question has to be whether or not any of this is working. Every independent gym is different, same with the areas they operate in. What works well for a small fitness club in the city centre might not work for a large suburban gym. That is where the ability to not only collect, but meaningfully utilise data becomes vital.
Tools that shows which members are training consistently, and which classes are genuinely bringing people back week after week is the difference between stumbling in the dark and a guiding light. You can make progress with either approach, but one will be significantly more pleasant and productive. Ashbourne data suit, including our BI Dashboard technology and Retention Tools, are built for exactly that. We’ve helped thousands of gyms gain visibility and detailed insight into their operations.
The most important takeaway should be that none of this needs to wait until the January Joiners are at the gates. The habits for success can be implemented at any time of year, and autumn, with it’s lull of normality, is the perfect span of time to start cultivating those habits in your staff and your members.
If you want to see how a company made by and for independent gym owners could help you deliver even more value to your members without losing any control over how your facility is run, don’t hesitate to book a demo with our in-house, UK based team today.
Fair Rates For Fitness
If you are reading this, you’ll forgive us if we assume you are someone who cares about the UK’s fitness industry. If so, there is something we’d like to mention, something important to all of us working and operating within the fitness industry.
Here at Ashbourne Membership Management, we have been proud to work in this dynamic, innovative sector for three decades. At time of writing the UK government has decided to increase business rates as part of the latest budget. While we are always happy to pay our way, we believe that these rates do not acknowledge the incredible benefit that independent gyms and fitness clubs bring to society.
Every party manifesto claims that they want the people of the UK to be healthier, happier, and more active. But when the time comes to match action to rhetoric, our industry is too often left out.
So, if you want to make your voice heard alongside the hundreds who have already acted, follow the link here to Fair Rates for Fitness, a campaign being championed by our partners over at the Gym Owner’s Forum.
