There is nothing more worthy of celebrating, when you own a gym, than bringing in new memberships. It gives you hope for the future as you watch your list of members grow. This so-called on boarding period is a highly critical time that you can use to secure your relationship with customers. You have the perfect opportunity to assure a high lifetime value for you, and positive experience for them.

Selling Means More Than Surviving

This transitional time period can determine how long new members stick around and how they present their experience to friends and on social media. It would be great if you could sign up new members, shake their hand and they go away to begin working out pay the monthly membership fee, no worries, and no issues. In an ideal world that is what would happen but there are a few things that can go wrong.

If you don’t take down the new customer’s details correctly there is always the chance that an error or an omission causes some upset or slight that induces acute buyer’s remorse in their minds, and you are on a treadmill; always chasing more signups.

At the end of the day you need to remember that on boarding is a process and one of which you are in full control. By having a formal structure with clear options you can use the process to first create good account records and second to get the most out of sales opportunities

The old truism that nothing happens until something is first sold is as true in this industry as in any. Yes if you are on boarding a new member the most essential part of selling has taken place. What you can do now is maximize lifetime value by up-selling further products that suit their needs and making it an awesome experience for them.

What you do at this point determines whether you can afford to buy a home or you’re stuck on the foldaway sleeper sofa in the back office. The added value of additional sales is what will keep you in business and, even for a small gym, be the cost of a mortgage on a house at that.

It is a two-way street because the customer often has hidden needs or has been guarded about what they really want and the time of on boarding is the point at which you get to build a relationship and find out what really will be in their best interest. That means additional sales.

On Boarding Structure With Check Lists

Documentation works to give form to process because it sets boundaries to activities. One way to do this is to have a checklist of all of the items that must be addressed. On this list of numbers you can hang other documents such as brochures and written material that explains your services and defines your gyms culture.

I am known for my passion for creating numbered lists with checkboxes in the offices of Gym Insight and in my gym and, well pretty much any where that I’ve been a manager or owner before. Checklists really have been the difference between a business limping along and surging ahead like well oiled machines.

Staff On Boarding

It is also very useful to provide on-boarding checklists and processes for new hires to your business. There will always be times that you will need to bring in new staff members to replace those who get promoted or just move on. Turn over in the business is notoriously high, so getting organized in your staff on boarding process is going to help keep down a potentially high overhead cost.

When you are organized in your staff on boarding process then you will be more consistent in how new hires learn about the culture of the company and their roles in it. When new employees are more confident in the future of their jobs it goes a long way to reducing turnover to the absolute minimum.

Getting Records Right By Setting Up Gym Insight

The on boarding process to gym membership can be taken care of in a manor that is both quick and painless if you are using checklists and the forms available within the Gym Insight gym management software system. Turnover in membership and staff both contribute significantly to overhead costs. Having the smoothest on boarding and lowest turnover may well be the edge that keeps you on the treadmill longer than the gym down the street.

Bibliography

Fagan, Lawrence. “Unboxing the Gym Experience.” Gym Insight Blog. October 29, 2014. https://blog.gyminsight.com/2955-unboxing-the-gym-experience/ (accessed April 3, 2015).

-. “Why Having Checklists Will Benefit Your Gym Business.” Gym Insight Blog. October 16, 2013. https://blog.gyminsight.com/2004-why-having-a-checklists-will-benefit-your-gym-business/ (accessed April 3, 2015).