It's not enough to just get people in your doors. Once they show up, you have to do a great job of providing an excellent service. And, "churn" (aka monthly turnover) is the secret killer of most fitness businesses. If you aren't able to get a handle on your churn, you can be out of business even if you're adding dozens of clients per month. We talk with Juliet Starrett, one of the wisest and most-seasoned business owners in the CrossFit Game, about how San Francisco CrossFit dials in the client experience at all stages in order to maximize retention.
Check out more from Juliet and San Francisco CrossFit: San Francisco CrossFit | @sfcf | @julietstarrett
If you're enjoying the show and want a breakdown of many of the strategies, tips and tactics we recommend - as well as some of the recommendations from our expert guests - head over to www.fromcoachtobusiness.com to download our cheat sheet on starting and growing your fitness business.
[2:40] Keeping existing members is San Francisco CrossFit’s top priority
[7:30] Returning phone calls and emails in a timely manner is a competitive edge
[8:40] Juliet’s opinion on the single greatest asset a gym owner can have
[13:10] San Francisco CrossFit’s “Shirt On” policy and how they think about the message that their environment sends to new members
[20:00] How to make sure your members feel heard, even if you don’t take action on their requests
[24:15] The humble beginnings of San Francisco CrossFit
[28:30] Common pitfalls when starting out
[38:45] The silly thing some of Juliet’s members do when they visit other gyms
[41:30] How to make the first 90 days special for new members
[46:30] Handling a larger membership base and how to deal with a growing gym
[56:10] Why San Francisco CrossFit doesn’t record times and scores on the board
[1:01:10] Thinking about important tipping points in customer experience - both positive and negative
[1:06:30] How San Francisco CrossFit monitors retention - and tracks their biggest spenders
[1:14:05] Not every client is worth keeping