The warm smile and friendly “hello, how are you?” from reception, the encouraging comments from the fitness staff as members go through their workouts, the duty manager that holds the door open as a member walks in are all part of the complete package consistently offered by successful clubs.

So how do we guarantee these extra touch points are experienced by our members? We know all too well that members value personal service as an extremely important factor in their overall satisfaction of your club. We also know that the level of personal service received in the early weeks of their membership is directly related to the length of time that person will remain a member. What can we do to make sure this personal service is delivered and increase customer satisfaction?

Recently a club owner I have known for many years told me about how they had raised the issue of interacting with members at a meeting with their fitness staff. They run a busy centre in a large market town with just over 1500 members and five fitness staff, personal service is how they differentiate from the large multi site chain that opened down the road a few years ago. They set out to take 300 members each and aimed at holding a five minute conversation with each of those 300 every two weeks. They felt that five minutes was the least they should deliver for their £38 per month fee. They then worked out how this would impact on each of their already busy days.

300 members x 5 minutes = 1500 minutes
Or
25 hours every 2 weeks for each of the fitness staff

So 12 hours or almost a third of each of the fitness teams’ time out of a 38 hour week would be gone simply to begin to deliver on one important aspect of what their customers felt important about their experience in this club. Still they knew this was a valuable and honourable thing to do, so set about the task with their usual enthusiasm and commitment agreeing to review their progress in three months time.

Pretty soon they discovered that each and every one of the fitness team was experiencing the same issues. Many five minute conversations were being held from each of their groups of 300 members however it soon became clear that the same members were being seen over and over. These were committed exercisers who used the gym many times a week, they had no issues with the facility, a couple even expressed a wish to be left alone to get on with their exercise programme.

So what was going wrong? The staff were committing a third of their time to personally interact with the members in their club yet they were still seeing cancellations on the same levels as before they changed the strategy. At the next staff meeting they went through all the members that had left - to find why they had not been spoken to before reaching this point – the answer was clear, over 90% had not been seen in the last six weeks and thus had not experienced the club’s personal interactions. A little more digging and it soon became apparent that the majority of leavers were those not experiencing the clubs high service for the simple reason they had stopped coming in the previous two to four months and no-one had noticed.

We know interacting in a positive and constructive manner with members in our clubs is a prerequisite for a successful and profitable operation, we invest many pounds and copious amounts of time in staff training and systems to ensure this interaction is delivered to a high standard and continually congratulate ourselves on our sales levels that ensure we have adequate members contributing to our ongoing revenue stream. Yet as we become more sophisticated as an industry we learn more facts about the results of what we do.

IHRSA recently published figures showing it can cost up to seven times more to get a new member than keep an existing one, also that the cost of acquiring a new member had doubled over the last ten years. If the health club industry today agrees on just one thing it is that the market is becoming more competitive. As this occurs the cost of acquiring members is only going to increase, placing an added premium on the “risk versus reward” conundrum of retaining members. If it was possible in the nineties to outrun attrition by topping up with great sales figures the prospect of doing so in today’s competitive market and challenging economy certainly make this a far more daunting task.

We agree that every five minutes we spend with our members is time well spent. We only question which members should be receiving the main focus of our efforts. Look at the evidence, new members that are encouraged to achieve a visit frequency of once a week or more during their first four to eight weeks of membership are 20% less likely to cancel in the next year (FIA – “Top Ten Strategies for Winning the Retention Battle”). The same report logically suggests that members that use a club less than once a week are more at risk of leaving than those that do.

IHRSA’s retention report also highlights a study by Richard Blacklock that concludes if an individual club members’ usage pattern drops by over 50% from their usual pattern (over an eight week period) that member is in danger of cancelling their membership. For example a member that previously visited twice a week for the last six months who now visits only once a week should thus be highlighted as a potential quitter.

Every year as an industry we sell hundreds of thousands of memberships to those people who, although they sincerely want to, have not yet been able to develop the discipline to make exercise a regular habit. Behavioural scientists and experts will confirm that developing such discipline is not an easy task to do on your own.

As the amount of data relating to the exercise habits of our customers becomes more and more available and easier to translate we are learning that there are many other ways for us to spend our five minutes than just with the customers we already do a great job for. There are methods, systems and companies that can be adopted, implemented or contracted to help us focus where our five minutes is best spent. Some of these companies will now focus on delivering automatically where the evidence leads us to believe differences can be achieved; focusing on new member integration programmes, highlighting low or non-users and motivating people to make exercise a habit. Leaving fitness staff many more “five minutes” to provide the services where they excel.

So next time we spend five minutes with a customer we already know well, who is already working out on our gym floor, whilst certainly congratulating ourselves, we must surely consider, “did we just spend one third of our working week growing our membership or standing still?” While expending time and effort to better service your customers is never a wasted endeavour, if your goal is to reduce attrition then we need to step back and make sure we don’t neglect those members who need our ‘5 minutes’ the most – those members who are not regularly walking in your door. As the ever-growing body of evidence and research suggests; expanding your focus to include this segment of your membership base is where the true retention battle is won … or lost.

Jon Nasta, UK Managing Director of Retention Management, can be reached at +44 1527 870875 or Jon.Nasta@retentionmanagement.com. Comments and questions are welcome and appreciated. Retention Management is a privately held company that manages the complexities and time demands of running a comprehensive retention improvement service for health clubs. It focuses on new member orientation, member attendance, health/fitness education and the automation of attrition defence systems. Retention Management’s mission is to create a positive impact on a club’s bottom line through improved member retention.

Retention Management to attend FISA East 2008, November 10 - 12
Thursday October 21st, 2008, 10:05 am ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C., October 21st, 2008 – Retention Management will attend the 3rd annual FISA East conference in Miami, FL November 10 - 12.

During the show, prospective clients will be able to learn more about the company’s services, including its expanded blast email capabilities. Retention Management representatives will provide one-on-one product presentations and discuss the specific attrition-prevention needs of a select number of attending fitness facility operators.

FISA provides relationship building opportunities through hosted events in a relaxed and educational format. They target the mid-tier health club sector comprised of regional health club chains, as well as YMCAs, JCCs and medically integrated facilities open to the public. Owners and executives are hosted guests at FISA events.

About Retention Management:
Retention Management, a privately held company, generates custom emails to members on a health/fitness center’s behalf, focusing on new member orientation, member attendance, health/fitness education and the automation of attrition defense systems. Their company manages the complexities and time demands of running a comprehensive member communication program for health/fitness centers.

Contact:
Christopher J. Werte
Director of Marketing
Retention Management
1-800-951-8048 Ext. 4
chrisw@retentionmanagement.com
Skype: Chris.Werte

Retention Management to be at Booth 862 at Club industry 2008, October 16 - 18

Thursday September 18th, 2008, 10:05 am ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C., September 18, 2008 – Retention Management announced that they will attend the Club Industry 2008 Convention and Tradeshow in Chicago, IL October 16 - 18. The company will be located at Booth 862 on the Tradeshow floor.

Richard Ekstrom, President of Retention Management, is presenting a new seminar at this years Convention. “The Keys to Maximizing Member and Staff Retention” will be given on Wednesday, 10/15/08 2:00PM.

Furthermore, during the show, prospective clients will be able to learn more about the company’s services, including its expanded Blast email. Representatives of the company will be in the booth to provide product presentations and answer any questions people might have.

About Retention Management:
Retention Management, a privately held company, generates custom emails to members on a health/fitness center’s behalf, focusing on new member orientation, member attendance, health/fitness education and the automation of attrition defense systems. Their company manages the complexities and time demands of running a comprehensive member communication program for health/fitness centers.

Contact:
Christopher J. Werte
Director of Marketing
Retention Management
1-800-951-8048 Ext. 4
chrisw@retentionmanagement.com
Skype: Chris.Werte

Win a One Year Subscription to Retention Management’s Automated Member Communication and Retention Service.

Thursday Sep 5th, 2008, 11:00 am ET

LONDON UK / CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sep 5th 2008 – Retention Management, the industry leader in attrition defense, is celebrating their debut at the UK’s premiere fitness industry show, Leisure Industry Week (LIW) held the 23-25 of September. All fitness clubs that visit Retention Management’s stand (2142) and receive a full product demonstration will be entered into a prize draw to receive one year’s subscription absolutely free of charge.*

For a typical UK club with 1000 members and fees of £30 a month, one year’s free service can result in over £18000 in extra revenue from member fees alone.

Retention Management services health clubs in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Their clients represent over 2.5 million members.

“After launching our service to the UK in January we have been delighted by the response. This is our way of thanking those who continue to take an interest in our service and visit us during the show” said UK’s Managing Director, Jon Nasta.

We have heard so much about what a great show LIW is for the UK market and with so many of the fitness industry’s top names exhibiting alongside such an extensive education programme, I for one can’t wait to experience LIW for myself,” commented Richard Ekstrom, President of Retention Management.

*Subject to necessary data extracts from health clubs software service provider. No purchase necessary.

About Retention Management:
Retention Management, a privately held company, generates custom emails to members on a health/fitness club’s behalf, focusing on new member orientation, member attendance, health/fitness education and the automation of attrition defense systems. Their company manages the complexities and time demands of running a comprehensive member communication programme for health/fitness clubs.

Contact:
Jon Nasta
Managing Director UK
Retention Management
Jon.Nasta@RetentionManagement.com
(+44) 01527 870875
Skype – jon.nasta

Christopher J. Werte
Director of Marketing
Retention Management
ChrisW@RetentionManagement.com
1-800-951-8048 Ext. 4
Skype – chris.werte

Retention Management Enters the Australia and New Zealand Markets
Thursday August 14, 2008, 2:45 pm ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C./ Melbourne AU, August 14th — Retention Management and PulseTec Solutions Pty Ltd announced today that they have entered into a strategic alliance in which PulseTec Solutions will be the exclusive distributor of Retention Management services in Australia and New Zealand.

Retention Management, an industry leader in attrition defense services, currently operates in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Their clients represent over 2.5 million fitness club members. PulseTec Solutions form part of PulseTec Pty Ltd, who also owns SportingPulse, the largest internet-based sports networking company in Australia and New Zealand.

Retention Management’s program, working with a club’s existing management software, provides:

• Identification and analysis of individual member usage patterns
• Personalized attendance-based emails that encourage visits
• Automatic intuitive attrition defense systems targeting low and non-users
• Marketing broadcast emails to promote member services and drive non-dues revenue

“Our initial reception ‘down under’ has been very well received,” said Richard Ekstrom, President of Retention Management. “No matter the country, clubs are looking for ways to more effectively engage their members, especially their new members and those that have not established a consistent usage habit. Clubs come to us because our technology does that for them, along with a very healthy Return on Investment.

“Although a long way from the US, the clubs in Australia and New Zealand have very similar needs” said Neil Earey, General Manager of PulseTec solutions. “The interest is clearly there for Retention Management to help grow revenue through greater member retention. Clubs are well aware of the importance of keeping existing members, not just focusing on signing up new members. Through Retention Management’s service, members will know a club cares about them and reward them with their loyalty.”

About Retention Management:
Retention Management, a privately held company, generates custom emails to members on a health/fitness center’s behalf, focusing on new member orientation, member attendance, health/fitness education and the automation of attrition defense systems. Their company manages the complexities and time demands of running a comprehensive member communication program for health/fitness centers.

About PulseTec Pty Ltd:
PulseTec Pty Ltd, the parent company of PulseTec Solutions and SportingPulse, is the driving force behind several information technology innovations and software solutions on the world scene today. The PulseTec team builds profitable businesses through the application of relevant technology. SportingPulse Pty Ltd is the leading solution for grassroots sporting organisations seeking to run their competitions more efficiently and incorporate the new media of the Internet in their administration. Since 1999, SportingPulse has developed software solutions for sporting bodies to communicate to their community via the Internet and keep central control of their data and processes. PulseTec Solutions takes the best solutions for the fitness industry and backs them up with personalized support and training.

Contact:
Christopher J. Werte
Director of Marketing
Retention Management
1-800-951-8048 Ext. 4
ChrisW@RetentionManagement.com
Skype: chris.werte

Neil Earey
General Manager
PulseTec Solutions
+61 3 9872 5856
n.earey@pulsetecsolutions.com

Urban Health Club Launches Retention Management Service – Cuts Terminations in Half in Four Months

Tuesday July 29th, 2008, 11:00 am ET

LONDON UK / CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 29th 2008 – Urban Health Club (formerly Topnotch Health Club in Birmingham City Centre) has selected Retention Management to provide communication services to its members. According to Urban Health Club management, four months after launching the service, the Club has cut terminations in half. Retention Management, the industry leader in attrition defense, services health clubs in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Their clients represent over 2.5 million members.

“Sales have always been strong at the club, but its Achilles heel has always been terminations,” said Craig Hubbard, Managing Director for Urban Health Clubs LTD. “We looked at many different ways of tracking members and ways of reducing our terminations, but nothing either fitted the bill or produced the results we were looking for until we found Retention Management.”

“Retention Management quickly and professionally got everything in place so that we could start as soon as possible. We have been amazed at the results we have seen and how quickly we have seen them. In four months they have managed to half our termination levels. As you can imagine the Directors and our Bank Manager are delighted with the results and the difference this is making to our bottom line. To date linking with Retention Management has been one of the smarter decisions we have made.”

“We are very pleased that Craig and Urban Health have achieved such immediate results,” said Jon Nasta, Retention Management’s UK Managing Director. “At Retention Management, we pride ourselves on the fact that we come from the fitness industry and work to deliver a professional product that will help clubs achieve results. Clubs all over the United Kingdom are beginning to see what Retention Management can do for them.”

Retention Management provides Urban Health Club with a comprehensive series of automated member communication services, including personalized supportive emails that are based on each member’s unique attendance patterns, on-going email marketing messages as well as a new member integration program.

About Retention Management:
Retention Management, a privately held company, generates custom emails to members on a health/fitness club’s behalf, focusing on new member orientation, member attendance, health/fitness education and the automation of attrition defense systems. Their company manages the complexities and time demands of running a comprehensive member communication program for health/fitness clubs.

Contact:
Jon Nasta
Managing Director UK
Retention Management
Jon.Nasta@RetentionManagement.com
(+44) 01527 870875
Skype – jon.nasta

Christopher J. Werte
Director of Marketing
Retention Management
ChrisW@RetentionManagement.com
1-800-951-8048 Ext. 4
Skype – chris.werte

Tuesday June 24th, 2008, 11:00 am ET
LONDON UK / CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 24th 2008 — Odyssey, who operate the Day Spa of the Year for 2007 in UK, have announced that they have selected Retention Management to provide communication services to the members of their Knebworth Club. Retention Management, the industry leader in attrition defense, services health clubs in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Their clients represent over 2.5 million members.

“Attrition is the Achilles heel of any health club business. We believe that Retention Management will take our CRM to the next stage – without incurring additional labor costs.” said Stephen Aucott, Operations Director for Odyssey Group. “Retention Management’s service is not only a perfect fit but enables us to take our member-care initiatives to new heights on a consistent basis”.

“The response to our introduction in the UK at the beginning of the year has been phenomenal,” added Jon Nasta, Retention Management’s UK Managing Director. “And we are pleased that such a prestigious operator as Odyssey is including us as an integral part of their service options.”

Retention Management provides Odyssey Knebworth with a comprehensive series of automated member communication services, including personalized supportive emails that are based on each member’s unique attendance patterns, on-going email marketing messages as well as a new member integration program.

About Retention Management:
Retention Management, a privately held company, generates custom emails to members on a health/fitness center’s behalf, focusing on new member orientation, member attendance, health/fitness education and the automation of attrition defense systems. Their company manages the complexities and time demands of running a comprehensive member communication program for health/fitness centers.

Contact:
Jon Nasta
Managing Director UK
Retention Management
JonN@RetentionManagement.com
(+44) 01527 870875
Skype – jon.nasta

Christopher J. Werte
Director of Marketing
Retention Management
ChrisW@RetentionManagement.com
1-800-951-8048 Ext. 4
Skype – chris.werte

FirstHealth Center for Health & Fitness - Pinehurst Announces a Decrease in Attrition and an Increase in Utilization Using Retention Management

Thursday June 19th, 2008, 11:00 am ET
CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 19th 2008 – The FirstHealth Center for Health & Fitness in Pinehurst announced today a 5 point decrease in member attrition over the last year while using Retention Management’s services. Year to year, FirstHealth achieved a decrease in attrition from 34% to 29%. As a result of the success at their Pinehurst facility, FirstHealth is planning to roll-out Retention Management’s service to their other 5 others centers in the near future.

“In 2006, we were looking for a cost-effective member communication service that would help us reach out to our members and impact member attrition,” said John Caliri, FirstHealth’s Director. “We could not be more pleased with the response from members to Retention Management’s program. In addition to retention improvements, we have been very pleased with how they have impacted our overall program utilization levels. For example, we have seen a 60% increase in participation levels in our children’s programs.”

Retention Management currently provides FirstHealth with a comprehensive series of automated member communication services, including personalized supportive emails that are based on each member’s unique attendance patterns, on-going email marketing messages as well as a new member orientation/education program for its Pinehurst location, impacting over 5,700 members.

About Retention Management:
Retention Management, a privately held company, generates custom emails to members on a health/fitness center’s behalf, focusing on new member orientation, member attendance, health/fitness education and the automation of attrition defense systems. Their company manages the complexities and time demands of running a comprehensive member communication program for health/fitness centers.

Contact:
Christopher J. Werte
Director of Marketing
Retention Management
1-800-951-8048 Ext. 4
Skype: chris.werte

Titan Fitness Selects Retention Management

Tuesday, May 20th 2008

Charlotte, NC May 20th 2008 – Titan Fitness has announced that they have selected Retention Management to provide services to all their Gold’s Gym locations in Minnesota and North Carolina. Retention Management, the industry leader in attrition defense services in the fitness industry, currently operates in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Their clients represent over 2 million fitness club members.

“In today’s competitive marketplace, attrition prevention is obviously an important component to the long term success of our business model,” said Jeff Skeen, President and CEO of Titan Fitness. “The technology efficiencies of Retention Management’s proactive approach equip our strong management teams with the best tools in the industry to fight attrition.”

“Jeff has always been in the forefront of our industry when it comes to innovation and capitalizing on technological advances to enhance not only club operations but the level of service delivered to members,” according to Richard Ekstrom, President of Retention Management. “The implementation of Retention Management’s service in Titan’s clubs is a natural fit between two of the industry’s leaders in the use of technology to create a consistently positive member experience.”

About Titan Fitness
Established by former Gold’s Gym International executives, franchisees and a former PricewaterhouseCoopers director, Titan was founded to build one of the largest Gold’s Gym franchises in the world. Titan plans to grow it’s chain to more than 60 stores over the next several years by investing in franchisees with ownership in at least three locations in attractive growth markets; purchasing non-Gold’s chains and re-branding them; and building new stores to support its investments. The Titan executives have more than 50 years of direct experience in the fitness industry, including the private equity backed acquisition and expansion of Gold’s Gym International in 1999 with, then owner, Brockway Moran and Partners.

About Retention Management:
Retention Management, a privately held company, provides the technology solution that creates a seamless support system for health club members throughout the cycle of their membership. Their focus on member attendance, health/fitness education and the automation of attrition defense systems is an extremely comprehensive and innovative approach to improving retention and increasing club revenues. Retention Management eliminates many of the complexities and time demands of running a comprehensive retention improvement program for a club. Their mission: Create a positive impact on a club’s bottom line through improved member retention.

Contact:
Christopher J. Werte
Director of Marketing
Retention Management
1-800-951-8048 Ext. 4
chrisw@retentionmanagement.com

Fitspace selects Retention Management

Tuesday May 20th, 2008, 11:00 am ET
CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 20 – Retention Management, the industry leader in attrition defence services, announced today that Fitspace has selected Retention Management to provide “state of the art” retention services.

As part of the agreement with Fitspace, Retention Management is providing automated member communication services, including personalized supportive email communication, on-going email marketing messages as well as a new member integration programme for 8 of their locations.

“Knowing of the successes that Retention Management has had over the last five years in the US and Canada we had no hesitation in using their service,” stated Kenny McAndrew, Fitspace Managing Director. “Their fully automated approach fits perfectly with our clubs”.

“We are extremely pleased to be working with Kenny and Fitpsace in the UK and to partner with such an exciting, innovative and forward looking chain of clubs,” added Jon Nasta, Retention Managements UK Managing Director.

About Retention Management:
Retention Management, a privately held company, generates custom emails to members on a club’s behalf. They focus on new member orientation, member attendance, health/fitness education and the automation of attrition defence systems. Their company manages the complexities and time demands of running a comprehensive member communication programme for clubs. Their mission: Create a positive impact on a club’s bottom line through improved member retention.

Contact:
Christopher J. Werte
Director of Marketing
Retention Management
1-800-951-8048 Ext. 4