January traditionally sees the number of new gym registrations skyrocket. Around 30% more new members sign up in January than in any other month of the year. Reason for it are the good resolutions, which are met at the latest in the New Year's Eve. But already after 6-8 weeks the enterprise in the Studio settles again on the completely normal measure - the motivation thrust at the beginning of the year is past, the internal pig dog wins with more than 80% of the Fitness new A RISERs, the contract runs out finally for the most part unused and is not renewed again. Only active members remain as customers of the studio - tips on how you as a studio operator can support your new members in persevering and thus generate new regular customers have been summarized here for you.
The anamnesis as a cornerstone for long-lasting motivation
The better you understand your customers, the more likely you are to help them achieve their training goals. Here is the first point you can start with. "I want to do something for my health and lose a little weight!" is probably one of the most common training goals of new members. Help your members to formulate their goals according to the SMART principle:
SMART stands for "Specific, Measurable, Activating, Realisticand Scheduled", goals that are formulated with this rule of thumb are much easier to achieve than the wish for more health and weight loss. What exactly do your members want to achieve? How much weight should be lost? By when? Is it really about the number on the scale, or is the real goal a more toned, trained body? What health problems do you want to improve by visiting the studio?
In this way, you can work out suitable training plans together with your members. By setting measurable interim goals that are relatively easy to achieve, you can also give your members' motivation a boost every now and then. The 15kg may seem unattainable after a few weeks - but the 2kg after the first 8 weeks in the studio are easily achieved.
Activation triggers help with perseverance
Activation Triggers are - to put it simply - the metaphorical "kick in the butt". They are phrases and actions that trigger the desired behavior. For example, a trainee who wants to go to the gym on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday might pack the gym bag the night before. Packing the gym bag then serves as an Activation Trigger. Of course, many of these triggers have to be set by the trainee himself. However, the studio can certainly help optimize the triggers. A reminder of the booked training session by e-mail or app or a personalized weekly training summary, a preview of the training plans for the coming training day can serve as motivating aids for your members.
Target group-specific customer approach: Sensitively addressing overweight members
Bonus systems boost motivation
By establishing bonus systems in your studio, you have several advantages as a studio operator: You encourage your members to book additional services and can really boost your customers' motivation with the help of attractive bonuses when they achieve certain goals. You have a great deal of freedom in designing your bonus systems and can adapt them to suit your members. You are free to award individually achieved goals with a bonus or to discount booked additional services. For example, your members can collect bonus points for every kilo they lose, which they can then use to receive certain additional services - a towel with the logo of your studio or a free visit to the sauna in your studio are just two of the many possibilities. Or you can offer various additional services at a discount for regular use: When booking with a fixed appointment of 5 trainer hours, each hour will be slightly cheaper than when making only one appointment.
Buddy systems help to keep up
If you train with a partner or in a group, it is easier to stick to it. This has been known for a long time and is also scientifically well studied. In our fast-paced times, however, social contacts are constantly coming up short for many people. With a buddy system, you bring together members with similar goals. Ideally, experienced trainers come into contact with newcomers in this way. With the example that one's own goal is attainable because the training partner has already achieved it, it is much easier to stay motivated and to pursue one's goals. For the experienced trainers you can offer various benefits and thus establish your buddy system efficiently in the studio.
Conclusion
In order to turn your new members into active, regular users of your studio and thus strengthen member loyalty to your studio, you must first and foremost boost the motivation of your members. After 12-16 weeks, a new routine becomes a routine that is then followed relatively automatically. At the same time, most new members drop out after only 8-10 weeks - even if the membership was agreed upon for a longer period of time. Therefore, it is especially important to support new members in this phase and to keep them motivated during the critical time. This is how you gain new regular customers with a high level of loyalty to your studio.
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Editors fitnessmarkt.de (DG)
Image credit: #180471971 Prostock-studio / stock.adobe.com
Published on: 10 January 2020