5 reasons gym members leave and how to keep them

We’ve all heard the old adage that “people join gyms, but they don’t use them.” Some people stick around for a few months and then leave, others get into a routine and stay for years. But why does this happen? And what can gyms do about it?

According to statistics from the fitness industry, up to 80% of new gym members don’t use their membership regularly after six months. In this blog, we’ll look at some of the main reasons people stop using a fitness centre or gym and provide tips on how to prevent these problems from happening on your watch.

1. No workout partner

One of the biggest reasons gym members leave is because they don’t have a workout partner. Having a friend to workout with helps people stay motivated.
To encourage this behaviour, you could offer a refer a friend scheme that rewards one member for referring a friend, work colleague or family member.

2. Not seeing results

Imagine you’ve got a member who has been training for a few weeks, but they’re not seeing the immediate results that they expected. They get frustrated and give up.

You need to show them that it takes time to see results and encourage them by setting them small milestones along the way, getting them into a habit and extending their membership lifetime value.

This is where your personal training staff can come in – when new members join, why not offer them a free PT session where they can set a programme for several months or weeks. This gives your new member motivation and enough time to get into a new routine. You can introduce new members to your staff via a member app and they can even book their PT slot in a couple of minutes on their phone.

3. They don’t feel connected to the gym and/or its members

Why not set up some events in your club room or café and get members to meet other like-minded people as well as your staff. Keeping individuals engaged will make them feel connected and give them a sense of community – enhancing the value of their membership.

You can advertise your events around the centre or on your app – it’s easy to send news with push notifications straight to your members’ phones.

4. Lack of time

When members have busy lives and limited time to train, they may feel like they’re not getting the best return on their membership. In this case, it’s important for gyms to offer digital fitness solutions that enable members to work out from home or on-the-go. This will ensure that their workouts remain consistent even when they’re travelling or have other commitments outside of the gym.

• A digital fitness solution can offer a variety of different exercises so members don’t get bored with doing the same thing over and over again (this can be particularly helpful if someone is new to working out)
• You can also use your digital solution to share recipes and wellness videos – this will add to your members’ overall health and lifestyle changes making them feel like they can’t live without your membership!

5. They don’t feel motivated or rewarded

Gyms should consider using rewards as part of their retention strategy, they’re a powerful motivator and keeps your members coming back day after day.

You can use an app to track rewards – for example using the app to check in to classes or scan in to the gym, once the member attends 10 times, they get a free coffee in the café. The reward should be relevant and meaningful to your members to increase the chances that they work towards completing the goals you set them.

If you’re a gym owner or manager, the takeaway here is that it’s important to keep your members engaged and motivated. If they feel like they’re not getting what they need out of their membership, then there’s a good chance they’ll leave and either give up on fitness completely or go somewhere else where they do feel valued. If you want to keep your members, you need to make sure they’re engaged, motivated and having fun!

5 ways to use an App to keep students engaged

In this day and age, it’s essential for educational facilities to embrace technology. Not only does this help you stay connected with students, but it also provides a way for you to better manage your facility’s resources. That’s where mobile apps come in!

Apps have quickly become a popular way to connect with students. They allow you to share information with everyone at once on their phones. Did you know, the average person in the UK uses their phone for four hours and 14 minutes per day? Why miss out on that opportunity!

1. Use app push messages to communicate

When it comes to communicating with students, push notifications are a great way to get the word out. You can use them to announce events, classes and workshops; send out offers and discounts; or simply share information about your University.

• In-app notifications have an open rate that’s three times higher than push notifications
• They also increase app retention rates by up to 10x.

2. Use the app for facility access

There are several ways to use an app to keep students engaged, but one of the most effective is by using it for facility access. Why not get students or members to use the app to check in and out of facilities, activities, and events that they have signed up for.

This also helps with fraud prevention and security.

3. Use content marketing to share offers and events

You could also use your app to promote events, offers and other things that will be of interest to your students. Why not use in-App marketing to give out discount codes (e.g. for the sports shop), or invite them to events – from fitness clubs to monthly health and wellness seminars.

4. Offer app only content

Another way to use an app is to offer content that is not available anywhere else. This specifically drives traffic and usage.

Content can be anything from short how to videos to support your students in the gym, teaching them how to use each piece of equipment to cooking tutorials and nutritional advice. Students will be more likely to keep coming back if there are things stored in your app, that they can’t get anywhere else!

5. Use your app for bookings

Whether it’s a yoga class or a football pitch, you can use your app to make reservations for any type of activity that requires registration. If you’re using an online booking system, consider adding some additional functionality so students can see if there are still spots available before they sign up (and also so they can cancel without hassle).

We hope you now have some ideas on how you can use an app to engage students and make them feel more connected with your facility. If done right, your app can be an amazing tool that brings value to both students and staff alike!

We can support you with all the items covered in this blog. Find out more about our branded member App.

Save costs with an App

How can you save money and generate new income?

With rising costs, inflation and increasing demands of members, we’ve looked at some ways you can save your centre money.

Save your staff time

With a Branded Member App, you can save a lot of time and staff hours at your reception. When it comes to class bookings or cancellations, your members can do this independently via the App with an Event Calendar.

You can make everything bookable in your App. From classes to activities and even outdoor pitches – the possibilities are endless. 

Do you get calls asking for opening hours? Or maybe querying changes to the usual schedule due to bank holidays? These will be a thing of the past, as you can send all information and news directly as a push message to your members’ smartphones via Marketing Automation. 

Reduce fraudulent entries

If your reception team spend time checking members in for classes or activities, or even letting people in when they’ve left their membership card at home – you can combat this with Access Control. With tap or scan gym entry, your members can register attendance with just one click from their App! Not only does this save money in time, but also minimises fraudulent entries.  

Member retention

Retention is so important for keeping costs down! After all, sometimes it costs more to get new members than it does to keep current members! Why not use our @home platform to give additional content to members. These could be gym tours, how-to videos, workouts or even nutritional advice. 

Your trainers can use this space to promote their services and increase their own client base. Having additional offerings in your App increases the value of your membership enormously, makes your trainers even more approachable and helps your members to train more effectively, making them more likely to remain loyal.

Create new revenue streams

Attract new members through our Lead Generation tool. Create a campaign and then advertise it via your App. You can also save on printed materials whilst using your members as your very own sales team – they share your joining offer with a friend, colleague or family member and membership sign-ups will, in turn, increase.  

With In-App Purchase, you can monetise content from your @home solution. Make videos (workouts, recipes, how-to’s etc) available to interested parties or non-premium members behind a paywall.

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myFitApp expands into US

With TITLE Boxing

We’re delighted to announce our first customers in USA. With ClubReady, we have launched our eight clubs – TITLE Boxing, Pulse Performance, Vital Stretch, Box Union Studio, Power 4 Pilates, Twisted Cycle, VP Fitness and XGT Fitness. They have all launched their new Branded Member Apps powered by myFitApp and ClubReady, the leading provider of full-suite studio fitness and wellness club management software.

The combined power of software enables clubs to retain members, acquire new ones, and upsell existing members with a wide range of additional features. These include a digital fitness offering, myFitApp@home, where clubs can stream live and on-demand videos to their members at home, and Access Control where members can use their smartphone to enter their club.

“We’re delighted to have our brand new App up and running with myFitApp / ClubReady. After a successful launch with our franchisees, members can now book a bag, access a whole host of workouts with TITLE On-Demand, refer their friends, know the class programming to expect in class through our focus of the week, access our challenges and so much more. The member dashboard, showing how many classes a user has attended increases motivation and will lead to rewards. The App is branded, customisable and flexible making it super easy for us to manage.”

  

Todd Wadler, CEO, TITLE Boxing Club

The new App launches not only mark the first in the ClubReady partnership but also the first US customers for myFitApp, expanding on the 2,400+ sites using the platform across the world.

“It’s great to see eight successful customers launch their new Apps and we are delighted to extend our customer base and provide the US fitness industry with a powerful solution that delivers an outstanding user experience & marketing platform. It’s great to be working with world-renowned clubs like TITLE Boxing. The combination of myFitApp and ClubReady is game changing, and we look forward to transforming more clubs across the US.”

  

Jonathan Cooke, Chief Commercial Officer, myFitApp

Easy access to physical activity for students

University of Bristol case study

The University of Bristol is home to around 25,000 students and 8,500 staff, with 370 buildings in and around the city of Bristol. The Sport, Exercise & Health department operates three of these buildings, which are home to many facilities including a gym, studios, a swimming pool, sports halls, tennis, badminton and basketball courts, a sports medicine clinic and more.

The department serves approximately 6,000 paying members – made up of 90% students, 5% university staff, and 5% members of the public.

Around 69% of the student population engage with the department’s offerings that include free fitness classes, volunteering opportunities, its Bristol Moves rewards app, performance sport and more.

The challenge

The University of Bristol have used Legend’s leisure management software across its Sport, Exercise and Health department since April 2017. 

When new students and staff join the University, an API integration with the student and staff database automatically creates accounts in Legend. That means no manual data entry and no need to sign up. With single sign on (SSO), students and staff use their university login credentials (authenticated via their identity provider, Microsoft Azure AD) to access the University’s sports and fitness services via Legend’s digital member services portal. Easy and secure!

Knowing how seamless and easy this makes it for students and staff to access this portal, and with many using the App, the University wanted to make the App accessible via SSO too.

The App lets students, staff and other members book, access on-demand classes, manage their membership and more. A separate account and password was needed to login to the App – creating friction and presenting a security risk.

The solution

In 2022, the University of Bristol, Legend and myFitApp teams partnered on a project to roll out SSO App too, for the University’s students and staff.

The project was a huge success, students and staff can now log into the App seamlessly and securely using the same university login credentials they use for the Legend digital member services portal and other university systems.

The results

• Improved data security
• Removed a barrier to make accessing activity easier
• Increased engagement with as many as 40,000 App uses through SSO each fortnight (up from 14,000 each fortnight)

“Thanks to the close work we’ve done with the development teams at Legend and myFitApp, students and staff can now login to the app seamlessly and safely. That’s one less password to remember, and one less barrier to engaging in physical activity – a win all round! We now see as many as 40,000 app uses through SSO a fortnight. That’s significant as we have 25,000 students and 3 sports sites.”

 

Arron Godfrey, Deputy Business Development Manager, University of Bristol