Whether you have been in the gym business for years or starting new, it is natural to worry about the competition and look for the average members needed to succeed. It is pretty common among gym owners to think that the success of their fitness business is directly related to the number of members your gym has. 

However, there are many other factors, like location, debt load, facilities, etc., that influence your gym’s success. Even so, many people want to know how many members does a gym needs to be successful?

To understand the critical role played by the members in a gym give, read this article and learn about practical ideas to significantly increase the number of gym members.

How do gyms measure success

A gym is a place that is defined by its members rather than anything else; therefore, the success of a gym is essentially measured by the number of existing members. 

However, having a huge number of members does not necessarily mean that a gym is successful. Keeping them happy and retaining them for a longer time is also essential. Still, to measure the success of a gym one can make use of a metric counting upon two quantifiable characteristics, namely:

• Average Client Value (ACV)
• Retention/ Churn Rates.

About average client value (ACV)

The maximum amount charged from customers and the duration of stay of each customer helps determine the Average Client Value. The greater these figures, the higher the value placed on ACV. Most gym members focus on the number of paid members they have at present, undermining the importance of making customers stay for a longer time.

It is irrelevant to see through the number of the existing members to measure the success of the fitness business if you are not charging a significantly high amount for the membership. The gym owners need to trust increasing the ACV rather than focusing and staying with low-paying members.

About retention/Churn rates

The second factor relates to working towards making your gym members stay with your fitness services for a longer time frame. When you get to solidify your connections with a smaller set of individuals, they will likely stay across for a more extended period. 

It is a crucial component of sustaining the number of memberships at a level that is essential for a gym’s success. Many gym owners are unaware of turnover rates. It is worth investing in your fitness business when you are losing members.

How many members does the average gym have

The average number of members in a gym is subject to many factors, including the number of equipment available at the gym, facilities provided by the gym, access to various incentives, profitability of the gym, etc. 

No defined number exists that can narrate the number of members a gym needs to be successful or work for a longer time. Knowing why members are leaving your gym can help you fix many issues. 

Start with these tips to improve it:

• Provide incentives to existing members

Providing benefits and incentives to both the existing and the new members can help improve the retention rate among the members. Simply just entice the potential members of your gym with discounts and promotions.

But the more difficult part is to make the existing members remain for an extended time frame. This is why it becomes essential for the gym owners to provide their members with benefits like free exercise courses, reduced membership costs, complimentary snacks, etc.

• Member referral program

A customer referral program appears to be the most accurate intervention for membership acquisition and member retention. Recommendation by an existing member to attract new members not only brings you new members of the gym but also brings in more value to the gym. 

These recommendations could be counted as excellent reviews by the members. To encourage such referrals, you might consider compensating the members for attracting new members.

• Metric to measure membership satisfaction

Measuring whether your customers are satisfied or not is very important. This can help you keep track of the number of happy and satisfied members in your fitness business. The very first step is to record if there are any dissatisfied members.

 If you find a few dissatisfied consumers in your gym then it is advised to hear their concerns and answer them as soon as possible. 

Moreover, you can organize monthly or quarterly surveys to assess the mood of your members in the gym. This will help you work on member retention and add value to the experience of your existing members.

• Invest in customer service

In every business customer service plays a crucial role in making or breaking the business. Excellent customer service can improve the value provided by your gym to the consumers and assist in improving customer retention. 

It will nurture brand loyalty among consumers and help establish a long-term relationship between your fitness company and gym members. It is worth noting that improving customer service is the most effective one among all the other benefits.

Conclusion

Compared to the pre-pandemic state, the gym statistics have changed significantly. More and more people are worried about their fitness and health schedules. Therefore, the demand for gym membership both online and in-person is on the rise. A gym is a place where people come to stay motivated, connect with like-minded people and experience the results from their daily fitness routine.

Know how to reopen your gym during the pandemic. Click here!

If you want to grow the members of your gym, spark membership offers you a great way to do it by helping you manage and run the gym better.