Leverage your Instructors to Drive Retention and Sales

What really keeps a client coming back?

What really keeps a client coming back? And what gets a client to recommend your business to their friends and colleagues?

At FitGrid, we would argue that an important answer to both questions ends up being the same – "connection".

Consider the "average" studio with average facilities (not amazing, not terrible), average instructors (not superstars but not bad), a client base that is casually committed to exercise, and a location that is just okay.

In an era of increasing competition – not just from the studio down the street, but also from an increasing array of online options – the thing that keeps that studio's clients from leaving that facility to go to the trendy new spot or even to stream online, is the connection they feel to that place, to those people, and to that experience.

The more connected a client is to your community, the more likely they are to stay.

To drive higher retention, you need a client to feel connected to your studio, which primarily means to the instructors and to the other classmates around them because we feel deeper connection to people than we do to objects or places. In fact, it's the memories and experiences with people that make places stand out in our minds.

From a social perspective this makes sense. As human beings, we are social creatures; and in an increasingly fast-paced world, where we often don't have the time to truly connect, finding a "community" that feels safe, offers a sense of connectedness and attracts people with a common set of interests is increasingly important to our health and balance.

Our yoga studio. Our boxing studio. Our pilates studio. Our CrossFit gym. These are all places that we look to for that support more than ever before.

In these places, we find a convenient location that fits our busy schedules, an enjoyable workout that keeps us fit, a community of like-minded people committed to the same cause, coaches who motivate us to do more than we might have otherwise have done, and an activity that we leave with a true sense of accomplishment.

But if we don't feel a connection to the people around us while doing these chosen activities, we will leave, and we will seek that feeling somewhere else.

Connection is key.

In September 2017, MINDBODY shared a study by SurveyGizmo, surveying 1,211 US fitness consumers. The question that was asked was as follows:

"Thinking about fitness studios that you've attended repeatedly, what are the most important reasons you continue going back?"

In order of importance, the answers that appeared in the results were:

1) The classes offered

2) The location

3) The price

4) The schedule

5) The instructor(s)

6) The community (friends, etc.)

7) Amenities

8) The music played in classes

9) Daycare provided

In other words, once you pass the major considerations usually taken into account by clients prior to even committing to a studio: interest in the activity (the classes), affordability (price), and convenience (location and schedule); the very next, most important factors are all about the people and one's connection to them (instructors and community).

Stop for a moment and let that really sink in.

Once a client has chosen your studio, it's all about the connection to the people around.

In fact, I would argue that the connection is not just key to retention, but it's the key to sales as well. Consumers talk most passionately about things they feel the greatest "connection" to. If they love the activity you offer and feel a connection to the people in your studio, they are more likely to talk passionately about it to others like them - your best potential customers!

So, if you want to drive retention and sales in your studio, focus your people on driving connection by investing in tools that support the personal touch and that expose, deepen, and allow those connections to flourish.

I promise, it's the gift that will keep on giving.

About the Author

Nt Etuk is the Founder and CEO of FitGrid, a communication and connectivity platform that helps fitness studios increase and strengthen the connections in their community to better drive retention and sales. He is also a speaker at SUCCEED! The Association of Fitness Studios Annual Business Convention & Expo.