Front end memberships rule, right? Well, we certainly want to sell new folks on our programs, however, lets not forget about the people who have paid the bills over the last few years. If you are nodding your head in acknowledgement, great. You are one of the smart operators, you realize existing members cost less to sell other things to, are more loyal, and less expensive to communicate with.

Then why are you going to penalize someone who wants to stay committed, but might need some slack? I see well-meaning clubs do it everyday, with antiquated policies like a rigid freeze program. Gone are the days of the revolving door gym when you might have been the only choice in town. It was okay if Larry disappeared a few months. He has to come back eventually to get his yearly 6 month exercise fix. These days Larry can leave and never show back up. And it's not because he's taking an extended hiatus.

I am baffled by the enforcer mentality "You have to be dying or going on a mission trip to Burma to qualify for freeze". In todays environment, it pays to build loyalty, show goodwill whenever possible and differentiate your club from the old school idiots that make decisions based on the "Its the way we've always done it mentality". You can't charge a $10 freeze fee monthly if they can go get an active membership down the street for $9.99.

Do I like that idea? No, but it is what it is, and its up to us to be creative, by staying ahead of these trends and not relying on how it used to be.

Evaluate all your policies but start with easy ones first, that favor your existing members. Allow members to freeze without hassle, and without a charge. Maybe it's not ideal but its better than losing that revenue forever. If someone wants a break (which most take anyway, whether we like it or not), then we should give it to them. It will only strengthen the relationship longterm.

If you disgree so far, you'll really love this. Let PIF folks freeze too. They pay for a year, give them a years worth of exercise. Even if it takes them 15 months. People qualify value with what they paid vs what they got. It's hard to argue if you give them everything you promised and then some. That creates loyalty too, and in today's market the more loyalty you have, the better off you'll be.

Allow me to give you an example of this in action. I had a guy who lost his job right as his PIF membership expired. He informed me of the situation and regretfully said "I guess I'll come back when things turn around". Well BS I said, the last thing you need to do is sit around the house getting fat. I offered him 90 days free to get him on his feet. The look on his face revealed probably one of the few smile he's cracked over the last week, as I'm sure it had been a bad week. He couldn't thank me enough, but he did when he brought me a check for him and his wife 2 months later, and then hooked me up with the human resources of his new company, which led to another 6 memberships for the month. I'm not saying you'll always get a windfall for doing the right thing but most likely you'll make a member happy, and keep them around for a while longer, so you can keep trying.