How can you encourage new member gym attendance at your health club? Once you’ve signed your members up, what are some good ideas to ensure they return regularly?
The most obvious is to provide an exciting, encouraging environment catering to your target demographic. However, after getting the vibe down, here are 10 other thoughts we’ve heard about from our many discussions with gym owners.
- Pump up your gym tour with a meet & greet. Every gym harbors members who love to speak to the new guys. They are warm and funny and usually a lot of fun. Introducing your guest or new member to these people ensures they won’t feel like a stranger upon their next visit.
- Give new members a free training session or gym equipment review. Often, the return visit after first signing up is the hardest for beginner exercisers. However, if they are offered a free personal training session or an introduction to the equipment as part of their sign-up, returning for that first “real” workout won’t be so difficult. A bonus is the bump to their knowledge base. This consult builds confidence, which carries over as they establish a workout routine.
- Don’t automatically encourage a 3x weekly exercise schedule for new sign-ups. Retention Guru host “Paul Bedford” asks the question, “What are they going to do less of,” now that they’ve joined your gym? That’s a key idea for someone who is new to exercise, because we all struggle to balance our responsibilities. He suggests giving new members a goal of hitting the gym one-to-two times a week may be more realistic as they learn to juggle and reorganize other duties.
- Support and encourage popular group exercise instructors. These charismatic, energetic employees often host classes with double the attendance of a standard class. Consider paying them more, providing additional training, accommodating their schedules, or generally indulging the diva. Unless the numbers don’t add up for your fitness center, group ex is usually a foundational tool in building a dedicated membership. Figure out how to reward and grow this undervalued commodity.
- Host community competitions. This one is trickier, as it requires member and staff participation. I’ve seen many fail, but under the right circumstances, bracing one member against another can turn into a righteous amount of fun. Kage Gym hosts arm wrestling competitions. Iron Mayhem hosts power lifting and Strongman competitions. Core Fitness of Alabama raffles popular items every quarter.
- Promote the value of resistance exercise throughout your gym. Recent research published in ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal chronicles the numerous health benefits of RE. Even though aerobics is considered the gold standard for improving health, studies show how steady, regular and accelerated resistance training can result in similar health benefits as a hearty treadmill jog.
- Embrace community differences by shaking up the narrative. Post information on the busiest and least busy times of the day. Certain people prefer a quieter gym and will be drawn to the exclusivity aloneness provides. This info can be found in the Gym Insight Hourly Check-ins Report. Additionally, if your population skews older, consider hosting classes in midmorning or early afternoon. These folks often sleep in or care for a home-bound loved one in the morning. By evening, they are back in caregiver mode. Often, their only free time may be those quiet gym times.
- Reach out to low-usage members. Use your Gym Insight software to track new member gym attendance. Our Member’s Usage report categorizes new members based on the number of visits within the first 30 days. Check the red, yellow, or green coding status. If they are slacking hard, call them and find out what’s going on. You might prevent a dropped membership.
- Remember, wearable technology is the #1 health and fitness trend for 2025 according to ACSM. Integrate it into your gym by encouraging personal trainers to track progress, and improve and maintain client adherence to their programs.
- Host community events to build comradery. Coffee and cars are almost a living meme by now, but they still attract hundreds of people. Food truck caravans, local influencers, fundraisers, and fun-runs all have one thing in common — they bring members to the gym between workouts — stimulating spontaneous conversations and stitching tighter bonds between members.
Why is new member gym attendance important?
Because it is how independent gyms survive. Unfortunately, major national health clubs almost pride themselves on “sell and forget” memberships. We know – and they know – members who skip their workouts are a very profitable bunch. Their absence means fewer hassles, less impact on the equipment, and more room for even more people who won’t, probably, show up to train.
But that’s not you. That’s not your way. You are in it for the fitness, for the good, for the return on investment. And the only way to ensure your clients derive healthy returns and you engender a strong business model is by running a thriving, active gym.
These are just a few of our ideas. If you’ve got others that work, let us know. We will feature your thoughts on social media, a podcast or in another blog. Just ping us on social media or hit “reply” on our next monthly Gym Owner’s Newsletter.
A little about Gym Insight
We are a gym management software company designing the industry’s best, easiest-to-use gym software. Even better? We don’t touch your bank account. Instead, our fully in-house designed software offers integrated member management solutions, sales automation, 24/7 digital keytag door access, a free Member’s App, and U.S.-based customer support. There’s more to us – but I will let you learn through a free demo. Call us today and we can walk you through how our software helps you run a more efficient, profitable gym. Call us at 855-367-4967.
