OPERATOR NAME: DCU Sport
SECTOR: Education
MEMBERSHIP SIZE: >4000
Proof not Promises
A critical part of The Retention People’s (TRP) ‘proof not promises’ philosophy is to conduct rigorous fitness industry research and then apply the knowledge gained to help clubs improve their membership retention. This appealed to Dublin City University’s own mission and strategy; ‘to sustain state of the art facilities and to provide sport for all in a welcoming and professional environment while helping all of our stakeholders to achieve their goals’.
Identifying the problem
DCU Sport recognised that, like many operators, they were not making the most of their fitness team who had much more to offer if motivated and managed more effectively by using the TRP Solution. DCU Sport already recruited the majority of their members on one year subscriptions and were therefore looking for a solution that complemented this contract period to enhance retention, particularly of their public paying members.
The Recommended Solution
DCU Sport purchased TRP Identify, TRP Interact and TRP Fitness and initially focused on using the workout tools to computerise the writing and monitoring of members’ programs. After using the solution for some time and consulting their TRP Retention Coach, DCU Sport opted to refocus their usage on TRP Interact to significantly increase the number of recorded interactions with members. Ken Robinson, Chief Executive of DCU Sport, was determined that, together with TRP Fitness, this would provide a more cost effective use of the team’s time.
Return on Investment
DCU Sport had been using the solution for over 2 years before retention expert Dr Hillsdon analysed their results, focusing particularly on the impact of member interactions on retention.
Both lines in Figure 1 show the dip at 12 months, characteristic of a club with a large proportion of members with 12 month contracts. However, the red line shows that more members who are interacted with reach the end of their 12 month period, and more then go on to renew their membership and so enter a further 12 month contract.
This clearly has a positive financial impact which is plotted in Figure 2. The difference between talking with members when they are at high risk of quitting and not talking to them equates to an additional £129,665 per 1000 members over the 30 month period of analysis (assuming £35 per member, per month).
Customer comments
Like all operators, DCU Sport face the challenge of keeping staff focused and motivated on activity to improve retention. Ken Robinson says, ‘while this is always going to be a challenge, the beauty of the TRP solution is that it provides a regular focus for the team, enabling us to successfully motivate and reward them’.
Feedback from staff
Irina Podinoghina, Wellness Consultant at DCU Sport says, ‘TRP helps us to focus on talking to the right people and gives us the confidence to approach them. It’s great to see the regular feedback that demonstrates how well we interact’.
