UFP has honed and tested its checklist to the point where they are certain that if they do all five things, prospects will convert most of the time.“ When we started measuring that approach, the clubs quickly moved from a 65 % to an 80 %+ conversion rate. It empowered the team,” McCreery said,“ because it showed team members that if they made the effort to connect with each prospect, it would yield a good result. There was no mystery to solve. Follow the list, make a connection, and the prospect will convert.
“ Once we got success there, we looked at online joins,” McCreery continued.“ We started deploying the same tactics. We call the new member to make a connection and set up time for a tour to make sure they understand all the amenities we offer, and to close out the onboarding process. We started seeing improvements in retention and upgrades,” McCreery said. All of a sudden, Black Card upgrades emerged as a key KPI for United Fitness Partners to measure and share with their managers. Today, there are 14 different KPIs that are measured and analyzed to enhance performance. McCreery said there are a number of benefits to establishing these metrics, among them: 1. Ensuring everyone works toward the same goals. 2. Regularly monitoring progress to identify improvement areas. 3. Encouraging team members to work harder and be accountable. 4. Providing data-driven insights for informed resource allocation and process improvement. 5. Identifying trends for ongoing enhancement and competitiveness.
UFP compiles their analytics into three separate reports: A Leading Indicator report, an EFT Potential report and a Secret Shopper report.“ We secret shop all year. Each quarter we do a quarter of our markets, so by the end of the year, all have been reviewed.”
The reports will show when a team member forgets to add a prospect to the digital guest register or doesn’ t do a rate presentation for the prospect. Secret shopping, McCreery said, gives club managers a clearer picture of how well their team is working. If everything is done right,“ prospects say,‘ These people really care about me.’ And we should genuinely care about everyone who comes into the gym. [ Then,] if we see more Black Card joins, we know those teams are doing a great job of showing the Black Card amenities.”
Of course, retaining those members – especially the ones who upgrade to a Black Card membership – requires keeping the club clean and fixing equipment when it breaks. Newman said it is also important to update the amenities that are available to members.“ People want variety. We offer stand-up tanning and tanning beds. We have standing and laying HydroMassage,” she said.
Planet Fitness has built a reputation as the low-cost, high-value leader in fitness, but as any franchisee will tell you, the intangibles of the member experience – making sure the member has a good feeling in the club – are what ensure high conversion and retention rates. G
Matt Ellis is a contributing writer for the PFIFC. Ellis may be reached at matt @ ellisstrategies. com or 617-278-6560.
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