At-home fitness options are on the rise. If they weren’t already on the upswing, the COVID crisis rocket-launched them into our present reality. According to the BBC, Peloton’s number of connected fitness subscribers grew by 1.09 million, up 113% year over year in June of 2020, and they projected subscribers to exceed 2 million within 12 months.

You may be looking at those numbers and thinking, “What could my club possibly do to keep up with that kind of growth?” Here are several considerations for retaining the members you do have, and even bringing on new members, by complementing at-home fitness rather than battling against it.

You likely know the other gyms and clubs you lose members to in your area, but what about the digital giants you’re up against? We mentioned Peloton, but there’s a slew of others. And what about the more traditional at-home options like free weights, bands, and kettlebells? By knowing exactly which options you’re losing members to, you arm yourself with the information to enhance your offering.

One way you can collect this information is by conducting formal and informal surveys when members express interest in canceling or pausing their memberships. Ask them:

• Are you opting for a digital at-home fitness experience?
• Are you opting for a traditional at-home fitness experience?
• Are you opting for an outdoor fitness experience?

Then ask yourself: How does my club offer more than just digital, traditional, or outdoor fitness options? Make sure your answer to that question is clear in your messaging to your members and in sales conversations.

It may not come to a question of what you are offering at your club, but how you’re offering it. Make sure the messaging you employ in sales conversations clearly conveys the benefits of membership at your club in addition to their alternative options.

Knowing the member journey and mapping ideal member profiles present major retention and revenue wins for your club. If you’re just getting started with defining your ideal member, consider the following.

Ask yourself: What are my members’ lives like outside the club walls? Are they working 9-5 jobs and taking care of children while trying to squeeze in a fitness routine? Or are they single in their 20s and 30s with more time for a full fitness experience? The more you know your ideal member, the better you’ll be able to serve them with your equipment and programs.

Then, think about how they’ve changed in the last year. Is their interest shifting to bodyweight workouts? Or to outdoor activities like cycling, climbing, hiking, kayaking, etc? The pandemic has impacted peoples’ fitness habits and interests. You need to stay abreast of any shifts.

Last, ask yourself what has changed in light of the pandemic. What are your members’ apprehensions about being in your club? Is it social distancing and cleaning practices? Or is it the price of your membership compared to at-home options? Craft a communication plan for quelling those fears.

Take the ideal member profile, recent changes in interest, and COVID fears in hand to set out on the mission of refining your sales conversations. And make sure to take the both/and approach.

A large portion of the market these days is willing to, and even interested in, having multiple fitness options. They may have a Peloton at home and a health club membership. They may trail run on the weekends and take group ex classes in a club during the week. Write and distribute talk tracks that enable the success of these kinds of conversations, directing them away from an “either/or” mindset.

If tailoring your messaging isn’t enough to move the needle, look at tailoring your offerings. Where do you see gaps in your offerings that members are too often going outside your walls to fill? How can you change that?

If you’ve always offered group exercise classes in person and attendance has taken a dip, think about how you can connect your members with virtual options. Is there any programming you can offer through your app?

Also ask yourself, how has the industry changed? On the whole, we’ve seen a shift in fitness to focus on holistic health, on mental health alongside physical health. How can you modify your offerings to reflect that change?

Challenge your club to see evolution as positive change. Make shifting to meet the needs of your members the new status quo.

In the competitive world of health club sales, adaptation is essential to long-term success. See how Club Automation can take your club sales to the next level by scheduling a free demo today.