retention series
FITNESS FORCE
Melvyn Hillsdon makes the case for training and incentivising fitness staff to interact with members
A
re fitness staff really your best sales people? The model in most clubs would seem to be based on this assumption.
To achieve maximum sales, most
clubs employ sales teams who are usually paid a commission for each membership sold. They’re normally working to monthly targets based on the club’s income projections, with the presumption being that the sale of a membership is income-generating. However, it’s not just the number
of memberships sold each month that matters; the majority of a club’s income is determined by the number of memberships sold multiplied by the membership yield from each member (the membership retention). And we know from previous research (see HCM July 09, p37) that the number of months a new member stays varies considerably and is infl uenced by factors such as their age, contractual arrangements and the type of membership they take out.
Yes, the membership sales staff have
some infl uence over membership yield by selling varying types of membership package to different types of member. However, a range of club factors not involving sales people also determine how much income a new sale generates. One of the factors, arguably the most
Figure 1. Average visit frequency by month after joining
important, is the activity of the fi tness staff. In a previous edition of HCM (see HCM Sept 09, p45), we reported that the frequency with which fi tness staff speak to club members when working out impacts on the risk of members cancelling, and thereby the average yield from membership payment. Part of the explanation for this is that, when members are spoken to, they tend to attend the club more often – and that, in turn, increases the length of time they remain a member.
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encouraging frequency The frequency with which members use their clubs is surprisingly low. Using data provided by The Retention People (TRP), Figure 1 shows the average attendance for each month after joining. In the first month after joining, members typically attend the club nearly eight times – just under twice a week. By month three, this has dropped to less than once a week; it typically stays at this frequency for the duration of the membership. So should members be helped
to attend more frequently? Why should clubs care? After all, if members don’t visit, then more members can be squeezed in... Well, compared to members who
make no visits to their club in a month, every additional visit reduces the risk of a member cancelling in the next month by 33 per cent. This is true for new and old members alike. So not visiting is a trigger for cancellation throughout the membership. Worryingly, the proportion of members who don’t
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Mean number of visits per month
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