5 Benefits to Give Your Sports Facility Members Today

Enticing your customers to sign up for sports facility memberships usually involves pointing out its financial perks, and perhaps throwing in additional time-sensitive offers. However, there should be much more to being a member at your sports facility.

Members should also get first priority and special privileges at every possible opportunity. The relationships you establish with your members have a direct effect on customer retention and the word-of-mouth referrals that your facility needs to grow.

A few examples of benefits you should be giving your members:

• Keep track of your members’ birthdays and send them small gift certificates or promotional items at the beginning of their birthday month.
• If you have a pro-shop, members should be getting a significant discount, particularly on apparel that brands your facility.
• Members should have the first chance to sign up for your classes and clinics, especially the more popular ones. (eSoft Planner has a priority scheduling feature we designed specifically for this reason).
• Consider creating a “Members Only” area in your facility, such as a special batting cage or lounge.
• You should already be giving out T-shirts to new clients. Make sure that members get some special branded apparel when they sign up.

Your members should be your biggest brand advocates. They should take pride in their close association with you. In today’s digital world, word-of-mouth recommendations are easy to publish and are taken seriously by consumers. Your members should be “checking in” to your facility on Facebook, mentioning you in their Facebook statuses, recommending you on Yelp, and tweeting about their workouts. Positive exposure for you starts with your members knowing that they’re appreciated.