Member retention is an often-overlooked benefit of implementing fitness center customer service best practices. It may seem obvious, but many club managers focus solely on new membership sales—essential to the survival of a gym—without giving just as much attention to retaining existing members.

Focusing on staff training and consistency when it comes to customer service excellence at your fitness center will drive new member sales, while keeping current members engaged and active.

Why member retention should be your focus

Fitness center recruitment costs average upwards of $67 per new member, compared to $0 cost for an existing member. What many clubs with active recruitment strategies may not take into account is the value of membership and service fees lost due to member attrition.

A 2018 IHRSA report estimated annual average revenue lost per cancelled account at $674, but the more codifying statistic is the total revenue all current members produce. For a club that offers fitness only, member retention brings in more than 2/3 of all annual revenue.

Recruit, retain, and build a reputation for excellence

So much has changed in the past few years that it’s important to update your fitness center customer service best practices to better serve member retention and recruitment goals. Here are the top 10 ways your fitness center staff should be attracting, engaging, and serving members every day.

1. Treat each interaction with a member or prospect as the most important thing you’ll do that day.
2. Smile, be polite, and be authentic. Friendliness and helpfulness go a long way in every encounter. Just one negative interaction could lead to a lost sale or cancellation.
3. Practice active listening to help members feel “heard.” Repeat back what they’ve said to make sure you understand, and to allow them to clarify.
4. Use a member’s name in every interaction. Instructors need to learn members’ names and recognize them in front of others for hard work in class, also.
5. Avoid distractions to give a customer your undivided attention. Other members, staff members, telephones, radios, and cell phones need to wait until the conversation is over. Maintain eye contact.
6. Make each member a priority. Go above and beyond, offer to help or answer questions without being asked, and respond enthusiastically when your offer is accepted.
7. Create phone scripts to provide consistent telephone-answering etiquette, procedures, and answers to commonly asked questions.
8. Take notes and act with urgency to address any member need or concern. Own it – don’t pass it to someone else. See every interaction through to its solution.
9. Seek out at least one “extra” customer service task each day. Hand someone a towel, offer to wipe down a machine or refill water, or otherwise engage the member in friendly conversation that isn’t pushy or ill-timed.
10. Have fun. Staff should joke and laugh appropriately with other staff, members, and prospects to create a sense of community and show that the fitness center is a positive place where everyone is included and belongs.

Customer service best practices honor the individual

One of the best ways to build member engagement and community is to focus on the individual. Members who feel seen, valued, and essential to their community will attend classes regularly and are more likely to invest in ancillary services. More importantly, they are more likely to refer new members, and every referral builds a club’s reputation and community even more.

Aquila Fitness offers facility management services that honor each individual member’s needs and goals, honoring them and creating a sense of pride among staff members who enjoy serving their members well. For more than 25 years, we’ve helped fitness centers build strong and growing communities by focusing on current customer service best practices, and we’re ready to help your fitness center team do the same. Contact us today to learn how Aquila’s fitness center management expertise can build a new and human-focused approach to member service, recruitment, retention, and community.