Ian Mullane
Some organisations within the UK are more hesitant to adopt new technology than our friends across the pond or in Asia, and AI is no exception.
This could be due to a lack of understanding, or a belief that it’s complicated, but the potential benefits for health and fitness operators are huge when it comes to member retention.
AI is not a solution to the challenge of low retention rates, but it can provide operators with a useful level of insight to show where to take action and equip them with the tools to do so at scale.
Right now, many operators don’t have accurate insights into which members are likely to leave and need this, along with a time window to change the outcome.
AI can do this at the member level and in doing so, open up a new world of understanding on what drives attrition. Is there a higher risk with a particular membership type, gender or age? Do members that attend a specific group exercise class present less risk than those that don’t, for example?
All of these and more pieces of knowledge are available via AI to help define what actions should be taken.
"AI is not a solution to the challenge of low retention rates, but it can provide operators with a useful level of insight to show where to take action and then equip them with the tools to do so at scale"
Introducing an AI tool enhances the human resources you have, allowing them to target their member interactions to where it will have the most impact.
You know the value that personal interaction plays in retention, but having a worthwhile engagement with every member is not possible. With AI, you’re equipped to understand which interactions are likely to have the most impact, ensuring that however many engagements you have, they will have been with the most appropriate people.
You’re sitting on gold in the form of data, and AI could unlock its secrets. Many European and US operators have already realised this and are reaping the rewards of deployment with impressive increases in retention and operational efficiency.
I hope UK health and fitness operators will quickly see the potential, so we can start to see the necessary improvement in member retention so often desire.