It's easy to become obsessed with getting as many new members as possible, but in today's competitive health club market, you need to make sure you hang on to the members you already have. Otherwise they will gladly take their money and their loyalty to one of your competitors.
It's likely you have heard that it is 7 times more expensive to attract a new member than it is to keep an existing member happy. And you really don't have to make them "happy", you just have to keep them content. The main thing is to impress them enough that they renew or continue on their roll-over membership. Let's put that into perspective. Would you rather spend $10,000 on marketing or $70,000 on marketing, if both would generate the same amount of member revenue? Of course you would rather spend seven times less to get the same results!
That's not to say that generating new memberships is not important, because it most certainly is. But attracting new members should never mean neglecting the members you currently have. It's funny how salespeople are sticky sweet to guests, but once that guest becomes a member, that salesperson rarely pays attention to them again. Okay, maybe not funny...it is actually quite sad, considering your members are intelligent enough to recognize this change in demeanor. Overpromising and underdelivering are commonplace in the health club industry these days. It is your job to make sure this doesn't happen at your club!
Find out what makes your members happy.
Ask everyone when they check in at the front desk to fill out a quick survey. Ask both closed-ended questions and open-ended questions, allowing them to elaborate on what they like and dislike. Ask if they have any recommendations and be sure to implement them, within reason.
If you are with a prospect and a member needs your assistance, be sure to oblige the member. The prospect won't be upset. Rather, they will recognize that your paying members are valued and are taken care of. If you take that extra moment to take care of your existing member in front of your prospect, you can then use it as a selling feature. "Sorry about that. At least you should feel good that we would drop anything to assist one of our members!"
Always pay attention to your members, always say hello and goodbye to everyone, and make it a point each day to get to know a few of your members a little better. Ask them how their day went. Ask how their family is doing. Show them a new exercise. Introduce them to another member with similar interests. Make sure you take care of your existing members and they will always take care of you.
