Member Retention: A Key to Health Club Profitability

Focused on the continual need to add more people to a health club's membership, many managers fail to recognize that member retention is a key to health club profitability. Getting caught up in the high energy, "sell, sell, sell" mentality can be unhealthy for any business; managers must take a step back to fully consider the economics that make their businesses successful.

What Does It Cost to Make a Sale?

Every health club manager understands that the cost of enrolling a new member can be expensive. Marketing, advertising, public relations and paying sales staff are just a few expenses involved in recruiting new members. After all the expense and effort involved in enrolling a new member, too many sales-focused managers move on to the next challenge with little regard to ensuring that their newest member is happy.

This is a critical mistake that health clubs should correct and today's difficult economy is proof that this is a poor strategy. What happens when the pool of prospects dries up due to a soft economy?

The Cost of Replacing a Health Club Member

A membership management strategy that is overly focused on generating new sales is a mistake waiting to happen. A successful, long term health club membership strategy should balance the generation of new members with the retention of existing members. After all, retaining existing members is much less expensive that finding new ones: it costs two-and-a-half times more to recruit a new member than retain an existing one.

Member Satisfaction Improves Profitability

Clubs that satisfy the needs of their membership increase profitability in several ways. First, clubs that retain existing members avoid the additional cost involved in replacing each member. Therefore if it costs $250 to obtain a new member, clubs can save $150 by keeping that member satisfied enough to renew his or her membership. Second, satisfied members will speak positively about a club, reducing new member acquisition cost further. Finally, members that achieve their goals become vocal brand ambassadors that will represent the health club well and essentially create "free" public relations.

How Do I Improve Member Satisfaction?

While there are a number of ways a club manager can improve member satisfaction, here are several suggestions:

1. Promote Teamwork Among Staff to Assist Members in Reaching Goals
2. Regularly Ask Members About Their Progress and Whether They Need Help
3. Offer a Bonus to Staff to Improve the Retention Rate
4. Train and Empower Staff to Help Solve Problems
5. Offer Amenities Unavailable at Other Facilities

Many of these are general common sense, but standing out from the crowd is of great importance; many health clubs have found success by using an on-site juice bar as that differential advantage. A Juice Bar Improves Satisfaction, Retention and Profitability. Health club managers interested in improving their facility's performance should consider adding a juice bar. Some reasons to include opening a juice bar in a health club include:

* A juice bar offers convenient, healthy meal alternatives
* A juice bar is an additional source of revenue
* A juice bar helps staff strengthen member relationships
* A juice bar is an additional feature when selling memberships

Overall, health club juice bars are seen by members as a valuable amenity that contributes to increase satisfaction, retention and profitability.

In conclusion, health club managers should incorporate both new sales and membership retention their facility's business development strategy. Improving member satisfaction is of key importance in raising retention rates and the installation of an on-site smoothie juice bar can be a key component in achieving that goal.

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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC '-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN' 'http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd'><html><head><title>Look For Articles - Articles Directory | Member Retention: A Key to Health Club Profitability</title></head><body><h3>Member Retention: A Key to Health Club Profitability</h3><br><br> By: Paul Fleming<br><br><p><p>Focused on the continual need to add more people to a health club's membership, many managers fail to recognize that member retention is a key to health club profitability. Getting caught up in the high energy, "sell, sell, sell" mentality can be unhealthy for any business; managers must take a step back to fully consider the economics that make their businesses successful.</P><p>What Does It Cost to Make a Sale?</P><p>Every health club manager understands that the cost of enrolling a new member can be expensive. Marketing, advertising, public relations and paying sales staff are just a few expenses involved in recruiting new members. After all the expense and effort involved in enrolling a new member, too many sales-focused managers move on to the next challenge with little regard to ensuring that their newest member is happy.</P><p>This is a critical mistake that health clubs should correct and today's difficult economy is proof that this is a poor strategy. What happens when the pool of prospects dries up due to a soft economy?</P><p>The Cost of Replacing a Health Club Member</P><p>A membership management strategy that is overly focused on generating new sales is a mistake waiting to happen. A successful, long term health club membership strategy should balance the generation of new members with the retention of existing members. After all, retaining existing members is much less expensive that finding new ones: it costs two-and-a-half times more to recruit a new member than retain an existing one.</P><p>Member Satisfaction Improves Profitability</P><p>Clubs that satisfy the needs of their membership increase profitability in several ways. First, clubs that retain existing members avoid the additional cost involved in replacing each member. Therefore if it costs $250 to obtain a new member, clubs can save $150 by keeping that member satisfied enough to renew his or her membership. Second, satisfied members will speak positively about a club, reducing new member acquisition cost further. Finally, members that achieve their goals become vocal brand ambassadors that will represent the health club well and essentially create "free" public relations.</P><p>How Do I Improve Member Satisfaction?</P><p>While there are a number of ways a club manager can improve member satisfaction, here are several suggestions:</P><p>1. Promote Teamwork Among Staff to Assist Members in Reaching Goals <br>2. Regularly Ask Members About Their Progress and Whether They Need Help <br>3. Offer a Bonus to Staff to Improve the Retention Rate <br>4. Train and Empower Staff to Help Solve Problems <br>5. Offer Amenities Unavailable at Other Facilities</P><p>Many of these are general common sense, but standing out from the crowd is of great importance; many health clubs have found success by using an on-site juice bar as that differential advantage. A Juice Bar Improves Satisfaction, Retention and Profitability. Health club managers interested in improving their facility's performance should consider adding a juice bar. Some reasons to include opening a juice bar in a health club include:</P><p>* A juice bar offers convenient, healthy meal alternatives <br>* A juice bar is an additional source of revenue <br>* A juice bar helps staff strengthen member relationships <br>* A juice bar is an additional feature when selling memberships</P><p>Overall, health club juice bars are seen by members as a valuable amenity that contributes to increase satisfaction, retention and profitability.</P><p>In conclusion, health club managers should incorporate both new sales and membership retention their facility's business development strategy. Improving member satisfaction is of key importance in raising retention rates and the installation of an on-site smoothie juice bar can be a key component in achieving that goal.<br></P></p> <br><br> <b>Author Resource:-></b>  Dan Young is President and CEO of Performance Food Centers, an industry leader in all facets of the <a href="http://www.performancefoodcenters.com/index.php">juice bar </a> business. Serving over 910 juice bars, fitness centers and cafes, Performance Food Centers offers expertise in everything from the development of a smoothie store business plan to the design and development of a new <a href="http://www.performancefoodcenters.com/licensing_opportunities.php">juice bar franchise</a>.<br><br><b>Article From</b> <a href='http://www.look4articles.com/'>Look For Articles - Articles Directory</a><br></body></html>