One step forwards, two steps back. Retention ideas for autumn 2022

For the last few years, many clubs have been running to standstill. As retention consultants, we often get called in to help shift this balance, reducing attrition to enable clubs to really grow their membership. 

One-in, one-out

It’s been an incredibly tough few years for the fitness industry, and while there have been pockets of positivity as clubs have re-opened following COVID-19 lockdowns, operators and owners are still talking about new member numbers matching leavers each month. Members and prospects have more concerns, more alternatives, less time, and less money. And as clubs focus more on sales, the retention battle gets harder to fight, let alone win.

Unfortunately, it’s about to get tougher. Nearly everyone is facing increasing bills and will need to cutback on spending. Where facilities focus on leisure, they become a “nice to have” rather than an essential spend (as discussed by John Oxley , Mark Tweedie and others). Spending money on your fitness becomes a luxury, rather than on your health (a necessity?) Through the pandemic lockdowns, people have discovered many cheap or free ways to maintain their health. Daily walks are the norm, with or without a dog. Communities like parkrun are booming, and while the buzz of working out with Joe Wicks has quietened down, he’s not gone away. This morning’s workout has over 2,000 views, and last week’s kettlebell workout 27,000. 

Tightening and therefore loosening belts

September is traditionally the second-best month (after January) for fitness membership sales in the UK. Hopefully this trend will continue despite the economic situation. However, I fear we will see membership cancellations exceed new joiners over the remainder of 2022. As people come back from the highs of summer holidays to the reality of work, school, increasing bills, and uncertain futures, they are taking a good look at their outgoings, budget, and tightening their financial belts. Which ironically, means many will end up loosening their physical belts!

Twice as many leavers as joiners

There’s going to be a shift from the one-in, one-out pattern this autumn. I predict some clubs will see twice as many leavers as joiners in September and October. This is not intended as retention scaremongering. If I’m wrong, I’ll be very happy. But in the meantime, as always, I have some suggestions to reverse the tide, and get back to membership growth.

Early warning systems not working

Traditional early warning retention systems are still important, but not all your leavers will be flagged as high risk. You should continue to (or increase) focus on monitoring members visits, contacting at-risk or absent members. Work on what you control, with the systems that you have. Resource, development and/or training on your systems may be required.

It's good to talk

Some leavers will come out of the blue though – having visited regularly, even frequently, right up to the point when they cancel. So, it’s important to look at your leave process for all cancellations. This was a big learning point for many operators during lockdown. Contacting cancelling members is vital for your business, by any means necessary. Phone, email, SMS, messenger, and post all help to reach out to members who are leaving. 

The feedback and learning that you get from talking to cancelling members is critical information to help you to improve. The primary reason for the contact is to get feedback, secondary is to save the membership if possible. 

If you do have 200 leavers and just 100 joiners, there’s twice as many potential lessons to be learnt. So many clubs stick their heads in the sand when members cancel. Don’t ignore your leavers – reach out to as many of them as possible, as they’re a valuable resource. If necessary, focus your resource on certain groups – longer members, more valuable members, family members, etc. but ideally, try to contact all of them.

Low visit memberships

The first focus is to get feedback, but as you start to see trends (beyond the usual lack of money, moving away), you might adapt your recovery tactics to include offers such as a one visit per week membership, or even a one visit per month membership (see Health Seeker subscriptions). 

These can tie in with, or work alongside remote support subscriptions, including access to your app, online workouts, programmes, or other health and fitness support outside the club. 

If you can convert a cancelling member onto a lower subscription rate, you can retain them for now. Then you need to ensure that you can keep them engaged on the lower rate in the short term, either maintaining them on that level, or looking to upsell back to full membership in the future.

A Leaving Gift

This will feel completely counter-intuitive at first, but have you considered giving your members a leaving gift? Perhaps not members who cancel after only a few months. But members who have been with you for years would appreciate something as a thank-you. They’ve paid you hundreds or even thousands of pounds over the years, it’s really not much to ask.

A simple resistance band, workout plan, or nutrition guide is a nice touch that can help maintain engagement with an ex-member. Many new members get a water bottle, towel, or t-shirt on joining (or even better, after one month) so why not gift your leavers with something useful for their ongoing health and fitness journey. 

Access to your app should be a no-brainer, but doesn’t always have a perceived value, unless sold properly. Another alternative is a voucher for your store to buy some home exercise equipment; mats, kettlebells, skipping ropes, all branded to remind them of their previous loyalty to your club. 

These gifts or products can work back to the remote programming that you can offer, either free or as a subscription. Through this, they can stay connected, even join online communities and challenges, so that you have an engaged audience for re-join offers or as a feedback group.

30-day cooling off period

Another idea from the joining process is to offer leavers a 30-day cooling off period. Again, this might seem a little unconventional, but if you do it when people join, why not do the same when they leave. 

Simply tell a member who has decided to leave that they have 30 days to change their mind. This gives you an opportunity to contact them again at least a couple of times during the following month, asking them how they’re getting on (personalised if possible), and offering to reconnect with whatever memberships, subscriptions or services you have. There’s nothing (other than opt-out) to say you can’t continue to attempt to re-engage beyond 30 days, but a deadline adds another level of focus to the process.

SAY THANK YOU

I sincerely hope that you don’t have more leavers than joiners over the coming months. Regardless, there is always lots to learn from your leavers, and if there are more of them, there are more opportunities.

• Make it a priority to learn from your leavers, and try to save them secondly. 
• Downgrade options are better than losing members completely, keep them engaged on some level if at all possible. 
• Say thank you to all members who cancel, either just with words (written and spoken), or with a useful reminder of your brand for their health and fitness.

Ultimately, leave the door open, as it’s nearly always easier to sell to an ex-member than a brand new one.