Benchmarks can tell you a lot about how your business is running. But they can’t serve you if you don’t know where to look for them. They show you what your competition is doing and highlight areas where you need to improve and guide you to set goals for yourself. Most importantly, get you the financing that businesses all over the world need in order to succeed.
Benchmarks are easy to find: and they can come from many sources, like industry associations and government agencies. Finding the right benchmark for your health club depends on the type of information that is most valuable for improving your business.
Here are some of the ultimate benchmarks for you to gain an independent perspective on how well you perform and how to improve your business.
Occupation Ratios
The occupancy ratio is a measurement of how many members are using your club compared to the number of members who have paid to join. For example, if you have 10,000 total memberships but only 5,000 people in your club on a given day, then you would have a 50% occupancy ratio.
When you determine what the ultimate occupation rate for your club is, it allows your staff enough time during the day to offer services and amenities that drive new membership sales. This also provides existing members with more personal attention. Higher occupancy ratios are associated with higher member retention rates, meaning your members will stay longer at your club and renew year after year.
Retention Rates
Retention rate and churn rate look at membership in two different ways. Your retention rate measures the percentage of members who renew each month, while your churn rate measures how many people are leaving the club. Understand where your health club is succeeding or struggling and how to allocate resources properly with these two metrics.
While a retention rate of 90 percent might sound high, consider this: At a hypothetical gym with 500 members, that means 50 people are not renewing each month. If every non-renewing member also convinced just one other person to leave the club, that would bring your total monthly attrition to 100 members—double the number of similar gyms. It’s crucial that you keep track of why people are leaving each month and what to do about it.
Member Satisfaction Surveys
Understanding members is vital for every health club. With member satisfaction surveys you can ask about the facility’s offers and staff. Whether the member is satisfied with the overall membership experience, how long they have been a member, etc. Make the surveys anonymous and easy to complete. After surveys have been submitted, compile all your info and establish benchmarks for improvement!
Number of Staff Members
The number of staff members in your club should be directly related to the membership numbers and location size of your club. Therefore, if you have a membership base of 600 and your club only has a staff of five, you won’t be able to keep members long term. If clients are not having their needs met on a regular basis, they’ll leave.
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Total Households In Your Trade Area
The main reason this benchmark is useful is that, unlike other metrics involving population, it only shows the number of households close to your club.
To calculate the number of households in your trade area:
- Find out the total population close to your gym (preferably within 5 miles)
- Determine the average household size for that area
- Divide the total population by the average household size
Member Referrals Per Month
This one is all about word of mouth and is, arguably, the most authentic form of advertising. People are more likely to trust recommendations from their friends or family than they are from any other source.
Track this metric by tracking member referrals by staff members. Give them a bonus if they reach a certain number of referrals. If you’re not seeing enough member referrals, consider getting more members to tell their friends about your gym. Reward those who refer your gym.
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Now that you know the basics of benchmarks, it’s time to learn how they will improve specific areas of your club!
