How Identifying Your Loyal Customers Can Increase Member Retention

Loyal customers can help to increase gym member retention. So gym owners should not only learn how to identify them but also discover what they can do to encourage more customers to become loyal to their brand. 

Loyal customers not only stick with your brand, but they can also help drive growth by recommending others and creating a positive buzz about your business. All businesses know that providing an excellent service that meets the needs and exceeds the expectations of their customers will help create customer loyalty and thus increase retention rates. But are gym owners doing enough to ensure they recognize their loyal customers and work hard to keep them that way?

How can you identify a loyal customer?

They spend more

A loyal customer is invested in your brand and because they believe in what you are selling, they’re happy to part with their hard-earned cash to get more of it. In terms of gym members, this could be by paying extra for a more premium membership or an extra class or spending more in your cafe, indicating that they like to socialize at the gym and spend their leisure time there as well as working out. If you have merchandise or an onsite shop, a loyal customer might make several purchases here too. The more they buy from you, the bigger the indication of the strength of their loyalty, because they believe what you offer is the best quality and they trust you not to let them down. 

They’re frequent attendees

It may sound obvious but it’s important to mention that your loyal customers are likely to be the ones who show up more. Pay attention to how frequently and how long your members turn up and work out for to get a clearer picture of those members who are motivated and happy with the service and are getting the most ‘bang for their buck’ – compared with those who may feel demotivated, that they are wasting their money and therefore be at risk of quitting the gym. 

Businesses should use the Recency, Frequency, Monetary (RFM) Value which suggests that loyal customers can be identified by how recently a customer makes a purchase, how often they do so, and how much they are willing to spend.

They get involved

If you set up a social event, host a competition, or send out a discount or offer, your loyal customer is the one who is first to respond, apply, enter, and share it. A loyal customer has a genuine connection with your business and so when they receive offers or hear from you they are happy to get involved and take part.

They advocate for you

One of the most obvious ways gym owners can identify loyal customers is by what they are saying about the gym when their backs are turned! It might be that they mention the gym on social media. Even if they are mainly talking about their workout, this demonstrates that they are proud of what they are achieving, and seeing the results they hoped for. Referring a friend and giving recommendations is also a clear sign that your member is impressed with the service.  

They give testimonials and reviews

As well as word-of-mouth marketing, loyal customers are more than happy to give you positive testimonials and reviews. Remember, it is far more likely that a customer who has had a bad experience will speak up, whereas satisfied customers tend not to say anything. So, if you are receiving positive reviews from gym members, this suggests they are so impressed with your service that they are motivated to act and let others know.

They associate themselves with your brand

Loyal customers are proud of the brands that they have an affiliation with. They view them in such a positive light that they actively want others to know about their connection. In this way, the brand becomes tied to its identity. An example of this could be, wearing a branded t-shirt and taking a picture to post it on social media. The brand becomes part of their journey, their life story, and therefore loyalty increases and intensifies as time goes on.

So what can gym owners do to improve customer loyalty and, therefore, retention rates?

Pay attention to your Net Promotor Score

The Net Promotor Score is a key indicator of customer loyalty and demonstrates that anticipating customer needs, taking proactive communication, and personalizing interactions across all touchpoints in a customer's journey can help to encourage customers to become more committed to your brand. 

Know your touchpoints

Paying attention to touchpoints where a negative/positive attitude or emotion as a reaction to a particular experience could affect the customer’s thinking/relationship/ or behavior towards the gym is imperative.

Gym owners will benefit from mapping out the customer journey from when they first decide they want to join a gym through to the onboarding process and then their continued usage. At each stage of the journey, customers will have particular needs and expectations that are either met or not met and this will affect their attitude towards the brand and whether they will continue to be loyal to it, or go elsewhere. 

However, analysis has shown that some touchpoints have a greater effect on whether a customer will become loyal or dissatisfied. Consulting Partner for Keepme, Jon Nasta, breaks these down into three distinct categories:

Barriers – the minimum expectations of a customer, which if performed poorly, could lead to a customer walking away, but if performed well won’t have any particular effect on customer loyalty.

Examples include:

Clean bathrooms

Working equipment

Delighters – the ‘wow factors,’ the USPs, the things that surprise and delight a customer that they weren’t expecting but encourage positive connections and have a significant impact on customer loyalty.

Examples include: 

Freebies

Discounts

Friendliness and helpfulness of staff members

Key drivers – how well the gym delivers the core elements of the business. If key drivers are performed well they can positively impact customer loyalty and retention rates. If performed badly they will have the opposite effect. 

Examples include:

How easy it is to work machines

How the exercise classes are run

It is necessary for gym owners to be aware of what their customer’s minimum expectations are to ensure that all new members aren’t immediately so disappointed that they walk away. Factors such as a gym having poor changing room facilities or not enough machines to work out or exercise classes being canceled or starting late could be barriers that see retention rates plummet. 

Jon goes on to say, “Knowing what your customers are telling others about their experience with your business as opposed to what you think you are delivering through your customer experience is the difference between a decent business and a good business. Understanding what your happiest customers are getting from your business is the key that will take you from a  good business to a booming business that has the potential to grow further than you ever thought possible.”

Spending time identifying what could make your gym stand out, and what wow factors you could provide, can also have an important influence on customer loyalty. A creche, free post-workout smoothies, a customer loyalty program, tester personal training sessions and so on could help to see customers feel valued, surprised, and delighted with the service you offer.

Of course, on the flip side, it is important to be aware that by neglecting your customers, not meeting their expectations, and providing substandard service you could not only be at risk of losing that customer but also them damaging your brand by leaving negative reviews. So it is through a combination of taking the time not only to encourage more loyal customers but to ensure that no customer gains an unfavorable impression of your business that you will see retention rates increase. 

Encouraging customer loyalty is more than just focusing on customer satisfaction –  it’s more like solidifying customer commitment, and by focusing on building a retention strategy that turns everyday customers into committed, motivated, positive ones can help to increase the number of loyal customers thus improving retention rates and encouraging business growth simultaneously.

If you want to learn more about our smart AI-powered retention tool that could keep your retention rates high, why not book a demo today?