9 Tips to Improve Your Gym Member Experience

In this highly competitive industry, fitness enthusiasts have a wealth of available options. For instance, some gyms will charge lesser than you do, others may be more equipped than your gym while others may be more popular.

So, how can ensure that you don’t lose your gym members to the competition? Well, the solution is simple. And that is by providing a great gym member experience, which will keep your gym members from coming back, month after month. The easiest way to sell more gym memberships, is simply by being the best!

By providing a great gym member experience, your clients will be happy and satisfied. And they will not only keep renewing their gym memberships, but they are also likely to refer your fitness center to their family and friends, thus helping to boost your memberships.

The question is, how can you provide an exceptional gym member experience that will keep them coming back? Well, this article has the answers. In this article, we will take you through 9 simple but effective tips for improving gym member experience, which will make them happy and convert them into loyal customers.

1. Address Issues Promptly

Once in a while, your gym members may raise some issues they may want you to address. For instance, a member may complain that a certain personal trainer in your gym is behaving inappropriately.

Whichever the issue raised may be, you should ensure you address it right away. By listening to your clients and addressing issues raised promptly, it shows that you value their membership. And, you are committed to helping them accomplish their fitness goals.

On the other hand, if you fail to address issues promptly or you don’t address them at all, your gym members will feel as if you don’t care. And, it’s highly likely they will look for alternatives.

And if this problem persists, you may find one day find yourself with an empty gym. So, regardless of how big or small an issue is, make sure you always address it as soon as possible.

2. Provide Extra Services

As mentioned earlier, fitness enthusiasts have plenty of options these days. Hence, you will need to find a means of making your fitness center unique and making your members feel special. And you can achieve this by introducing additional services, at no extra cost.

For example, if you have a gym that serves both men and women, you can consider introducing a drop-in daycare facility for the parents in your gym. You can also introduce some free snacks and refreshments, either for free or at discounted prices.

Another option to consider is conducting individual personal training sessions, for some of your gym members. You can also introduce a laundry service for gym members who come with their towels.

You can conduct a simple poll, featuring some ideas of the extra services that you are proposing to introduce in your gym. And you can then use the poll results to make those changes.

By introducing these extra services, you will be setting yourself apart from the competition, adding value for your gym members and keeping them happy. As a result, your client attraction and retention rates will also be high.

3. Establish Close Relations

According to the Association of Fitness Business, boutique studios have a considerably higher retention rate, compared to traditional gyms. And one of the reasons behind their higher success rate is that boutique studios tend to have closer relations with their clients, compared to big box gyms.

So, if you own a traditional gym, establishing closer relationships with your members will go a long way in enhancing their experience, boosting loyalty and solidifying your position in their minds. And this translates to a higher retention rate.

So, how can you establish closer relations with your members? First, make sure you check on your members regularly, whether it’s inside the gym or outside the training sessions. Keeping in touch with your members regularly through texts, social media or phone will help to establish and maintain strong connections.

Second, create time to meet your members in person, whenever you can. For example, if you have signed up a new fitness client, you can meet them over coffee, and discuss their fitness goals. You can also use this opportunity to give them some tips that can help to bring them closer to their goals.

4. Streamline Gym Processes

Streamlining your gym processes can go a long way in adding convenience to your members and improving their overall gym experience. Also, streamlining various gym processes will enable you to work efficiently, thus freeing up some of your valuable time. As a result, you will be left with more time to dedicate to your gym members, helping them achieve their fitness goals and keeping them satisfied.

One of the most important processes that you should streamline in your gym – if you haven’t done so already – is class scheduling. If your gym members are facing challenges when it comes to booking or scheduling classes, they will increasingly become frustrated. And, the chances of a frustrated client canceling their membership are high.

Therefore, you need to ensure that this process is fast and seamless. If possible, your gym members should be able to book classes within a matter of minutes. And by making it convenient, fast and easy for them, you will improve both their experience and your gym business.

5. Host Retreats and Outdoor Workouts

As much as your members may love working out at your gym, it can get boring and repetitive for some people. Also, some will lose the motivation of coming to the gym. As a result, they will either decide to discontinue their membership and seek out other fitness centers that offer something different.

To avoid this situation, you should be hosting outdoor workouts and retreats as much as you can. If possible, every month, you should be taking your workouts outdoors, where your gym members will have a change of scenery.

You can then shape these outdoor workout sessions as team-bonding activities, which are not only refreshing and enjoyable but will considerably help to build strong relationships within your gym community. And as mentioned earlier, building strong relationships in your gym can improve member experience and boost your retention rates.

6. Ensure You Have Enough Equipment

Regardless of whether your gym offers the best discounts, if you don’t have adequate gym equipment or your equipment is not up to standard, your gym member experience will be poor.

As you may have noticed, certain gym members prefer working out with particular equipment. And, if they always have to wait for a considerable amount of time to use that piece of equipment or that equipment is constantly breaking down they will be dissatisfied. Consequently, they may decide to explore other options, where they won’t face such issues.

So, you need to ensure your gym has enough equipment based on your membership. If your members increase, then you should also increase the equipment available. Also, ensure you undertake regular maintenance of your gym equipment. You should also keep updating your gym equipment, to keep up with industry trends.

Ensuring your gym is adequately equipped with updated fitness equipment will go a long way in improving your gym member experience, retaining the existing ones and even attracting new clients.

7. Maintain High Cleanliness Standards

With dozens of gym members coming to your fitness every day, it’s important to keep the equipment, locker rooms and other facilities clean. If your equipment or facilities are always filled with dirt or sweat, you will lose members quickly. Besides, your gym will also have a bad reputation, making it hard to attract new clients.

So, make sure you put a system in place, to ensure the facilities and equipment are clean at all times. For example, you can introduce stations near the equipment, with sanitizing towels, which members can use to clean the equipment. You should also mandate equipment wiping as part of your gym policy.

8. Celebrate and Appreciate Your Gym Members

Making your gym members feel valued can help to take customer experience to the next level. Some effective methods that you can implement to make your gym members feel valued include:

• Offering them discounts, special offers and freebies.
• Sending messages to your gym members or sponsoring them for dinners during special days like anniversaries and holidays.
• Recognizing gym members who have accomplished their set fitness goals.

9. Expand Your Fitness Knowledge and Expertise

The fitness world is constantly changing and evolving, just like other industries. New fitness trends and technologies are coming up, almost every other day. Also, consumer expectations are changing every day.

Hence, if you are to deliver the best customer experience, you need to keep up with all these changes happening in the industry.

And to do so, you need to keep learning. So, make sure you attend as many industry workshops as possible. Also, you should be creating some time every week to read fitness-related articles or listen to podcasts.

You should also consider expanding your certifications. And if you have hired some personal trainers in your gym, you should encourage them to do the same.

By expanding your fitness knowledge and expertise, you will be in a position to offer better services to your clients, compared to other trainers. And this will encourage them to renew their memberships since they can feel they are getting value for their money.

Wrapping It Up

By taking the time to implement the tips we’ve shared in this article, you can significantly improve your gym member experience. And with outstanding gym member experience, you will set yourself apart from the competition, establish a loyal following and your gym will have a high retention rate. As a result, your revenues will increase and your business will keep growing.