In a panel discussion at the European Health & Fitness Forum in Cologne in April, the question was asked how we can move the fitness sector beyond 12 or 13 per cent penetration in the UK. Precor’s new president, Rob Barker, argued that one way to do this would be to target lapsed (ex) members: there are legions of people who have once been members of a gym, but, for whatever reason, have left.
These people are already converted – they’ve already bought into the idea of exercise, and gym membership, once – so surely the industry stands a good chance of re-engaging them?
Or does it? Are these people once bitten, twice shy? Did their experience put them off, or was it just a case of other factors getting in the way that caused them to leave? Did their experience as a club member springboard them into another type of out-of-club activity, or have they already joined another club?
Evidence suggests that, when people leave a club, they tend to stop exercising. Research by Teresa Hurley, head of the school of management at the Dublin Institute of Technology, revealed that 85 per cent of the lapsed members they surveyed had not joined another health club – but 54 per cent said they would consider rejoining if given an incentive.
In our bargain hunting society, a price reduction was the most popular sweetener to rejoin: 38 per cent said they would be tempted by money off, while 8 per cent said a salon gift token would be enough to get them to reconsider. Hurley tested this finding further: a gift token received a 3 per cent response rate, while a price discount received a 27 per cent response rate.
So is a money-off voucher the way to go about re-engaging lapsed members, or does a cheaper membership devalue the experience and fail to get true buy-in? Are there other ways to go about getting people back into your gym? Most lapsed members start to disengage with the gym weeks or even months before they cancel their membership, so can they be caught earlier? We ask the experts....