Last month, you lost more clients than you gained. Uh-oh.
Maybe it’s a longer-term trend: You’re starting the fourth quarter with fewer clients than you had in June. S***!
Maybe, year over year, you’re down. Or maybe you’re still blaming COVID lockdowns—but those were two years ago.
Whatever your timeline, it’s time to fix your client churn problem for good.
We’re going to take a scientific approach here. That means:
1. Isolating the problem.
2. Looking at the data to create the solution.
3. Testing the solution in your gym.
First Ask “When?”
First, answer this question: When are people leaving?
People quit for different reasons at different times.
We want people to create long-term habits that change their lives. That means we need different retention strategies at different times in their “journey” as a client at your gym.
One of the best meta-studies on this can be found on PubMed: “Making Health Habitual: The Psychology of ‘Habit-Formation’ and General Practice.”
And James Clear, author of “Atomic Habits,” breaks the process down here.
It takes different strategies to keep people around for 21 days, for 66 days and for 254 days.
The takeaway: Retention problems cannot be fixed with a single, one-size-fits-all solution.
The good news: There is a model you can use to maximize retention. I’ll share that with you in a moment.
Clients Leaving Before 3-Week Mark
Reason: They’re overwhelmed. They’re thinking things like “I can’t do this” or “it’s all too much.” They’re probably getting crushed in workouts. Some might feel dumb because they think they aren’t getting up to speed fast enough.
Solution: You need a 1:1 consultative meeting with people so you can tell them what they should expect. Then you need a high-touch onboarding period. Onboarding is best done 1:1 with a coach. The coach should teach the basics in private sessions and check in with the client daily (or as often as possible). We call this “on-ramp,” and we teach you how to build your perfect on-ramp in our mentorship program.
Remember: When they signed up, they wanted this to work. You have novelty and excitement on your side. But you’re burying them. Don’t throw them straight into group classes; guide them step by step until they’re up to speed.
Clients Leaving Before the 3-Month Mark
Reason: They’re not seeing progress quickly enough. Or they’re struggling to fit their workouts into their routine. After two months, clients will start to ask themselves, “Is this worth the time and money I’m putting into it?” and you need to answer that question for them because they don’t have the skills to measure their own progress.
Solution: Book a goal review to show them their progress, review their goals and paint a picture of the next stage for them. Clients leave when they run out of future—when they can’t see where they’ve been or where they’re going. Put them on your Inbody, take their measurements and walk through a list of accomplishments. Then tell them how you’ll optimize their journey for the next three months.
Clients Leaving Before the 1-Year Mark
Reason: The novelty’s worn off. At this point, they might not be quitting fitness—but they are quitting your gym to “try something else.”
Solution: Keep meeting with them every three months and adjust their client journey (and your recommendations) based on their progress. This creates a “sunk cost”: They give up all their progress with you if they start over somewhere else. Be sure to explain the “why” behind your programming: Publish an internal QuickCast each week to walk through the group programming, and take extra care with 1:1 clients to explain why their workouts are changing based on their progress.
You also need to help them build bonds within the gym. Between 90 days and the nine-month mark, they need to create a bond with the owner, their coach and at least one other person in the gym. It’s best if that “third person” is someone they bring in themselves. So, yes, asking for referrals actually helps retention.
Clients Leaving After the First Year
Reason: They’re successful at your program but they’re not reaching higher in life. They’ve seen some success (they’ve lost 10 lb. or hit a deadlift PR), but they’re not elevating their goals to strive for something new.
Solution: Give them a way to level up in life because they’ve already hit the top level of “their old self.” The goal should be fitness-related but doesn’t have to be competitive. At a goal review meeting, suggest they try their first 10-km run or marathon, or suggest they work on a specific weakness, or recommend they do a competition, or ask them to consider attending your Advanced Theory Course for coaching candidates.
This is also a good time to use a “level system” to show them a path forward—like a belt system in martial arts—and acknowledge their past attendance (idea: “100 classes club” patches and T-shirts).
Clients Leaving After the Second or Third Year
Reason: They might be leaving your gym, but they’re probably not quitting fitness. If so, this is a “mission accomplished” for you and your team. While it might hurt to lose the client, look at the big picture: You got a client past all the points where people quit fitness programs and helped them build a lifelong habit. They’re going to be healthier for the rest of their lives because of you.
Solution: Give them a gift to say “thank you” and a reason to come back. Congratulate them on changing their lives. They are now proud alumni. Make sure they know they’re welcome to come back if they fall off, and promise to follow up with them each quarter for a while. Get them to film a testimonial and ask if you can speak at their workplace.
The Right Strategy at the Right Time
We track length of engagement (LEG) because that will tell us how to solve your retention problems better.
I hope you see that applying a good retention solution at the wrong time won’t work.
For example, encouraging a 21-day client to enter a CrossFit competition is a bad idea, but encouraging a one-year client to try their first 5-km race is a great idea.
So how do you put this all together?
You adopt the Prescriptive Model.
- You start with a consultative process.
- You guide clients through an on-ramp period.
- You meet with them quarterly.
- You ask for referrals at the right time.
- You upgrade their prescription as they upgrade their fitness.
- You never, ever assume your product will retain people on its own. It’s what goes on around the class that keeps people coming back.
In our mentorship program, we help you implement the Prescriptive Model in your gym. To find out more about that, book a call here.
