People who participated in group fitness were
26% less likely to cancel their memberships than
those who trained alone
in group fitness were 26% less likely to
cancel their memberships than those who
trained alone.
Subsequent studies have discovered that
the reason for this had little to do with the
product of group fitness itself, but was far
more due to the community that is created
between the instructor and their participants
and also among the participants themselves.
Hence, if group fitness is a major retention
tool, and part of the way that retention is
achieved is via the community created
between instructors and their patrons, then
training in ‘how to’ create those bonds may
well be just as important as being trained in
BODYPUMP, cycle, Pilates and aqua!
Let’s explore three aspects of how
an instructor can create that community
between themselves and their participants.
1
understandable that you may not be able to
immediately say ‘Hello’ to the newcomer –
but you can probably still wave, smile and
make eye-contact.
Consider the atmosphere as well.
Imagine going into a shop that was dead
silent – where you could hear everything that
the other customers were saying, and they
were privy to every word you uttered. Would
you want to stay for long enough to purchase
something? That atmosphere might be OK in
a library, but not for somewhere that wants
you to feel comfortable enough to hand over
money. Having some background music on
can certainly go some way to relieving that
The 30-second article
• By building rapport with group fitness
participants we can increase the
proportion of people that the club will
retain as members
• One study found that people who
participated in group fitness were 26%
less likely to cancel their memberships
than those who trained alone, due to
the community aspect of training
• Create a welcoming environment by
putting music on prior to the class
starting, smiling at each participant,
making eye contact and saying ‘Hello’
• Using people’s names is a sure-fire
way to build rapport with them – use
the ‘3-iteration’ process to help
remember participants’ names
• Finding a common talking point will
help establish a conversation.
Put out the ‘Welcome’ mat
The first key to creating community is
to ensure that our new participant feels
welcome. In retail this is a concept known
as the ‘meet and greet’. That ‘hi, how are
you?’ that we get when we enter a shop
is there for a reason – it makes us feel
welcome and acknowledged, hopefully
enough to buy something from that shop.
As group fitness instructors, depending on
what and where we are instructing, we may
or may not have a door for someone to walk
through – so the wel