Everyone hears that referrals and retention are important, but does anyone actually know why? Club OS and Perkville have teamed up to give you an in-depth look at why referrals and retention are necessary, how to run the right campaigns, and how to increase revenue using your current members.
When creating campaigns to run in your gym, creativity and consistency work together to increase the number of referrals you receive. To help you get started on running referral campaigns or to spark some simple creativity to add to your current referrals workflow, we have created some ideas you can start using today. For a more in-depth look beyond what is in this blog, download our e-book.
Simple & Quick: In your signature for your work emails, add text that is consistently asking for referrals in a non-obtrusive way.
“Have a friend or family member that wants to give Fitness Foundation a try? Click here!”
Have the “click here” text lead to a referrals page where they can easily submit their family member or friend's information to get them a guest pass or sign up for a membership in your gym. This is an easy and quick way to consistently ask for referrals without a straightforward question that could frustrate members if asked too often.
Competitive: Run a competition in your gym or studio with your current members based off how many guests they bring in that month. Give each member 10 guest passes in an email at the beginning of the month and whoever can bring in a different family or friend for each guest pass wins! We always recommend prizes that actually provide an incentive clients to give their best shot. Nice headphones, iPads, a free month’s membership, or a spa treatment from a local spa are all great prizes you can use. Running this campaign once every 3-4 months and switching out the prizes will help keep competitions like this fresh and bring in the maximum amount of referrals!
Targeted: By targeting your most engaged members, you have a higher chance of actually getting referrals in the door. Your most engaged members are loyal to your brand and probably already talk about your business to friends and family fairly often. If you have members who check into your gym or studio more than four times a week, send them a targeted email asking for referrals, and include a small prize if they have one referral sign up this month. These members are your brands personal cheerleaders and most of the time they would willingly bring in friends and family if they are reminded that they need to do it. Sometimes all it takes is a little incentive!
Internal Workflow Oriented: Teaching your employees methods that will increase the number of referrals you receive is an easy way to increase leads by simply changing your workflow. A good time to start asking for referrals is during the membership buying process. After someone has decided to purchase a membership or purchases classes, they are often excited to get started on their journey and they are feeling confident in their decision (because you sold them an amazing gym or studio package!) After they have decided, but before they have to pay, give them an iPad that has a space to insert the information of anyone they know that would like a guest pass. If you or your employees do this every time a membership is sold, you will have referrals coming in nearly everyday!
After getting your referral campaigns set up, you will see how well it integrates with running retention campaigns or increasing retention rates. The two work together to bring in more revenue for your fitness business and create lifelong members. For ideas on retention campaigns and to learn how referrals and retention run together to create more revenue, download our e-book below.
