Why community is the number one retention tool in group exercise

We are great, don’t get me wrong but us alone, as instructors or personal trainers, are not enough to most people coming back for ever. For most of our clients they need to be either getting what they want and need from the classes, or feeling part of something that is bigger than just them going to an exercise class. 

That community feel, where people make new friends, or simply just enjoy that in class banter (from us and those around them) can make a huge difference in getting people to come back long term. 

An exercise journey is a long one. You don’t just come to class for 6 weeks and feel like a ninja. We need to keep our clients longer than that. Maybe some will go off and do other things, but we know deep down that the longer we can have most people, the better chance they have of keeping fitness in their life for good. Retention matters. 

Building that community feel is not something to be sniffed at…. Whether online or in-person. In-person things can be a little simpler… introducing people to each other, making sure that you chat to as many people as possible before or after class, include people in discussions, follow up if you promised you’ll send something after class, ask them for the recipe they were just talking about or that link to the restaurant they went to with their partner on Saturday. All normal stuff that you would do with anyone you were talking to. When we are online, we can start conversations, we can make sure we are accessible, we can introduce people to each other in the group, we can tag people in to a conversation in a group to let someone already doing your program comment on something they’ve had first hand experience with. We can share stories about our clients both inline and on person, we can host webinars or Facebook lives where people get to know each other in the comments. Connection is natural, all we have to do is facilitate that and realise what our clients find difficult about joining something new and how we can reduce the anxiety around it. 

Being an adult is kind of hard. We always assumed we’d just mostly have our shit together. And probably most people do to a degree. When they come to a new experience like a fitness class or workout, they perhaps don’t feel like they know as much as they should. They feel out of their depth and anxious. Starting it makes them feel a little underpar in terms of their skills. It’s really natural when you are no longer a child to think you should be able to handle most stuff, but when fitness is brand new or someone has had a long gap, it can feel quite overwhelming to be going back to the beginning. We can make that easier for people, not just with our class content but also with how we develop our community. We can start conversations and include people in them, so they can feel connection with both our vibe and the vibe of people around us. 

Think of the last time you tried something brand new and what helped… for example, I’m having my bathroom done. The first time I got a quote from someone (years ago) I felt out of my depth, I didn't understand what they were asking me to choose between, I felt like no-one was listening to what I was asking for and instead just giving me free reign which isn't what I wanted, so I ended up not doing it because it was so expensive and I didn't understand how to get the price into a reasonable bracket because they all just expected me to pluck products out of thin air. Luckily my chap is going it do it for me. He’s listened to what I asked for, he’s given me a couple of options for everything, he walked me through the shop and told me when I asked for something that was going to increase the price out of my budget. He made it easy. I didn’t feel stupid or out of place any more. That’s what we do for our clients. We make things simple and we walk them through the process of getting fitter so they don’t feel rubbish… and because we do that in a group, our community is one of the things that can help people feel more comfortable and connected, and therefore more likely to come back. 

So, if you're struggling to keep folk coming back, give your community building a little overhaul... for example, my lot keep bringing in books for me to borrow because they know I love a good read, so I'm making an AMF Little Library so we can all share our favourite books (and still get them back at the end). 

There's loads of different things we can do to help people with their consistency when it comes to fitness.... our community is one of the big players, so keep at it :) 

Love

Anna

xx