Welcoming new members to your gym is always an exciting time. Their energy is high, and they’re ready to crush their fitness goals. But once that initial enthusiasm fades, the real test of your gym’s value begins—will they stick around? This is where your gym proves its worth to your clients, and getting it right is crucial.
The first six months are the honeymoon phase, but did you know that’s when 50% of new members tend to quit? Losing members you worked hard to recruit is frustrating, but that’s why retention is just as important as marketing and sales.
📖 Read more: Best Ways to Boost Membership Retention
Over the next 10 minutes or so, we’ll break down:
- What is gym member retention?
- Why is retention essential to gym success?
- Six reasons why members quit
These topics will help you develop a solid strategy to keep more of your new members. Let’s dive in. 👇
What is Gym Member Retention?
Gym member retention refers to a gym’s ability to keep existing members over time without losing them to inactivity or cancellations. Gyms with high retention rates primarily have members who consistently use their facilities and value their memberships. These happy members provide steady revenue and help build a base for a vibrant gym community.
Effective retention strategies often include:
- Personalized training (and nutrition) programs
- Events and competitions
- Consistent, high-quality communication through all channels
- Incentive and loyalty programs
- Increased convenience and accessibility with the latest gym technology
💡 The higher your gym’s retention rate, the greater the chance your gym will yield long-term success. For this reason, building a loyal customer base is essential to achieve sustainable business growth.
Why is Retention Essential for Gym Success?
Signing up new members through a strong marketing campaign is a significant part of growing your gym. However, if nearly half of those new members quit within the first few months, it offsets the profitability of even the best marketing and sales strategies. That’s why a high retention rate is vital for long-term success in the gym business.
💡 According to Two-Brain Business, retention improves key metrics like Length of Engagement (LEG), Average Revenue per Member (ARM), Lifetime Value (LTV), Gross Revenue, Profit, and Net Owner Benefit (NOB).
Here are specific ways member retention supports your gym’s growth: 👇
Lowers Acquisition Costs
Considering it costs five times more to attract and onboard a new member than to keep an existing one, having a proactive retention strategy is the most cost-effective way to advance your gym to the next level. This is why losing a new member can be painful. Not only do you lose future revenue from that member, but you also have to spend another chunk of money to bring a new lead through the sales funnel.
Causes Revenue Stability
A healthy member retention rate promotes a steady and predictable revenue stream, which is more reliable than fluctuating new member sign-ups. As a result, the dependable cash flow from retained memberships allows you to make strategic business decisions rather than resorting to survival tactics.
Encourages Word-of-Mouth Referrals
Some gyms thrive primarily on word-of-mouth referrals, and these gyms typically have exceptionally high retention rates, meaning most members never leave. When members succeed in their programs and enjoy their experience, they naturally share it with friends and family. This tends to stimulate more referral traffic, especially in gyms with strong retention rates.
Creates a Community Culture
When your gym maintains a high retention rate, it gives members time to settle into the culture and feel a sense of belonging. This synergy helps members bond over a shared goal of getting fit and healthy. Just as importantly, potential members will pick up on this positive community vibe when they visit, which can support your marketing efforts.
Increases Member Lifetime Value (LTV)
Longtime members are the biggest contributors to your gym’s revenue over time. They’re also more likely to purchase other services like personal training, merchandise, nutrition counseling, coaching, and special programs. This makes maintaining a high retention rate essential for boosting lifetime value (LTV).
💡 LTV is the estimated average revenue a customer generates during their time as a member at your gym.
Lowers Churn Rate
Your gym’s churn rate is the percentage of members who cancel or don’t renew their memberships over a specific period, usually monthly or yearly. By increasing your retention rate, you directly lower your gym’s churn rate. A lower churn rate means spending less time replacing lost members and more time expanding your member base.
💡 A 10% reduction in churn can significantly boost your profitability. This article will show you how cutting churn can save you up to $31,200 annually.
Top Six Reasons Why Members Give Up
Losing a member is disappointing on many levels. No owner wants to be in the position of constantly trying to convince departing members to stay. This is why having a proactive retention strategy is key to reduce the need of member recovery attempts.
Before developing your retention strategy, consider these six primary reasons why members drop out—and the solutions to help keep them around. 👇
1. Frustrated by Lack of Progress
❌ Challenge: New members typically enter your gym with goals and expectations. Most have objectives like:
- Losing “x” pounds in six months
- Being able to fit in a wedding dress in three months
- Lowering blood glucose levels to a normal range
- Achieving a toned body before summer
- Reach a doctor’s recommendation for VO2 max (maximum oxygen consumption)
Often, these new members have struggled to see results with past workouts and fitness plans, so they expect to finally get results at your facility. Because of this, they may be willing to pay extra for personal training or nutrition counseling. However, if they don’t feel like they’re making progress despite their efforts, they can quickly become frustrated and cancel their memberships.
✅ Solution: You can reduce this frustration by partnering with your members from the beginning of the sales process. Here’s how:
- Identify the obstacles and pain points that have hindered their fitness progress in the past and develop a plan to overcome them.
- Set realistic, obtainable goals together and explain what it will take to reach them.
- After they begin the program, check in regularly and address any issues as they arise.
- Ensure their diet and lifestyle align with their goals.
💡 Gym management software like The Kilo Stack can optimize this process. Its client progress tracking feature can track members' exercise routines, calories burned, heart rate, and physical progress. You can use this real-time data to create accurate performance evaluations and progress reports for your members.
Members can also access their progress reports through a member portal, allowing you and your trainers to make quick adjustments and share updates instantly.
2. Lack of Recognition and Encouragement
❌ Challenge: A recent survey found that employees who receive recognition are 63% more likely to stay in their current jobs for three to six months. The same applies to gym members. Although reaching fitness milestones is uplifting, most people also value validation of their efforts, especially from their coaches, trainers, or mentors.
Recognizing and promoting your members’ achievements boosts their morale and motivates them to reach their goals. It may seem like a minor detail, but members who don’t receive positive reinforcement through recognition and encouragement are more likely to leave your gym.
✅ Solution: Recognizing your members’ accomplishments is easy and cheap. Here are a few suggestions:
- Spotlight members’ achievements on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
- Display members who reach attendance or fitness goals on a digital bulletin board in the gym.
- Feature a “Member of the Week” on your gym’s website.
- Give shout-outs on WhatsApp to members who consistently attend group classes for a month.
- Like a Dean’s List, create a similar honor system like a “Trainer’s List,” recognizing various levels of achievement.
💡 Certain gym management software features can help by automatically populating a list of members eligible for recognition. You can also receive alerts through email or SMS when a member reaches a milestone.
3. Poor Organization
❌ Challenge: Poor gym management is one of the most compelling reasons members cancel their memberships. It can lead to substandard facilities, broken equipment, communication breakdowns, and frustrating payment methods. Even if your gym offers great classes and trainers, a poor member experience will lower your retention rate.
💡 Poor management can sabotage the most effective gym business strategy by giving members a valid reason to leave, which is why having organized systems in place is essential.
✅ Solution: More gym owners are implementing gym management software to ensure peak operations and provide a premium member experience. It automates daily administrative tasks, such as:
- Onboarding and check-ins
- Billing and payment processes
- Financial management
- Class scheduling and appointment setup
- Access control
- Membership and staff management
💡 Gym management software like The Kilo Stack also improves the member experience by allowing your members to use mobile apps to book classes, make membership payments, view progress, and stay connected with the gym. By eliminating old manual processes, you can streamline your gym operations and maintain optimal organization.
4. Alienation
❌ Challenge: According to the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, people are more likely to stick to exercise programs when they receive social support. This is why developing a community culture in your gym should be a core part of your retention strategy. Feeling part of a group with a mutual purpose is a primary appeal of team sports, and the same concept is true for gyms. However, nurturing a community atmosphere can be challenging, especially when larger managerial tasks take priority. It also requires developing strong soft skills and efficient time management.
✅ Solution: Building a community culture in your gym takes time and cooperation of core members, trainers, and staff. You can start by setting up a Facebook or WhatsApp group for your gym members—this provides an easy way for them to connect through online conversations and posts. Hosting events, team challenges, coffee meetups, or year-end parties also helps promote fellowship and strengthen the community.
💡 By automating all the marketing, administrative, and operational tasks, gym management software can free up valuable managerial time to focus on community-building efforts in your gym.
5. Lackluster Classes
❌ Challenge: Your classes are the marquee attractions of your gym, and achieving a strong retention rate is unlikely without a robust schedule of engaging classes. No matter how many new members you bring in, a lackluster class roster with uninspiring instructors will discourage member engagement. This can also prevent members from reaching their fitness goals. Even if your gym has built a reputation for great classes, newly hired trainers can impact the quality and consistency of your offerings.
✅ Solution: Even if you’re facing a staff shortage, it’s better to cancel a class than to hire a trainer who doesn’t meet your quality standards. When hiring trainers, it’s essential to take your time and maintain high expectations—they are the frontline representatives of your gym and have direct contact with your members.
💡 It’s also important to ensure that your classes are more appealing than your competitors' offerings, while maintaining a consistent style. You can accomplish this by providing instructor manuals and thorough onboarding.
6. Crowded Facilities
❌ Challenge: A packed gym is a pleasing sight for a gym owner because it reflects the success of your hard work and sacrifice. However, many of your members may not see it the same way. They might view a crowded gym as an obstacle to getting a thorough and enjoyable workout, and the increased noise level could also annoy them. Resentment can grow and spread through conversations or posts on social media. As a result, a consistently crowded gym can have a boomerang effect on your gym’s success.
✅ Solution: The only effective way to address this challenge is by reducing gym congestion. One option is to expand your gym’s access hours. But how can you offer this benefit without increasing staff hours? Gym management software provides a cost-effective solution with seamless access control using mobile apps, key card systems, biometric scanners, and other features. You can also use this technology to offer discounted off-hours access memberships, potentially boosting engagement while easing peak-time congestion.
💡 Kieran Williams runs two open access gyms without staff that generate $30k/month in profit. Thanks to his limited membership approach, the gyms are never crowded.
Moving Forward
You can’t afford to lose too many members as you work toward taking your gym to the next level or maintaining success. To reach your business goals, you need the stable income and word-of-mouth marketing that happy members bring. That’s why it’s crucial to focus on your members’ goals, make them feel validated and part of your gym’s community, provide engaging programs, and ensure a seamless member experience.
Gym management software can help you achieve these goals more easily. Book a call to learn more about The Kilo Stack.
