{"id":17521,"date":"2018-01-11T16:00:50","date_gmt":"2018-01-12T00:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medicalfitnessnetwork.org\/public\/public\/?p=16774"},"modified":"2018-01-11T15:46:17","modified_gmt":"2018-01-11T23:46:17","slug":"5-elements-to-boost-the-retention-in-your-fitness-studio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/all-mfn\/5-elements-to-boost-the-retention-in-your-fitness-studio\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Elements to Boost the Retention in Your Fitness Studio"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Retention &#8211; the infamous \u201cback door\u201d that has plagued the fitness industry for decades \u2013 demands the attention of any studio that intends to stand the test of time.<\/p>\n<p>Here are five of the rules to live by in order to keep your studio\u2019s members coming back \u2013 with smiles on their faces.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>1. Understand the Cost of Retention vs. Acquisition<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Consider these three axioms of customer acquisition as opposed to retention:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It costs five times as much to acquire a new customer than it does to retain a current customer;<\/li>\n<li>The probability of selling to an existing client is 60-70%, while the probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20%;<\/li>\n<li>The fitness studio industry average retention rate is roughly 70%, meaning you can expect to lose 30% of your customers every year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Furthermore, retained clients are, generally, happy clients. They tend to become \u201cWord of Mouth\u201d advocates of your business, leading to cost efficient acquisition. Just like \u201cthe best offense is a good defense,\u201d so is \u201cclosing the back door opens the front door.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Clearly, Retention \u2013 keeping the members you have &#8211; is the name of the game.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>2. It Starts from Day One<\/strong><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-9640\" src=\"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Depositphotos_13299565_xs-300x222.jpg\" alt=\"Pilates aerobic personal trainer man in cadillac\" width=\"300\" height=\"222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Depositphotos_13299565_xs-300x222.jpg 300w, https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Depositphotos_13299565_xs.jpg 402w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/h4>\n<p>The old expression <em>\u201cYou never get a second chance to make a first impression\u201d<\/em> definitely holds true in the fitness studio business.\u00a0 Studios need to know who the newbies are and from the get-go do everything possible to make the very first experience in your studio top-notch.<\/p>\n<p>This means friendly greetings, knowing client\u2019s names, and introducing the new member to staff and fellow clients. The first day of membership or the first class taken is the first step (and lasting impression) toward retention.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever your <a href=\"https:\/\/member.afsfitness.com\/content\/how-increase-retention-rate-your-fitness-studio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">onboarding strategy<\/a> \u2013 and you must have one \u2013 it starts now. Not tomorrow.<strong>\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n<h4><strong>3. Deliver on Your Brand Promise<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>A key component of retention is in understanding what attracted your clients in the first place. Whatever your brand promise was that got them there \u2013 it\u2019s incumbent on you to deliver on that promise.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re touting your studio as the best this or the best that \u2013 then you need to be exactly that! If you\u2019re marketing the largest this, or greatest that, \u2013 deliver.<\/p>\n<p>This generally means a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.afsfitness.com\/blog\/176\/how-to-beat-the-competition.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">friendly, helpful, non-judgmental workout environment<\/a> along with working machines, no canceled classes, and trainers\/instructors as advertised.<\/p>\n<p>Most importantly, deliver programmatically. If you\u2019ve established a 60-day weight loss program, do whatever it takes for your clients to be successful \u2013 within the parameters of the positive client experience.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>4. Personalization<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>One of the most compelling differentiating factors of the studio business is the personalization factor. Most happy members and clients are pleased because they feel their studio experience is unique to them \u2013 that what they are doing is not cookie cutter, but that they matter.<\/p>\n<p>Personalization cannot be overstated. If the experience is fun, effective, and unforgettable for each client every time \u2013 that client will continue to frequent your studio. In some ways it\u2019s akin to a doctor. The good ones treat your disease; the great ones treat the disease AND the person.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-7418\" src=\"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/afpa1-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"afpa1\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/afpa1-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/afpa1.jpg 338w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/>In the case of a studio, the \u201cdisease\u201d might be to \u201close 20 pounds in two months.\u201d Don\u2019t allow this client to feel like he\/she was thrown into \u201canother class\u201d to achieve the goal. <em>\u201cWe have classes for that,\u201d <\/em>won\u2019t do. Rather say, \u201c<em>Let me put together a custom program just for you based on what you like to do.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<h4><strong>5. Listen to Your Clients and Your Staff<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Everybody makes mistakes. Nobody nor anything is perfect. Problems do arise. It\u2019s the nature of life and can\u2019t be avoided. The key is how you respond when things go wrong.<\/p>\n<p>Most members and especially most staff are eager to point out when something in your studio could have been done better. Listen to them, consider their point of view, and take remedial action as soon as possible.<\/p>\n<p>Responsiveness leads to improvement. If you don\u2019t know a problem exists, it will continue. Encourage members and staff to let you know when a problem exists and how they believe it should be remedied.<\/p>\n<p>When people believe their input has value, they will continue to provide it \u2013 and your business will continue to improve.<\/p>\n<p>Retention can be a tricky element in the overall context of your fitness business. The most important strategy is to always, always keep your eye on retention \u2013 it\u2019s the key to your bottom line.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Josh Leve is responsible for the strategic development and growth of the<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.afsfitness.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Association of Fitness Studios<\/em><\/a><em>.\u00a0Josh brings more than 10 years of sales, consulting, advertising, marketing, operations, and retail experience to AFS and\u00a0has spent more than a decade in the fitness industry.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Retention &#8211; the infamous \u201cback door\u201d that has plagued the fitness industry for decades \u2013 demands the attention of any studio that intends to stand the test of time. Here are five of the rules to live by in order to keep your studio\u2019s members coming back \u2013 with smiles on their faces. 1. Understand the Cost of Retention vs. Acquisition Consider these three axioms of customer acquisition as opposed to retention: It costs five times as much to acquire a new customer than it does to retain a current customer; The probability of selling to an existing client is 60-70%, while the probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20%; The fitness studio industry average retention rate is roughly 70%, meaning you can expect to lose 30% of your customers every year. Furthermore, retained clients are, generally, happy clients. They tend to become \u201cWord of Mouth\u201d advocates of your business, leading to cost efficient acquisition. Just like \u201cthe best offense is a good defense,\u201d so is \u201cclosing the back door opens the front door.\u201d Clearly, Retention \u2013 keeping the members you have &#8211; is the name of the game. 2. It Starts from Day One The old expression [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":129,"featured_media":21145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[198],"class_list":["post-17521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-mfn","tag-fitness-professionals"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}