| Letters | | IHRSA Report | Club Advisor


Getting Ex-members Back


By Patricia Amend


It’s commonly agreed, among club operators, that former members make the best prospects. There’s no need to educate; they know you, your staff, and your club, and what you have to offer. To win them back, you’ll first need to know why they cancelled, and if there are issues that can be resolved. Of course, you’ll want to entice them to rejoin with offers they can’t refuse. Here’s how:


Be nice. “We recognize that members may leave, but often come back,” acknowledges Steven Schwartz, president and CEO of TCA Holdings, based in Chicago, owner and operator of the Midtown Athletic Clubs. “The important thing is to treat them well, so they go away with a good impression—which makes it easier to come back.” Rick Caro, president of Management Vision, Inc., in New York City, agrees: “You want to leave them with the feeling that you care. If they come back, you want to create the most favorable environ- ment going forward.”


Ask why in person. “Don’t assume that you know why someone is leaving,” advises David Stempler, general manager of the World Gym in Wantagh, New York. “Rather, when you can, get the facts directly from the member, on the day they quit. We don’t ask for this information later, via e-mail, because we’ve found that people aren’t likely to respond. Instead, we offer the departing member a questionnaire, with boxes to check indicating their reasons for leaving, such as ‘working out at the company fitness center,’ ‘family obligations,’ or ‘moving.’ At the bottom, there’s a sec- tion provided for ‘other’ reasons, where people often write ‘no time.’ This usually means they weren’t using the club. In that case, I have a salesperson call them and offer an incentive to get them back.”


Be responsive. If the departing member has written something else on the questionnaire that is surprising, then Stempler, himself, may call the member person- ally. “Occasionally, they have a legitimate complaint that we can address, and we can keep the person from quitting—if they’ve been members for two years


or more. If they haven’t been with us long, it’s much harder.”


Stay in touch. Schwartz suggests keeping former members in your database for three or four years, and sending them “we want you back” cards periodically, rather than e-mail messages. “Cards have a shelf life and are tactile and visual, while a person may delete an e-mail before opening it, or keep it in their inbox and forget it. Cards can also be cost-effective. With direct mail, you may get a 1% or 2% response rate. If a postcard costs you 34 cents to mail, and it takes 100 cards to get one person, that’s $34. And the probability of a former member rejoining is higher than one in 100. If you have 2,000 memberships, and you lose 30% or 600 a year, it will take years before that mail- ing becomes expensive.”


Be flexible. “We do three to four direct-mail postcard campaigns each year,” says Lori McHugh, membership director at Cedardale Health & Fitness in Haverhill, Massachusetts. “We start with existing members who’ve been using the club fewer than four times per month to help them get restarted. We also have medical and ‘snowbird’ holds for people who don’t use the club during specific times. Overall, we find the best way to get members back is to make it easy for them to re-join, and provide programs and amenities that they’ll enjoy. For example, right now, we’re waiving the processing fee for past members to make rejoining simple and attractive. They’re our best prospects because they know our club.” —|


– Patricia Amend, pamend@aol.com www. ihrsa.org | DECEMBER 2010 | Club Business Internat ional 93 International Appeal


I really enjoyed reading Patricia Amend’s article, “Getting Ex-members Back,” in the December 2010 issue of CBI (see Club Advisor, pg. 93). Great article! I am a regular reader of CBI, based in Pakistan, where we don’t really have much of a fitness industry. Here, consumer psychographics are rather unfavorable and, because of a lack of an EFT system, we don’t have much to fall back on—so the battle to gain more clients is going on all the time. Very recently, we started to look at our inactive clients and we’ve started to contact them through a bulk text-messaging software. The results have been good, but not impressive, and that’s where Patricia’s article comes in very handy. Thank you! —| Adnan Farooq | Owner | Synergy Health Fitness | Punjab, Pakistan


Kudos in Kuwait


> Al Corniche was proud to host the IHRSA Middle East Road Show for the third time at our club in Kuwait on December 7 and 8, 2010. We pride ourselves on being one of the top clubs in the region, able to compare favorably with the best clubs worldwide. Nonetheless, we need to stay on our toes,


and we included a wide range of staff in the conference who benefitted from the experience of Hans Muench, Steve Jack, Pete Cohen, Mark Slavin, Arthur McColl, and Doug Miller. Over 50 participants from 17 countries enjoyed lectures from these industry leaders. Most of the attendees were the major players from Kuwait’s health and fitness industry and the aim of this seminar was how to improve the awareness of health and wellness in Kuwait and offer valuable insights on how to build on their expertise and advance their businesses. Our Al Corniche Fitness Manager, Ed Shuttleworth, said,


“Taking a tour of the club with several of the presenters was eye-opening. Their perspectives will help us focus on areas that can be improved.”


Abdulla Alfred, Hilton Recreational & Spa Manager, one of


the attendees, commented, “I now see the value of the IHRSA network and intend to join the association as a result of the conference. It was nice that Al Corniche opened its doors to all operators and made this experience possible.” Overall, the third Kuwait Mini IHRSA road show was a success


and Al Corniche Club is thankful to all of the speakers for sharing their experiences with us. —|


Gez Oliver | General Manager | Al Corniche Club | Dasman, Kuwait


12 Club Business Internat ional


| FEBRUARY 2011 |


www. ihrsa.org


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