Conversations for Retention: Start Talking, Stop Losing Members

Start Talking - Stop Losing Members - gym members talking

You can’t build a business on one-night stands. Conversations are also required for retention.

In the previous post in this series, I said you have to feed your relationships to keep them alive. You feed all relationships with conversations.


Starting Conversations With Your Current Clients


If you’re not asking clients about their goals and tracking their progress, they won’t be clients for long.

Start with your five best clients. Ask to take them out for coffee one by one.

Start with these questions:

  • “What led you to my gym in the first place?”
  • “What else have you tried that you didn’t like as much?”
  • “How can I serve you more?”


Then, tell their story. Interview them and make them famous on your website and social channels.

We teach this process in depth in our RampUp program.

Then move to the rest of your clients. Book quarterly Goal Review Sessions with each of them to talk about their goals and measure their progress.

Remember, just because they swiped right one time doesn’t mean they’re ready to marry you; keep dating your clients forever. Lack of conversation is the No. 1 predictor of divorce—in marriage and in business.

We teach the Goal Review process in our RampUp program, too.


Starting Conversations With Your Former Clients


If you genuinely and authentically care about people, you’ll check in on them.

Maybe your brother really pissed you off last week. But sooner or later, you have to send him a text to ask, “Bro. What are you up to?”

Maybe your feelings were hurt when a client left. But unless they burned the bridge on the way out, they’re probably going to come back someday—and they might be waiting on an invitation.

Start with a story: “Hey, Joe. I was just remembering the time … .”

Or, “Hey, Jess, a memory just popped up on my Facebook feed. … Remember that time? How are things going?”

We shut out our former clients because our egos are bruised when they leave. We feel like we need to “win” the relationship. But you don’t need to win the battle to win overall. You win when they come back.

Of course, there will always be the 10 percent of former clients you don’t want back. Just let their stories end.


So … What’s My Lead-Nurture Strategy?


I started this series on conversation marketing with a question: “Coop, what’s your lead-nurture process?”

My process is this:

  • Tell a story.
  • Start a conversation.
  • If the conversation is positive, invite a potential client to take the next step.


But everything starts with a story.

The very first blog post on my gym’s website was titled “It’s all About the Story.” I wanted to give people in my city the opportunity to write a better story about themselves and their lives.

On Aug. 26, Mike Warkentin and I will teach a Storytelling Workshop for the first time. You don’t have to be a Two-Brain client to attend.

You’ll leave the interactive one-day online workshop with a full 30 days of high-quality content for your business—and a precise plan to keep your media machine running all year to build your audience and make more sales to much warmer leads. 

This workshop is essential if you’re struggling to create content for your business or want to scale up and tell more prospective clients how you can help them.

I can’t wait to share all this with you:

  • A distribution plan to maximize ROI on time.
  • A step-by-step plan to create an annual content calendar.
  • A sample 30-day content calendar.
  • Fully licensed stock images you can edit and use.
  • Fully licensed blogs you can tailor to your exact business and audience.
  • Social-media theme bank.
  • Video topic list and scripts.
  • And more!


Other Media in This Series


“Conversation Marketing: Let’s Talk About Underpants Gnomes”
“Conversation Marketing: 4 Steps to New Sign-Ups”

Like
Tweet

One more thing!

Did you know gym owners can earn $100,000 a year with no more than 150 clients? We wrote a guide showing you exactly how.