Written by: Adam Mckenzie How easy do you make it for any of your clients to cancel their membership? It blows my mind how few Fitpro's even sit down to ask anyone why they are leaving their program and what they can do to help them! Let's look at the client facts.... 1. 90% of people who leave your program do nothing...yes nothing, no form of exercise at all!! 2. The easier it is to quit on themselves the more likely they will be to do just that. 3. Who else in their life keeps them accountable to sticking to their goals and intentions, regardless of success or failure? 4. What good are they to your business once they are not a member...how many of your canceled members keep sending you new members? 5. The way someone finishes something is way more important than how they start! Starting something is easy, sticking at it is where most people give up! 6. Fewer clients that stay longer is a winning formula when you calculate lifetime value per client I see some many fitness professionals giving all their new clients everything they can...adding as much value as possible over the initial 4-6 weeks... Then after that not even having a member care system in place to keep clients happy long term... Then they let anyone leave by them sending you a simple text or email. I understanding the thinking behind "if they are not happy I don't want them to stay..." Do you really know why they are not happy? Have you spent the time meeting them where they are at and understanding what is going on in their minds or are you just assuming? I can tell you for a fact that if you sat down with 10 cancellations you would save a minimum of 2-3... I see it with all of my coaching clients each month So I am going to go out on a limb here and say that you all want to keep clients because you care about them and their results? Then let's go one step further and put a system in place to not let them off easily and to take the time to sit with them and simply work out where they are at...As a system... the exit interview is very easy to put in place. Step 1:If anyone wants to cancel they have to book into an exit interview Step 2:Create a list of questions on a form like a PARQ Questions like?: - What has lead to this decision? - What will it cost you to not get the results you want? - What have you got planned to do if you leave here? - What do you feel like you still have to achieve? - Do you feel like you can achieve that on your own? - What have you loved about our program and gym? - What would you have loved to see more of or got out of our program? - If money was not an issue would you still be making the choice to leave? - etc.... Step 3:After you have taken them through each question and you personally writing down their answers... - You also have the opportunity to down sell them onto something less expensive like online training or a lower price point program you offer - If they still want to leave then they need to sign the bottom of that doc confirming their cancellation. Step 4:Cancelation notice period starts after signing... make it at least 2-4 weeks minimum! Step 5:Step 5: The day they end...give them a call to say thank you and that you will miss them and you will stay in touch to see how they are doing. Step 6:Put them on a past member email list and auto-responder series - Send them emails once a week to stay top of mind for them and add them to your content list that you are also emailing at least once per week - Once per month make one of their emails an offer to come back, nothing massive or discounted just a simple invite ### As a bonus here is a simple system to add to past clients after the exit interview ### Step 7:I miss you cards... - Every week on a Monday choose 5-10 past clients to send I miss you cards to and post them. - Every Thurs/ Friday call these people to see if they got the card and to see if they would like to take you up on a FREE Goal and Nutrition session, A FREE Scan, A FREE week, Your Next 28 day challenge, Your New program etc.... We spend so much time focuses on bringing new people in the door and on learning all the new cool marketing tactics, with bots and all the other cool shit... We forget the most valuable thing any business has... Current paying clients!! It is easy to get blinded by the opportunity for fast cash and big chunks of upfront payments from clients paying in advanced for 4, 6 or 12-week programs... I would much rather take clients paying me less upfront knowing that they will be on direct debit for a minimum of 12 months plus and I don't have to worry abut having to convert them again at the end of their 4,6 or 12-week program... Sell clients once and do everything you can to keep them happy, motivated and on direct debit for as long as possible! For example, a client who pays $497 for a 6-week program that who may or may not convert afterward is only worth the $497 to you...and there will always be a % that won't convert! VS A client who pays me $59 a week and commits to a 12-month program is going to be worth $3068 to me... ...And I don't have to convert them after the 12 months because they know they go straight onto month to month. Sell them once keep them for as long as possible! Even if that client only stays for 12 weeks and ends up canceling you still made $708 and committing to $59 a week is a lot easier than having to commit to $497 for anyone who says they cannot afford you program! I have seen so many businesses having to close their doors or pleading with us to help save their business from only ever playing the short game of getting fast cash in the door... By not playing the long game of good cashflow and more profit from fewer members who stay longer. Getting new clients can cost money and can even be expensive at times... I am not saying the cost is not worth it if you structure your conversion process properly but... Keeping existing clients longer... is FREE! Written by: Adam Mckenzie @ FitProDomination.com |