The MEP definition of effective engagement;
“The ability to connect with a person in order to make a difference
to their experience and ensure they feel valued”
Ask yourself?
How often do you actively Engage with your team and members?
Does your team feel valued and Engaged with one another?
Do your members feel valued and Engaged with your team?
Retention is one of the biggest challenges we face within the fitness industry and we need to switch our attention to the true driver behind why members leave. Lack of Engagement!
By switching our focus from sales and data to Engaging effectively with the members around us we can transform the way we do business. After all we are in a people centred industry.
So, what do we need as people?
According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs our three psychological needs are the feeling of, accomplishment, belonging and safety.
HOW TO APPLY MASLOW’S HIERACHY TO YOUR MEMBERS
Successful fitness businesses can meet all three of these for their members.
Accomplishment
Are you supporting your members to accomplish their goals?
More importantly, do they feel supported to accomplish their goals?
Belonging
Do all of your members feel valued by you and have a sense of belonging within your facilities?
Safety
Do your members feel safe, physically and emotionally?
Remember a gym can be a scary place particularly if they are new to exercise so consider physical and emotional safety.
So, it should be said that if you are meeting a person’s three fundamental psychological needs, why would they ever leave?
Engagement shouldn’t be confused with customer service. In our next article, we will discuss the fundamental differences between Engagement and Service and what you can do to increase engagement and improve retention.
If you are a business who is struggling with poor retention rates we’d love to speak with you about unlocking the power of Engagement to transform the way you do business, engage@mep.global