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Customer Retention

10 Ways to Engage and Recapture Your Fitness Studio Members

During the COVID crisis, many fitness studio owners are using creative ways to build class attendance and pass sales. Use these tips to engage & recapture members.

August 4, 2020

As we navigate the uncertainty brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, it’s more critical than ever for your fitness business to proactively reach out to customers with a plan to keep them engaged and to recapture lost members.

Many seasoned fitness studio owners are operating as if they are in startup mode again, putting extra time and attention on creative ways to build class attendance and pass sales. Here are 10 Ways to Engage & Recapture your members:

1. Plan and Build an Email Engagement Campaign

Communicate with members weekly and share your latest status updates, like schedule changes and safety protocols, along with information and encouragement on how to access new online classes, programs and healthy lifestyle coaching. It’s easy to get a list of students’ email addresses from your Punchpass fitness business software platform.

2. Check in With Clients via Phone

Run a client report going back 2-3 years, and separate out the active versus inactive customers. Create a separate call script or main talking points document for each group, then assign contacts to yourself and your instructors and work together to check in by phone or text. Remember, you are reaching out first and foremost to inquire about their wellbeing, and secondly to invite them to come back to class because you truly miss them and care about their health.

3. Routinely Share a New Workout

Offer a “workout of the day” or “workout of the week” instructional video in your content library, and post a link to it on your social media channels and weekly email.

4. Make Time for Small Talk

Create community time before and after live, online classes. About 5 minutes is all you’ll need. Encourage sharing by choosing a simple theme or word – perhaps tied to your class theme – and ask participants to answer a related question or simply share on the topic in general. This is a great ice-breaker, and if you record your classes for your Punchpass content library, you provide an opportunity for non-live participants to see their fellow community members sharing personal experiences.

5. Let Clients Hear Their Names

Even though you’re teaching online, be sure to call out each student by name at least once during every class. Hearing their name is a sweet sound for each student, makes them feel special and lets them know that you care, and notice that they took the time to be in class that day.

6. Acknowledge Special Moments

At the end of each live or video class give students specific acknowledgements for inspiring moments you noticed during class, or that you know about from their lives.

7. Share Your Playlists

Create and share music playlists from your studio and individual instructors (they can feature what they’re listening to on their social media pages (check) to keep students motivated, inspired and engaged.

8. Send Personal Notes via Mail

Send pre-printed postcards with a personal note after each class, to each new student, or select students who had amazing moments or hit personal bests/milestones. Do it right away before you wrap up your session, and while your memory is fresh. Have a roll of stamps on hand, drop the cards in your home mailbox and put the flag up. In the U.S., postage for postcards is $0.35. If you have a team, you can send a stack of cards to each of your teachers to send out as well. Your members will be delighted!

9. Keep It Social on Social Media

Use Facebook and Instagram Stories and Live videos to give weekly updates about what’s been happening at your studio, in your classes, and to share personal tips about how you’re staying sane, working out and eating healthy at home.

10. Create Community on Facebook

Create a Facebook Group and communicate regularly, sharing recipes, moves of the day, inspirational content, blogs, vlogs, and links to your new online classes. This is great place to honor participants in any challenges you might be doing, or to launch a simple, do it at home contest where you ask students to post pics of their progress.


Remember, your best asset for generating loyalty and long-term business prospects is your authenticity, passion for what you teach and offer, and your honest love for each and every member of your community.

If your business is struggling, be open with your students about it. You may be surprised at the warm response you get. 💛