BUSN732 Business Communications 1 : Consumer Retention Strategies

Background 

As the problem indicated is a major threat to the company’s ongoing operation it is important that a  survey is conducted which will give a clear idea on what the major problems are faced by the members leading up to the cancellation of membership. Survey conducted was divided on the basis  cost, classes and communication (Scholes, 2015).  The data collected from survey was quantitative in nature which was then calculated in percentage to find the majority of the response given out by the respondents. It is to be noted that the respondents within the survey where member leaving and cancelling the membership with the gym (Peng, 2017). Hence the survey is purely focused on the reasons why memberships are being cancelled and what are the major issues residing within the operations of the firm leading to such cancellation.

From the data collected questions related to cost of gym most of the members were seen to have a general membership Where as the members having Elite membership where on the lower side.  This shows that major people cancelling the membership paper of general membership and when not Elite members of the club (Leonidou, Fotiadis, Christodoulides, Spyropoulou & Katsikeas, 2015).  Majority of the members turn down the reason of cost being a major element for cancellation of membership. This shows that cause was not major elements which lead to cancellation of membership for the existing members.  Majority of the respondents were satisfied with the perks which were provided to them on their respective membership levels.  Overall it can be said that cause was not a major driver for membership cancellation (Klettner, Clarke & Boersma, 2014).

Classes and programs

Majority of the members where is seen to be b he never participating within the classes scheduled of the gym where as major population of respondent went to gym 1 to 2 time to the gym.  This or that at major population of of members cancelling the membership where is regular in attending there gym. Majority of the population in the program responded that they were no aware of the program happening in the firm (Galbraith, 2014). It has been noted that majority of the members cancelling their membership do not know about programs which were there in the gym which an e driver for membership cancellation.  As he major people cancelling their membership have been irregular to the gym it can be said they did not had any intention to properly conduct fitness session as well as they did not consider further programs in the film This lead to demotivation of the merger resulting cancellation of membership. The firm failed to properly involve their members in the programs of the club (Hubbard, Rice & Galvin, 2014).

Communication and marketing

Through survey conducted over communication and marketing it has been seen that most of the members which have cancelled the membership were subscribed to the email communication system of the company.  This means most of the population was informed through Email communication system.  Most of the times it is seen that the respondents felt negative about the communication system used by the company as a major population of the respondent said that the communication was not helpful and that they were not interested in communicating with the Fitness Club Email communication (Martinez-Simarro, Devece & Llopis-Albert, 2015).  It can be said that majority of the respondent also feel that the communication system lacked and there was no proper communication system which helped proper communication between the members and the club.  it is also seen that the respondent majorly follow the company through Facebook .The respondent also feel that there are development needed in overall communication system of the company. Majority of the respondent feel that the use of social media platform should be done more efficiently and the content should be more informative (Amran, Ooi, Wong & Hashim, 2016).

Conclusions

Concluding on the above discussion it can be said that the major problems which has been faced by the company and due to which members have cancelled their membership plan from the company are communication and marketing as well as classes and programs.  It can be said that major problems which can be seen in the overall cancellation process within the gym as a result of poor communication system which led to demotivation and discontinuation of membership within the organization.  It is clear that cost is a minor element which would have affected the overall calculation process whereas communication and marketing as well as classes and programs were the major contributors which led to members cancelling the membership with the firm.

Customer retention is very important for any gym and fitness centers. According to some research and survey, it has been seen that 30-50 per cent customer didn't rejoin the gym or fitness centre next year. And it can be concluded that over a course period of 365 days a fitness centre losses almost half of their members. There are many reasons that some gym-goers vanish and never return to the gym again. So by implementing some of the strong customer retention strategies, a gym owner can decrease the number of people who discontinued coming to a gym or fitness centre over a period of time (Apenko, 2017). As the company has been facing a problem in consumer or membership retention it is important that the company follows the following consumer retention strategies:

1. One of the best customer retention strategies is to give what people want in return of their money. There are two common things in all the fitness or health clubs that have a great impact on customer loyalty i.e impressive facilities and fantastic staff. A company must hire professionals trainers who are not interested in just fitness but they also be friendly with them. They must have good customer service skills so they can manage their clients well and fulfil their needs. A fitness centre should keep their services and facilities up to date and clean (Pisano, 2015).
2. Another popular and successful customer retention strategy a fitness centre can follow to retain their clients is to make their customer come to the gym outside of their daily workout. A fitness or gym centers should organize an event like blood donation camp, Zumba-thons, or for smoothie tastings and can also hold a Halloween party. A fitness centre must create a community where customers feel like they are a part of this centers and hold some values. Give your customers an opportunity to make new friends and know the staff members well. If the clients are having fun in their gym rather than only workouts then this will make them stay for a long period of time and also make them visit the gym regularly.
3. A gym or fitness centre must give priority for the communication and ongoing interactions, as this will also help them to retain their customer and make new customers to join their centre. A fitness centre should always be in touch with their clients on regular basis by some phone calls, emails or by any social media post. This will make the clients feel and reminds that the centre values their membership and want to keep them as a customer (Buckley, Burton & Mirza, 2016).

Recommendations

Getting the new or more members is not a difficult part but keeping or retaining the existing members a centre have is more difficult. In the recent survey, it has been seen that there is a lot of cancellation in the existing membership. The reason behind those cancellations is high cost, lack of communication or marketing and proper classes. There are some recommendations to retain the existing customers that Bradley Fitness centre can follow are as follows:

1. Bradley fitness centre should reduce their basis cost or start giving as much as they can give in return. As every customer need value for their money. If they provide their customer with a satisfaction then this will lead to membership retention. The company should provide a good customer service that will build a brand loyalty and also create a long-term relationship with the clients. The key to making the fitness centre into a top-notch is customer satisfaction. The practicing of the above tip will help to retain the existing members. And this will make your members happy and also encourage loyal customer. A loyal member is very valuable for the gym as they will bring new members to the centre (Hubbard, Rice & Galvin, 2014).
2. One of the biggest challenges a fitness centre encounter is marketing their services well. A company should take help of some social media sites for marketing their services well and in an efficient manner. A company should create a facebook page/ad account which will give the members an idea or overviews about the classes they offer. A comapny should also create a account on Google ads managers and link your existing Facebook page account with it (Scholes, 2015). This will help to make people know about your fitness centre.   Afterwards, you should start connecting your existing gym members on social media. This will help your company to strengthen the relationship between your members and also make them connected with your centre while they are away (Castellani, Narula, Nguyen, Surdu & Walker, 2018).
3. Keep the classes and activities up to date according to the clients need. Proper classes and facilities are the two most important factor for the success of any gym or health centers. By offering the exercise classes that your clients need and are interested in, your organization have a great opportunity to make yourself different and set apart from the other gym in your areas. If your gym can able to provide the programs and classes that are relevant and useful for the clients then this will help to create an interest between them and also a strong connection that keeps them coming back to the gym.

References

Amran, A., Ooi, S. K., Wong, C. Y., & Hashim, F. (2016). Business strategy for climate change: An ASEAN perspective. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 23(4), 213-227.

Apenko, S. (2017). Human resource management of innovative projects in the context of business strategy. Strategic Management, 22(1), 3-6.

Buckley, P. J., Burton, F., & Mirza, H. (Eds.). (2016). The strategy and organization of international business. Springer.

Castellani, D., Narula, R., Nguyen, Q. T., Surdu, I., & Walker, J. T. (Eds.). (2018). Contemporary Issues in International Business: Institutions, Strategy and Performance. Springer.

Galbraith, J. R. (2014). Designing organizations. Jossey-Bass & Pfeiffer Imprints, Wiley,.

Hubbard, G., Rice, J., & Galvin, P. (2014). Strategic managment: Thinking, analysis, action. Pearson.

Klettner, A., Clarke, T., & Boersma, M. (2014). The governance of corporate sustainability: Empirical insights into the development, leadership and implementation of responsible business strategy. Journal of Business Ethics, 122(1), 145-165.

Leonidou, L. C., Fotiadis, T. A., Christodoulides, P., Spyropoulou, S., & Katsikeas, C. S. (2015). Environmentally friendly export business strategy: Its determinants and effects on competitive advantage and performance. International Business Review, 24(5), 798-811.

Martinez-Simarro, D., Devece, C., & Llopis-Albert, C. (2015). How information systems strategy moderates the relationship between business strategy and performance. Journal of Business Research, 68(7), 1592-1594.

Peng, M. W. (2017). Cultures, institutions, and strategic choices: Toward an institutional perspective on business strategy. The Blackwell handbook of cross?cultural management, 52-66.

Pisano, G. P. (2015). You need an innovation strategy. Harvard Business Review, 93(6), 44-54.

Scholes, M. S. (2015). Taxes and business strategy. Prentice Hall.