{"id":292,"date":"2022-05-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.daysmart.com\/appointments\/blog\/membership-retention\/"},"modified":"2024-12-27T22:13:42","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T22:13:42","slug":"membership-retention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.daysmart.com\/appointments\/blog\/membership-retention\/","title":{"rendered":"Boost Your Bottom Line by Increasing and Retaining Memberships"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Did you know that, on average, one gym membership is worth 517 dollars<\/a> to a facility each year? While that might not sound like much, it adds up as more and more people join your activity facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, how do you increase membership and reduce your churn rate with the many options available? What helps set you apart from other activity facilities?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn how to increase membership and retention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increase Activity Facility Memberships<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Increasing activity facility memberships isn’t always easy. You can take steps to market your activity facility and show the people in your community what makes you unique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, getting them to walk in the door is where the struggle begins. Once word of your facility reaches your target customer, the key to getting them to walk into your door is making it super simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can do this a few ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allow Online Membership Signups<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When you’re looking for an activity facility, you’re likely going to do your research online before you ever walk in the door. Allowing potential members to sign up online will increase your number of customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, online scheduling leads to 26 percent<\/a> more new customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Make it Easy to Get Tours<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

After your customers have done their online research, the next step is a facility tour. This is your time to shine. However, first, they need to make the appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While you can provide the option for your potential members to call for a tour, you miss out when you do that. Around 65 percent<\/a> of Gen Z and Millenials are more likely to engage digitally than in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means you need online scheduling software that’s easy to use and efficient. If it’s difficult or time-consuming to sign up for a tour, your potential members will find an easier solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improve Appointment Attendance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Once your members have made an appointment for a tour, you want them to keep that appointment. When they don’t, it costs your team time and takes away time from other potential members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can cause frustration and reduce productivity. That’s where streamlined appointment scheduling<\/a> can help again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An appointment scheduling tool that syncs with Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar to place the meeting on the calendar is essential. In addition, a solution that can do the busy work for you and send appointment notifications and reminders using text and email is imperative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This helps ensure that your members make an appointment and keep it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referral Programs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Word of mouth marketing is more effective than paid ads and results in five times more<\/a> sales. Your current members know people who might be interested in a membership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instituting a referral program encourages them to reach out to those friends. Customer referral programs work<\/a>, with the conversion rate being three times higher than the industry average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, customer referrals will also help with retention. We’ll touch more on that soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Membership Retention Strategies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once you get your members to sign up, you have to find a way to keep them. Around 14 percent<\/a> of women drop their membership after a year. That number is lower for men at eight percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deliver Top Level Service<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We discussed the fact that making joining easy is imperative. However, delivering top-level service doesn’t start after they’ve joined; it begins in the onboarding process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around 87 percent of members stay active because of a positive onboarding process. There are a few ways you can continue to offer exceptional service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Staff<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When members visit your facility, they prefer a setting that is more caring. However, only 47 percent<\/a> of people who visit a fitness center report positive perceptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a few things your staff can do to help members feel cared for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n