026 Fitness Technology & Attrition: What Works Best?

Marty Regan is Vice President of Sales for Club OS, the leading sales and retention tool in the fitness industry. He has been in the fitness industry for nearly 10 years, working with clients to bring them best in class software solutions to best serve their business. Prior to fitness Marty's diverse past included Stand Up Comedy and even a stint as a tow truck driver.

Club OS is an all-in-one health club platform. It's built to be fully customizable and allows all types of business models to be configured within. We leverage the best partners in the health club industry to create a seamless workflow between your billing system, and the Club OS sales CRM and PT management system. The software provides real time reporting and analysis for our customers so they can make informed decisions. We also automate many business processes that are typically done manually, allowing our customers to focus on running their business.

In this episode, we're exploring the nuances of technology and member attrition, what club owners and operators can do to let go of outdated systems and harness the power of detailed and actionable strategies for keeping more members happy, and what makes them tell their friends about your club.

Marty Regan, Vice President of Sales for Club OS, is taking us through what's really working when it comes to text, email, and phone correspondence that is making a difference as we ride this wave of technology adoption in our industry and how it relates to your fitness business.

Listen To Episode 026 As Marty Uncovers

• What is Club OS and what solution does if offer for the fitness industry?
• Understand dynamic lead nurturing: what is the commonality between what all clubs need to do
• The relationship with the member: a core plain point for clubs nationally
• Understanding the granular follow up process for new lead and especially new members within 90 days
• Integrating additional amenities through the consistent message delivered by scripting
• Exploring the tools for lowering attrition with a club CRM system and consistent script: Call, text, email, and why texting wins with the right compliancy
• With new technology, how can club owners meet the demands of fighting attrition
• Reward Programs Vs. "Win Back Offers" and creating referral programs using your happiest members
• Seeing the viability of email marketing versus texting with A/B testing for efficacy with attrition
• The golden order of operations for lowering attrition via phone, email, automated text

Top 3 Takeaways From The Show

• Understanding the emotional and motivational factors of new club members in the first few months of the customer journey is paramount for lowering attrition. By using personalized touch-points pulled from a customized CRM, clubs have the ability to communicate effectively with gym-goers now more than ever before.
• Win back offers are not as effective as creating a digital ecosystem that guides a club member to get the full experience of using the club. Through combining predictive analytics and smart texting, email, and phone correspondence, customer relationship management software is now more about knowing the member decisions and marketing to what inspires them. As more and more CRM systems rise in our industry, what separates the great clubs from the good will be integrating staff, technology, and effective brand promise scripting into all communications.
• For small boutique studios, it's always been easier to know the member-base intimately when compared to big box gyms. However, with the use of comprehensive tracking via digital solutions, those granular details about each and every member are now becoming more commonplace. As members want more unique experiences in clubs, technology is delivering a way to have real conversations when they matter most.

Power Quotes From Marty

"The more ingrained you can get that member into your club, the much more likely they are to stay. You can also use win-back offers, but those are fairly difficult to do once that person has decided to leave. What we're focused on this year from a retention standpoint is predictive behaviors. We're now understanding when to reach out from key behavioral data found in the club's CRM." - Marty Regan on the Fitness + Technology Podcast

"Those that go to the gym are inherently competitive. Members earning points and seeing where they stack up against other members while in the club or studio really drives retention. We see this a lot with the combination of fitness trackers and broadcasting fitness data on the walls during classes." - Marty Regan on the Fitness + Technology Podcast

Resources Mentioned From Marty

• Club OS Website
• Club OS LinkedIn
• Club OS Twitter
• Club OS facebook
• Club OS blog
• TCPA Texting Law
• Bryan O'Rourke on LinkedIn: Is "Following Your Passion" An Idea Doing More Harm Than Good?
• Nurturing the lead process of making the sale
• How to get your gym or fitness business on Google maps
• The 2017 FIT-C Tech Trends Report

Thanks To Our Outstanding Sponsors

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• Bryan O'Rourke and his family of companies including Vedere Ventures, Integerus Advisors, and many more. If you are looking for unmatched guidance, capital, insights or a great speaker or facilitator, Bryan and his partners are the go to resource for your organization. To learn more visit bryankorourke.com
• The Fitness Industry Technology Council, your non-profit resource for reliable technology information supported by forward looking brands who are seeking to drive increased technology adoption in the fitness industry. Make a difference and join FIT-C at fittechcouncil.org today
• Check out Bryan and his partner Robert Dyer's recent book "9 Partnership Principles: A Story of Life Lessons" which is available now on Amazon.com