Do you want your gym to be just an anonymous room where individuals come to exercise by themselves, go through their routines, and then leave without any interaction?
If it were a bar, you don’t want strangers to drink just one beer in silence, and then quietly leave as strangers, no more connected or happier than when they arrived.
Or do you want your business to grow into a gym community that’s vital to the lives of your members, noticed by your broader community — a “third place” after work and home that’s as essential to their social and emotional health as it is to their physical goals?
If it were a bar, you’d want it to be like TV’s iconic Cheers, “where everybody knows your name” and people spend time and money on lots more than just a drink.
The choice is clear to anyone, and not just because the second version feels more warm and fuzzy.
It’s also better business.
Here’s how Rosa Coletto of Full Circle Fitness puts it: “We’re not like those ‘big box’ gyms you see all over. Full Circle Fitness provides one-on-one attention in small group training with peer support and the enthusiastic guidance of one of our coaches… and our members are like family to us. We have fun, and we support each other.
Members will stay longer when they’re emotionally, personally invested in a community at your gym. You’ll develop a reputation for being the right fitness place for the right people (no matter what your niche is). And the good vibes will develop into goodwill for your gym, within its walls and throughout your whole area.
All that means more members staying for longer — and spending more money to spend more time with you each week.
Top 10 Tips to Build a Gym Community
So, how do you build this powerful, authentic sense of a welcoming community?
1. Know who you want as members and keep them top of mind in all your decisions. Are you focusing on teenage athletes? Young adult women trying to lose weight after having babies? Baby Boomers hoping to enjoy a long retirement?
Whoever it is, focus on what it takes to make them feel welcome – the overall experience, the workouts, the whole look and feel.
Broadway actor Mark Fisher built a successful gym in the “down time” that performing and auditioning left him. He wanted to provide fitness services for other theater folk who also had unusual schedules. And he did it with a serious commitment to keeping it fun – wild and crazy for his gym community. His approach might not be right for every community, but it is for HIS.
2. Build your entire user experience around making them feel good when they’re at your gym – and feeling good ABOUT it later.
So, pretend you’ve never been to your facility and walk in as a newbie. What does your entry area look like? Does the music split your ears? Are big musclemen dropping weights loudly?
There’s no wrong or right answer, per se – except in the context of how you’re appealing to the “right” people you’ve selected as your primary customer.
Rachel Cosgrove of Results Fitness University says, “Thinking through what is important to you. What are your core values? When you walk into your gym, what do you want people to feel?”
Culture, she says, “creates a magical environment” for likeminded people supporting each other. “That’s a game-changer for businesses, and most gym owners don’t think it’s important.”
3. Create a special space for socializing, even if it’s just a small area for coffee or a smoothie. Encourage members to hang out, even before and after their workouts. The more time they spend with you, the more relationships they’ll forge.
4. Sponsor internal events like movie nights or occasional outdoor workouts, and external events like team participation in a community fun run.
5. Encourage gym people to bring friends and family members. Consider quarterly open houses. Involve a local coffee shop or similar business in your gym community events.
6. Build small group training sessions so that new friendships develop. “Gym friends” keep each other accountable and make working out more fun, so take a hand in engineering them.
Shelley Turk of ProActive Fitness loves it when groups of women regularly go together from small group training sessions to a nearby coffeeshop to socialize with each other.
7. Keep your gym clean, and promote how clean it is. This should go without saying, especially after the pandemic. No one wants to spend extra time somewhere that makes them feel uncomfortable or unsafe in any way.
8. Speaking of the pandemic, we learned during that nightmare how vital social connections are to our members – and that the gym is one of the most important places for people to keep them.
9. For a healthy gym community, you and your staff should know their names, just like at Cheers — EVERYONE’s name who joins. Smile at them.
Keep up on their lives — not to the point of being a nosy neighbor, but to the point of showing you care about them. Did they just have a baby? Return from a European vacation? You should know.
10. Make sure your front-desk employees aren’t scrolling their phones and ignoring people when they come in. Everyone wants to be acknowledged by name, with a smile, and direct eye contact. Professionalism counts for sooooo much.
Communicate, communicate, communicate
Now, a few words about communications. You simply can’t do it enough.
1. So, be sure you’re sending email newsletters at least once a week – to prospects AND to members, alike. Don’t cut off communications once a prospect becomes a client. Keep providing useful, relevant information to them, not just gym updates or sales.
It shows you value the relationships you’ve built up – that you weren’t just interested in their credit card number.
2. Share news about your gym. Is there a new trainer? An extra spin class? Are you expanding into the newly vacant space next door? Be sure to tell your members and prospects. People want to know – and they want to be included.
3. Use social media to show how fun your business is. Keep the focus on members, NOT YOU. Who’s running her first 5K? Who in your gym community baked their world-famous oatmeal cookies and brought them in for everyone to enjoy? Did you all go to The Big Game together? Show it!
4. But remember social media works both ways! Be sure to share supportive comments on your members’ and community partners’ posts, too.
Rad Slough of Urban Body Fitness cross-promotes with other businesses in his neighborhood that are appealing to the same market. Professional marketing opportunities are rich among your neighbors in, say, hair salons, boutiques, golf clubs, and other kinds of businesses.
5. Sponsor a theme night. What could be more fun than dressing up in lycra, legwarmers and headbands for ‘80s night? Promote the heck out of it – before AND after.
6. Listen to what members and prospects have to say. Encourage email suggestions from your gym community, use surveys – heck, you could even have an old-fashioned “suggestion box” somewhere. When people spend a lot of time at a gym, they will naturally develop opinions and preferences – and they will want to be heard.
“Ask questions… make it about them,” says Joe Hashey of Synergy Athletics. “You’re asking how they feel from the previous session. You’re asking, after a few months, if they’re able to enjoy anything outside of the gym that they couldn’t do before, which is an awesome opportunity to gather testimonials.”
7. Celebrate member successes. Share their struggles. Start a “Member Spotlight” wall. We all want gold stars!
8. Make sure your staff members are all informed, friendly, and paying attention. That means they know your values and priorities; they know the answers to clients’ FAQs. Solicit their feedback on a regular basis.
Joe says staying in touch is part of showing clients you have their back.
“Our team will go above and beyond to be sure you reach your goals inside and outside the gym with our VIP Facebook page and weekly emails and reminders, you’ll be crushing goals faster than ever!” the Synergy website says.
What Other Veterans Say
If you want to build a gym community that helps your gym become a “third place,” then you need to put a little effort into it, just like you do in selecting your dumbbells and treadmill.
You want to create an environment where everyone feels empowered by being part of something bigger than themselves, where they regularly encounter people who care about them.
Remember that not everyone is lucky enough to get that at home and at work. Not everyone has a supportive spouse or colleagues to cheer them on. Joining a gym can be intimidating, so you want to do what you can to put people at ease.
Everyone needs a refuge – a safe place to pursue their fitness dreams.
Make your business that refuge for members of your gym community.
Fitness business coach Pat Rigsby urges fitness professionals to maintain long-term relationships with clients and understand that they all have ebbs and flows in their lives that might affect their attendance.
“You have to be willing to build relationships with people,” he says. “You have to be willing to care. And I think that you have to show up for people. You can’t only be transactional and say, well, hey, I care about you as long as your credit card payment goes through.”
Fitness industry coach and speaker Todd Durkin urges you to focus on building and maintaining relationships, not just on closing deals. Understand your clients’ fitness goals, preferences and challenges. Authentically develop trust and empathy to improve your retention rates and to greater buzz about your business, inside and out.
Alwyn Cosgrove of Results Fitness points out that fostering a sense of gym community has a big impact on sales and retention both. Clients want to feel like they belong. They crave social interaction, group workouts, and events that bring them together. Don’t leave them alone to find it down the street!
Rick Mayo of Alloy Personal Training advises gym owners to use technology and data to enhance their operations, which will improve the user experience for clients. Technology also can streamline your admin tasks and give you the best information you need to make the most informed decisions.
And, finally, we like how Doug Spurling of Spurling Fitness describes it so simply and powerfully: “A gym is more than a place to work out; it’s a community.” (Read more tips from industry leaders here: “Inspiring Gym Leadership: Leading by Example.”)
It’s Not Just a Trend
Building a gym community isn’t just a trendy marketing ploy; it’s smart business and can be your ticket to leveling up your game across categories.
If you’re like most gym owners, you probably got into fitness because you wanted to help people, so remember that motivation in all you do to build your gym community.
In a post-pandemic world, we’ve witnessed a paradigm shift, realizing that the social aspect of a gym is a driving force behind member satisfaction and loyalty. A strong gym community is the heartbeat of your business, fostering a sense of belonging, encouraging accountability, and ultimately contributing to the long-term success of your business.
It’s not just about lifting weights; it’s about lifting spirits and creating a haven where fitness meets friendship – for lasting fitness and business success.
Still looking for more ideas to improve your member retention and engagement? Check out our FREE guide, 9 Secrets to Increase Retention.