The success of your gym as a business and the personal success of your athletes in their own goals depend on how often and how willing your athletes are to come back. Consistency is key when it comes to improvement. To find out what makes a client come back for me, look at it from their perspective. Ask yourself this question: why would I want to keep coming back to this gym, in particular?
Facilities and Equipment
Look around your box. Do you have the right equipment? Do you have enough equipment? If your box caters to a specific niche, then make sure the equipment you have caters to that niche. It doesn’t take much to start a CrossFit box, but you have to make sure that your clients can get the most out of what you have.
The overall quality of your building also matters. Are the pipes working properly? Is the place clean and pleasant? Keep the showers working right and make sure that everyone feels comfortable. Every detail matters — from a functioning water fountain to the scented candles you keep in the bathroom.
Community
Building a community is more important than you think. Your box isn’t just a space where people go to use the equipment, and then go home. CrossFit is, and always should be, a community. Your members should not feel intimidated by going to your box, and they should not be scared to go back either.
Newbies will always feel excited about the introductory course. The drive is there because they just started. The challenge is to keep them excited enough to move forward with general classes. You can do this by making them feel like they belong and are welcome any time. If your new guys can feel like they can approach anyone for help, then they will be braver to take on tougher classes. One small thing that makes a huge difference? Learn everyone’s name. Everyone’s. Greet them every time they walk through your doors, and initiate conversation.
Not everyone will be in a great mood 24/7. You can help pick up the mood by simply saying hello. It takes very little effort to smile and greet everyone, and it goes a long way.
If you have unhappy customers, you may need to do a check to see what’s going on. Do your coaches focus more on athleticism rather than your members’ well-being? Is your pricing reasonable? Do you deliver on your promises? You can’t just assume that everything’s A-OK. Remember to do some pulse checks with your members to know how they’re feeling. This way, when someone’s not happy, you can get to the bottom of the problem and fix it.
Even if everything seems to be going smoothly, consider holding monthly surveys to ask for members’ feedback. Sometimes, they’ll feel more comfortable submitting things anonymously, rather than coming straight to you.
Now What?
Once you’ve figured out what it is that keeps your members coming back and what stops them from coming back, take action. Fix what needs to be fixed. Capitalize on what encourages them to return. Improve it. Add more to it. If you need help, go get it. After all, this is a community.
Remember that your business is here because you want to make people’s lives better. You want to help them bring positive change to their lives. Have a clear understanding about what they love about it and don’t lose sight of your vision, mission and your core values.
You will be happy with the results.
