As a fitness club owner or manager you know all too well the challenges to acquire and maintain a steady Fitness Membership Retention. Not only are you up against the changing habits of your clients, other emerging niche fitness facilities keep the competition piling in from many directions.

While lead generation and fitness Membership Retention efforts are both important factors for a successful club, the reality is that it costs less to keep a member than acquire a new one. So strive to put your best foot forward to maintain a high retention rate.

Strategies for High Fitness Membership Retention

Develop member contact strategies – Whether through email, phone or social media, it is vital to engage with your clients outside the walls of the club. Remember that how they feel about you plays a role in their satisfaction with their membership.

Don’t make all your fitness membership retention outreaches about promoting your offers. Set up ongoing email campaigns to thank clients for their business. Use data from your membership software to create personalized messages at the right time.

By frequently reviewing your clients’ visit history you can potentially inspire someone who is on the fence to stay in your club. If you see that a steady client suddenly misses three full weeks, there lies an opportunity to reach out to acknowledge that they’re missed and find out why. Don’t expect a client to tell you they’re thinking about leaving. See the signs, listen to and meet their needs if you can.

Connect with clients through social media – People love to be recognized, especially in public. Your clients are the foundation of your business and they should be the heart of your social media communities. Not only will acknowledging them in social media make them feel stickier to you, it could inspire them to be brand advocates for you. I discovered the barre studio I’m now hooked on through a post from one of my Facebook friends.

Make members feel part of a community – There’s an opportunity for members to build a feeling of commitment to something that is greater than themselves. Maybe that Saturday morning kickboxing class no longer feels like the great workout it once did, but that’s not the only reason a member comes to class. There’s a sense of camaraderie in sharing the same experience week after week with members who can become friends over time.

Encourage your instructors to help with fitness membership retention by creating a friendly environment that fosters a sense of community. That begins with every client-facing staff member striving to learn the names of members. The thought of leaving a club becomes more difficult when a client also has to consider loyalties he or she might feel towards an instructor, other members, or you, as a result of how they’ve been treated.