What is Gym Member Delinquency and Why Does It Matter?

Owning and operating a gym is a fun and exciting business venture for multiple reasons. Gyms connect people, make people feel good about themselves, and they are communities of like-minded individuals. But at the end of the day, gyms are businesses and they need to make money. 

When members join a gym, they are agreeing to pay a specific amount on an ongoing basis for the gym’s services. When these payments fall behind, this is called gym member delinquency. On the most basic level, dealing with members who are forfeiting or missing payments means that gyms are not getting paid when they are supposed to. But gym member delinquency can cause lasting consequences for gyms if it gets out of hand. 

Here are a few things to be aware of when it comes to gym member delinquency:

• You might have to involve a collection agency. Collection conversations can be messy and awkward, and while many gyms might want to avoid them all together, they need to happen to level-set past-due payments. 
• Member delinquency can impact your gym’s credit. If dues aren’t coming in from members, then gym owners are forced to look elsewhere for ways to pay bills and salaries, which means borrowing from credit. It’s a vicious cycle which can put the financial integrity of your gym at risk. 
• It’s important to be open with your members. If you can, talk about finances up front and get new members set up with the right payment plans. Give members the option to select automatic payments or even annual payments to make it easier. 
• Give your members more visibility into their accounts. Gyms can take a digital-first approach to gym member delinquency by setting up online portals, accounts, and platforms that make it easy for members to see their plans, track how much they owe, and set up online payments. 
• If you’re going to make a delinquency claim, an audit trail is key. Make sure your current processes are secure, compliant, and completely audit-compatible in case questions ever come up.  

Ready to stay on top of gym member delinquency? Schedule a call with the Paramount team here to see how automatic collection services can help.