Hello, this is Matsubara, CRM Evangelist.

The monthly churn rate at fitness gyms in Japan is approximately 4-5%. Over the course of a year, roughly half of the members change.

Do you perhaps think, "It's inevitable that members will quit"?
Certainly, there are reasons for members to cancel their membership that are beyond the gym's control, such as relocation, pregnancy, or financial reasons.
However, a detailed analysis of the reasons for withdrawal reveals that in more than half of the cases, the withdrawal could have been prevented if appropriate follow-up had been provided before the withdrawal occurred.

The problem wasn't that we "failed to follow up," but rather that we "didn't understand who needed follow-up."

This article explains how to use EMOROCO CRM Lite to design a system for improving member retention rates and creating personalized service proposals for fitness and sports gyms.

Two management challenges for fitness and sports gyms

Problem ①: No signs of members leaving the group are visible.

Members who request to withdraw from the club have shown a change in their behavior, such as "not coming" to the club, even before the date they submit their request.
Members who used to come three times a week would drop to once a week, then twice a month... and yet no one noticed until someone pointed it out.

This is because there is no mechanism in place to notice it.
It is not practical for staff to check the attendance status of all members every day.
A system is needed to automatically detect and notify about changes such as a decrease in visitor frequency.

Problem ②: Failure to provide "personalized suggestions"

Even among members who attend the same gym, everyone has different goals.
Whether your goal is weight loss, muscle building, stress relief, maintaining physical fitness, or improving athletic performance, the optimal program, instruction, and suggestions will vary depending on your objective.

However, many gyms send the same information (campaigns, new studio program announcements) to all members.
Sending information about a muscle-building program to members who are looking to lose weight is a mismatch and is one of the reasons why members are less interested.

"The four emotional phases leading to leaving a membership"—the timing for follow-up.

The emotional changes of members who decide to leave generally progress through four stages.

Phase 1: Decline in Enthusiasm (Visit Frequency Begins to Decline) The initial enthusiasm of members wanes, and visit frequency falls below the target. This is the stage where excuses like "I'm too busy" begin to be used.

Phase 2: Habit disappearance (visits become less than twice a month) Visiting the gym begins to become less of a daily habit. You stop thinking about the gym. You start to feel like the monthly membership fee is a waste of money.

Phase 3: Increased Cost Awareness (Visits become less than once a month) This stage shifts from guilt over "paying a monthly fee but not being able to go" to thinking "maybe I should just cancel." They begin to consider switching to other services.

Phase 4: Decision to withdraw (withdrawal request) At this stage, follow-up is almost too late. The important thing is to provide follow-up during Phases 1 and 2.

EMOROCO CRM Lite combines visit frequency data with emotional temperature to automatically generate follow-up tasks in phases 1 and 2.

Field Design – 10 Fields Specialized for Fitness Gyms

Workflow Design – 6 methods for improving retention rates and 2 methods for automating proposals

[Improving Retention Rate] Workflow ①: Onboarding Follow-up One Month After Enrollment

The first month after joining is a crucial turning point in determining whether or not it becomes a habit. Having a conversation with a staff member at this point significantly impacts your retention rate at 3 and 6 months.

[Improving Retention Rate] Workflow ②: Early detection of decreased visit frequency (most important)

[Improving Retention Rate] Workflow ③: Emergency Follow-up for Visitors Who Haven't Visited for More Than 2 Weeks

[Improving Retention Rate] Workflow ④: Follow-up at 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after joining

Receiving support at key milestones creates a sense of "someone is watching," which motivates continued effort.

[Improving Retention Rate] Workflow 5: Setting the "Next Goal" After Achieving the Goal

This is the most important workflow to prevent users from leaving because they have achieved their goals.

[Improving Retention Rate] Workflow ⑥: Integrated Follow-up for Family Members

[Personalized Proposal] Workflow 7: Proposal for a new program tailored to your goals and visit frequency.

[Personal Proposal] Workflow 8: Upsell proposal for personal training

Dashboard Design – The screen a gym manager checks every morning

① Emotional Temperature Distribution and Comparison with the Previous Month: Breakdown of emotional temperature (hot/warm/cool/cold) among all members and the percentage change from the previous month. An increase in "cool" or lower is a leading indicator of an increase in membership cancellations.

② List of members with decreased visit frequency: A list of members whose visits in the past two weeks have been less than 50% of the target. A prioritized list of members who should be followed up on today.

③ Member Milestone List (3, 6, and 12 Months Since Joining): This is a list of members who are reaching milestones this month. These are the members who will receive a pre-emptive congratulatory message.

④ Member list *after* goal achievement: Members who have achieved their goals but have not set new goals. This group is at the highest risk of leaving the group.

⑤ Corporate Contract Usage Summary: Average number of visits and active user rate for each contracting company. These figures need to be understood before renewal negotiations.

Management of corporate contracts and employee benefits plans

Corporate contracts for fitness gyms (cases where companies contract as part of employee benefits plans) require different management than individual memberships.

For corporate clients, one cancellation can result in the loss of revenue equivalent to multiple clients. Therefore, "early relationship follow-up" is even more crucial than with individual clients.

Why "Personalized Proposals" Increase Retention Rates: From a CRM 4.0 Perspective

There is a significant difference in member retention rates between uniform communication, where the same information is sent to everyone, and personalized communication, where suggestions are tailored to each individual's goals, interests, and progress.

The experience of feeling "that gym knows me" creates motivation for continued participation. This is the fitness version of the CRM 4.0 concept of "resonating with the customer's emotions."

EMOROCO CRM Lite's combination of goals, interest categories, and visit frequency automatically narrows down the program to determine "which program is best suited for this person right now."
Even if staff members don't manually keep track of all members' information, the dashboard shows them "who to propose what to today."

Summary: From "preventing membership dropouts" to "designing a sustainable experience" for fitness gyms.

The term "preventing churn" is a passive approach that simply means "not losing" members. EMOROCO CRM Lite goes a step further: "designing an experience where continued use becomes natural."

• Early detection of signs of membership cancellation through emotional intensity and visit frequency.
• We provide proactive follow-up at the 1-month, 3-month, and 1-year milestones after joining.
• Setting the next goal immediately after achieving the current one (the most important aspect of continuous planning)
• We offer personalized programs tailored to your goals and interests.

Implementing these goals through "workflows and data" rather than "staff memory and intuition" is the key to "organizational continuity design" that functions even as the number of staff increases or personnel changes.

[The first step you can take starting today] First, set the "Goals and Objectives" and "Visit Frequency Goals" fields for all members and enter their emotional temperature. By simply setting up one "Early Detection Workflow for Declining Visit Frequency," a system that won't miss any signs of members leaving will start operating this month.

You can try it with a 30-day free trial.
Digitalization and AI Implementation Subsidy 2026 Compatible Tool Number: DL07-0022934
Product Info:https://www.emoroco.com/

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