Ben Ludwig shares three ways rec centers can fight tough seasons by better embracing member onboarding.
In the fitness and wellness industry, we have busy times when we know more than usual will flood in our doors such as January. Then there are times most business owners simply try to survive until the next spike in interest. The main problem with that strategy is it leaves you at the mercy of too many extraneous variables. As a business owner or manager, you likely didn’t get into business to see what happens, but to control your growth and be proud of the results you produce.
So, what does member onboarding have to do with seasonality? The famous quote “An expectation set is an expectation met” defines how we can get ahead of the holiday drops, cancels and freezes to not just see our business grow, but also to see our members get the best results. Let’s dive into three actionable items you can do now to fight the seasonality disease.
1. Set clear expectations of how and when you will follow up with your members.
New members in your center have an idea in their head about what their routine will look like. Unfortunately, most fitness professionals don’t set up a game plan for their clients, and those that do, don’t discuss the cadence of accountability they will follow. When will your clients check ins be? When should they expect a call from you? And when they cancel a class, don’t meet the agreed upon number of sessions in a week, or when a progress report isn’t updated are a few examples of the best times to follow up. Address the problem before it’s a problem. It will be much easier to hold your client accountable if you let them know ahead of time exactly what that looks like.
2. Don’t wait for your customers to bring up vacations and holidays.
If you’re honest with yourself, are cancellation and freeze conversations highly reactive for your business? One of the best ways to ensure you don’t have huge spikes of revenue drops over the holidays is to be proactive in your conversations with your members. A month or more ahead of time, you should be asking them about what they have planned for holidays and vacations. This will allow you to focus how you will change your approach of accountability and help you client get through the holidays without having to separate their healthier lifestyle from enjoyment. The goal is to live healthier for the rest of their life anyways, right?
3. Have tools that your clients can use outside of your facility.
Accountability phone calls and messages are great, but they only go so far if you can’t track or review your members’ activity. You also want to make tracking and accountability as easy to comply with as possible. If you’re making them write down everything they eat and drink as well as count all their calories manually, you won’t get far. Find simple and easy tools for them to use and remember every great habit starts with a small step. An accountability tracker of how much water they drink daily, activity tracker and sleep tracker are a great place to start a new client who may not have any of these habits normally yet.
Remember, the fitness business is highly parallel to your member experience. Months in advance we’re asking our clients to prepare for the holidays, vacations and how to deal with the realities of distractions from their plan. As fitness business owners, we must practice what we preach and do the same when it comes to member onboarding.
