Pinning Down the Mystery – What Makes Members Stick Around Retention Pinning Down the Mystery – What Makes Members Stick Around

The Information International Health, Racquet and Sportclub Association (IHRSA) IHRSA’s Guide to Membership Retention (2007, 2nd Edition) by John McCarthy  available on the Intranet under “NIFS Staff Training” IHRSA primarily represents commercial fitness, so how could the information in the Guide translate to corporate fitness?

Rowing harder doesn’t help If the boat is headed in the wrong direction. ~ K. Ohmae

Why have this webinar? Our clients are asking about the value of the money they spend on NIFS services. The “it’s the right thing to do for your employees” defense isn’t enough anymore. Creating reliable data around retention will create a value proposition for our current clients and prospective business partners.

What are my expectations? Our clients are asking about the value of the money they spend on NIFS services. I need your help telling the value story that comes when they staff with NIFS. Action...make a move after you participate in this webinar. Establish some kind of new, measureable focus on member retention at your site It won’t be required on performance reviews for 2009-2010, but you may see it become a requirement for 2010-2011

You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do. ~ Henry Ford

New Member/Joining Experience Retention starts at the beginning. What is the new member experience like at your site(s)? How do you know? Have we ever polled new members to find out (1) what we’re doing well and (2) what we can do better? Have we ever roll-played as a new member with our staff as a training exercise? When was the last time you were a new member? What was memorable about your experience (positive/negative)? Translate that to the experience we are creating. How do we do that better?

New Member/Joining Experience Do we know why our members join? What could we do with that information if we had it? Pair up like-minded members Recommend appropriate NIFS services (PFQ, ExRx, IFA, Nutritional Consultation, etc) Refer to client services (EAP, other wellness offerings) Follow up on the initial reason for joining to see if we’re meeting needs Design new programs/services designed to meet those needs What else?

New Member/Joining Experience How much time do we spend with a new member? Is the 30 minute orientation enough? Rowing harder doesn’t help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction. ~ K. Ohmae

New Member/Joining Experience Is the 30 minute orientation enough? Or do we need to spend more time with new members? How do we treat new members? What lengths do we go to ensuring that their first three months involve a variety of experiences designed to help them stick around? RETENTION is higher for members who participate in multiple services. How many of your new members are signed up for a variety of programs at your fitness center?

What if we established an ongoing incentive ONLY for new members that helps them integrate into the fitness center? What if we spent as much time on serving and getting to know new members as we do chatting with our regulars? What if you called each new member one week after they joined? What would you say or ask in that phone call? How would you use the call to improve retention? What if each new member was assigned to a staff person? What are the responsibilities of the staff person for integrating the new member? What if retention goals at each facility were part of the performance review process and staff were accountable for continuous improvement by integration percentages?

You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do. ~ Henry Ford

How do we know what works? Evaluation Build an evaluation component into your programs to figure out what works, why it works, and what can be done better next time. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. ~Albert Einstein

Socialization Member-to-member socialization is at least as important as member-to-staff interaction for retention. In what ways do we actively build relationships between members? How are we fostering socialization and connectedness in the fitness center? Can we create “clubs” within our clubs? Can we pair like-minded members for exercise prescriptions, group exercise classes, wellness presentations, blood pressure checks, community walks? Can we encourage/promote joining with a friend? What other ideas are there? How do we start them?

Group Exercise Retention is higher among group exercise participants. When was the effectiveness of the group fitness program evaluated (classes and instructors)? Should we evaluate from a professional standpoint and/or a participant standpoint? When is the last time a change was made to the class offerings? If your answer is “Why would I change what’s working?”...how do you know it’s working?

Group Exercise Retention is higher among group exercise participants. If you have low participation in your classes (2-5 participants per class), what are you doing about it? What CAN you do about it? "Do, or do not. There is no 'try.'“ ~Jedi Master Yoda

An Eye On Participation Declining usage is a red flag. What are we doing to keep our active members active? What are we doing to move “different users per month” to “5+ visits per month” What are we doing to track declines in participation month to month…and once we get that information, what do we do with it?

You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do. ~ Henry Ford

A Change In Mindset What if EVERY program we ran and EVERY service we provided had member retention at its core? What are you going to start doing differently based on our conversation today?