Personal trainer speaking with two smiling clients at fitness center

 04/04/2017

Fitness Business Strategy: 5 Steps to Strengthen Member Culture

Do you remember the TV show “Cheers”? The classic “Norm!” said by all as one of the regulars walked into the bar is a great example of member culture. The Cheers song “Where everybody knows your name. And they’re always glad you came …” is what every Fitness business should strive for.

Now the beer, pretzels, and chicken wings may not resonate with the Fitness industry, but that concept of everyone meeting others and just having a great time is definitely needed.

In essence you want your facility to become a gathering place for people. It should be a place where everyone meets to go out for a run, comes to get that great workout, or just meets up with a friend to do some Yoga or stretching.

In our facility when a client leaves, others ask where they are and when they plan to come back. It’s not just our friendly staff that say “hi”, but other clients that train at the same time. We are building a community and a network for our clients that reaches beyond the trainers, and becomes more about the facility as “the place to be”.

The key for any Fitness facility is to make it about the facility. Not the trainers, owners, or the other staff. This concept becomes even more critical for Personal Trainers trying to expand and grow beyond just their own training hours and clients. It’s the difference between being a trainer-centric business versus a facility-centric business. You want to have your clients and members feel an attachment to your space. This is how you build a member culture that will keep staff and add new members.

5 steps to building a strong member culture in your Fitness business:

1. It all starts with your business name. When naming your business or facility, avoid using your name in the title. Unless you are a celebrity and building off that brand, it will only make your space focused on you versus the clients. It will also be harder for you as the owner to sub contract out to other trainers. Your business name should resonate with your target demographic and not necessarily you or your staff.

2. Always greet and say goodbye to every person that walks through your doors. When possible have your staff greet people by name. Saying their names as they enter and exit is really important for smaller Fitness studios and gyms. It’s also a fantastic way for larger facilities to make members feel special.

3. Staff and trainers should be on the floor and talking with people … not sitting behind the front desk or in the back staff area. For larger- and medium-sized facilities, have a designated staff member that walks the floor, says “hello”, and asks people how everything is going. Introduce members, when appropriate. Your staff can become an ice breaker between people. This goes a long way to making your space member-focused.

4. Host run clinics. Members and even non-members can meet and use stretch areas and your changing room. When possible do these for free or minimal cost and add it to your marketing. The goal here would be to have those non-members and friends of members convert into paying members.

5. Host community events or charity fundraisers. This is a fantastic way to gain exposure and build up your community involvement. Find out which charities members are involved in and make a donation of your Fitness services. Last year our studio donated over $10,000 in services to client charities. We converted eight new members with an average spend of $500 a month. This has been a great way to build business and support charities.

People need to identify with your message and brand. The more you can make this about your facility and how great it is to come there, the quicker you can start to develop a member culture that will grow your Fitness business.

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Leading provider of billing and member management solutions. Proudly serving the martial arts and fitness industry since 1991.