3 Steps to Decrease New Member Churn after the Holiday Rush

The start of a new year is always full of ups and downs in the gym and fitness club world. On one hand, dozens of new customers are flooding the doors every day, increasing your membership numbers and creating a culture of excitement in your gym. On the other hand, however, the stress of knowing that around half of these new members will not renew after their initial holiday promotion or the first few months of membership can cause some serious worries for gym managers and owners.

While it may be easy to chalk new member churn up to fate and tell yourself that ‘this is what happens every year,’ there are some proactive steps gym owners can take to decrease churn and keep new members sticky.   

1. Increase class offerings

Many times, new members join gyms at the beginning of the year looking for a way to be productive and spend their time effectively. One of the biggest turn-offs for these types of members is to not offer enough exercise opportunities or options for the crowd. When gyms don’t plan ahead for the holiday rush, they can be caught unaware and overwhelmed. Instead of waiting for classes to be overcrowded and new members to become frustrated about the lack of available options, plan out your Q1 class schedule in advance. Make sure you offer enough popular options to appease your current members while still showcasing more unique offerings to your new members.   

2. Schedule more social options

Another reason new members join gyms at the new year is to find a place where they can engage and connect with like-minded people. In reality, increasing fitness levels and reaching goals are secondary to forming strong social connections. Adding social elements to your member retention strategy is easy if you start planning well in advance. Offer new member mixers or post-workout get-togethers weekly for the first few weeks of the new year to make sure your new customers feel welcome and involved with a community. Then, you can start hosting gym-wide meetups to help strengthen the relationships between members. These social events also serve your new members just how fun and engaging your current member base is.

3. Prolong holiday offerings

A final option to decrease new member churn is to offer a new, targeted deal offer that targets both new and returning members at the most opportune moment. If you know most of your new holiday members leave around mid-March, maybe think about starting up a new promotion around that time that offers a bye-one-get one type of deal. So, if a customer purchases a 5-class pack, they would get 3 classes for free. Or, if your gym operates on a monthly basis, you could offer a free month if you bring a friend to sign up.

Extending the promotions that brought in your new members in the first place can both help keep these customers from churning as well as give your long-time members a chance to benefit from a start-of-year promotion.