The document summarizes research on member retention in health clubs. It finds that retention rates are higher for members who receive a longer induction program including support sessions, are spoken to by staff during visits, and visit the club more frequently in the first months of membership. Providing personalized attention to members through interactions can significantly reduce attrition rates and increase the likelihood they will continue visiting the club.

1. Part I: Retain & Gain: Keeping
Your Members Engaged
Dr Paul Bedford

2. Acknowledgements
• Dr Melvyn Hillsdon
• Mike Hills
• FIA

3. Dr Paul Bedford
20 years in the fitness industry
MSc Exercise and Health behaviour
MSc Social Science research
PhD Factors that effect retention in the
gym environment

4. Dr Paul Bedford
In the last 6 years
Spoken to nearly,
13,000 members (48 Sites)
10,000 Tennis Club members (28 sites)
I have had 86 gym inductions
Joined 11 clubs
In an attempt to understand what it is
like to be a member of a health club

5. What do we know so far?
• Contract length
• Contract type
• Gender
• Age
• Visit frequency in 1st 4 weeks
• Inductions, exercise programme, support

6. 2008 Retention report
01/01/2006 to 11/01/2007
293,527 member records
507 Clubs
259 Multi-site (11 operators)
248 Single-site operators.

7. 1. Retention rate
‘The proportion of members who remain a member
for any predetermined time period e.g., 3 months, 6
months, 12 months etc.’
2. Attrition rate
‘The number of members, per thousand, that cancel
per month’
3. Lifetime value
‘The average (median) length of membership or the
lifespan of a membership.’

8. Retention rate for members joining from January 2006
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Proportion still members
65.8%
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Months since joining

9. Monthly risk of quitting
6
5
Risk of quitting (%)
2 3
1
0 4
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Months since joining

10. Retention rate by gender
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Proportion still members
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Months since joining
sex = Male sex = Female

11. Retention rate by age group
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
12 months income @ $35.00 = $370,346
Proportion still members
12 months income @ $35.00 = $312,676
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Months since joining
agegroup = 16-24 agegroup = 25-34
agegroup = 35-44 agegroup = 45+

12. Attrition rate and average length of membership
Attrition rate Median length
(per thousand/month) of stay
(months)
Overall 35.5 16.7
Age group
16-24 49.9 13.1
25-34 48.2 13.5
35-44 35.8 17.4
45+ 24.1 >23
Gender
Male 33.7 18.2
Female 35.0 17.2

13. Retention rate by contract length
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Proportion still members
$363,548.50 (1,000, 12 month members)
$242,305.00 (1,000,1 month members)
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Months since joining
contract = 1 month contract = 2-11 months
contract = 12 months

14. Table 2. Attrition rate and average length of membership
Attrition rate Median length
(per thousand/month) of stay
(months)
Monthly dues (£)*
<20 55.8 11.9
20-24.9 62.0 11.6
25-29.9 60.0 12.2
30-34.9 53.2 12.5
35-49.9 55.9 12.2
Contract length*
1 month 90.3 7.0
2-11 months 81.3 8.5
12 months 55.8 12.2

15. Now they’ve joined what can
you do?

16. Should I have an induction
programme?

17. A randomised controlled trial of the effects
of interactions on membership retention:
Dr Paul Bedford

18. 60 minute standard
induction + 60 minute
support
60 minute
standard
induction

19. Monthly income based on a starting
membership of 1,000 paying $35.00 per month
No intervention
£40,000
Intervention
£35,000
£30,000
Total=$352,237
Total income
£25,000
£20,000
£15,000
£10,000
Total=$245,137
£5,000
£0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Months

20. Attrition Rate
Intervention group
60 minutes + 60 minutes support 24.3 per 1000 per month
Control group
60 minute standard induction 77.6 per 1000 per month
Difference of 53 per 1000 per month

21. Do visits increase retention?

22. Retention rate by visits
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Proportion still members
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Months since joining
M3g = 0 visits M3g = 1-3 visits
M3g = 4-7 visits M3g = 8 or more visits

23. Can we manipulate a
member’s visit frequency?

24. Club X
Nearly two thirds of members (64%) report
either never or only rarely being spoken to
while working out. The proportion is higher
in older members, regular users and
perhaps more worryingly, new members.

25. Acknowledgement to Gym service rating
Area Acknowledgement Gym service rating
London 19% 4.8
M25 Ring 22% 5.2
West Midlands 38% 5.7
Yorkshire 20% 4.9
Greater Manchester 55% 6.1
Liverpool 9% 3.8
South Wales 22% 4.7
South East 28% 4.8

26. Spoken to per visit
Probability of a member reporting it likely they will still be using
the club in 6 months by frequency of gym staff communication
1
1
This means
60% less likely
0.9
0.8
Odds of being a club user
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.4
0.3 0.3
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
Every visit Occasionally Rarely Never
Frequency of gym staff communication

27. Average visit frequency pre and post interaction
Pre interaction people |
more more a ctive | more often
Post Interaction

28. The probability of making a visit next month
if fitness staff talk to you during a visit this
month compared to if they don’t.
1 Interaction 2-3 Interactions 4+ interactions
Probability of
visiting next 20% more 50% more 80% more
month when likely to likely to likely to
compared to no
interaction
visit visit visit

29. Does talking to members
save memberships?

30. 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00
Proportion still members Retention by any interaction or not
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
Months since joining
inttot = 0 inttot = 1

31. Cancellation rate and median length of stay by interaction for members who made at least
one visit during the length of their membership
Cancellations per thousand Median length of
per month membership
No interactions 123.5 4.9
At least 1 39.9 14.5
interaction

32. Income from dues based on 1,000 members paying $35.00 per
month over 17 months
£35,000
No interaction
£30,000 At least 1 interaction
Income per period
£25,000
£20,000
£15,000
Total = $438,907
£10,000
£5,000
Total = $227,448
£0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Months since joined

33. Monthly risk of quitting by interaction
5
Risk of quitting (%)
1 2 0 3 4
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Months since joining
inttot = 0 inttot = 1

34. 0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00
Proportion still members Retention by any interaction or not
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32
Months since joining
inttot = 0 inttot = 1

35. Retention rate by interaction by month 10
Retention rate in visits
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Proportion still members
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Months since joining
inttot = 0 inttot = 1

36. Ratings of customer service (1-10*) by fitness staff communication and
gym usage (%)
<7 7 8 >8
Detractors Satisfied Satisfied Promoter
Fitness
communication
Never 21.56 23.75 48.75 5.94
Rarely 12.01 32.47 49.35 6.17
Occasionally 10.27 37.50 47.77 4.46
Every visit 11.54 12.31 50.77 25.38
Gym usage
1/week 19.05 36.19 37.14 7.62
2/week 11.89 21.62 56.76 9.73
3/week 14.37 28.87 48.59 8.17

37. Likelihood of recommending a friend (0-10) by fitness staff
communication and gym usage
<7 7 8 9 10
Frequency of
gym staff
communication
(%)
Every visit 5.43 12.40 31.78 10.85 39.53
Occasionally 12.05 13.39 44.20 13.84 16.52
Rarely 4.87 10.06 43.83 22.08 19.16
Never 13.04 18.63 26.40 13.98 27.95
Gym usage
1/week 8.57 28.57 36.19 5.71 20.95
2/week 14.05 8.65 39.46 16.22 21.62
3/week 7.88 12.94 36.29 17.72 25.18

38. • If you speak to members:
– They turn up more often
– They pay for longer
– They rate your customer service higher
– They are more likely to refer a friend

39. Questions
Comments
Observations

40. paul@theleisuredatabase.com