Courtesy of Omnify, a SwimSwam partner.
As recreational centers, swim facilities, swim schools, and HOAs are gearing up for pool-time this summer; what is the one thing that pool facilities could do better to get the seasonal surge?
How to keep your community pool buzzing with activity and entice current and potential members to a better plan? How to retain your old clients and fill every slot that’s there?
Well, it’s a steady Membership System- that’s great for a consistent cash flow!
Here’s how you can increase pool membership this summer
1. Swim Programs
A well-running community pool is not only great for revenue generation but also a matter of considerable civic pride. Creating diverse aquatic programs, therefore, makes your facility attractive and inclusive. Learn more about current pool users- what percentage of users come under competitive programs, recreation, instruction, or therapy programs. It helps to customize swim programs better.
Secondly, analyzing the data of your pool visitors’ frequency of visits- daily, weekly, monthly, or once in a while is crucial in understanding how many people are willing to pay more, stay more, look for a free membership or upgrade from the current one. It further helps in creating better membership plans, adding new members and managing older ones.
2. Enhance Participation
The basic idea behind creating diverse programs is to enhance participation. As community pools are great places to hang out and meet new people, organizing events on special occasions where anyone can come and interact makes it a favorite hub.
Innovative membership programs help nurture that goal. Create cost-effective membership schemes for kids to use pools during their summer break or group membership for after-school swim lessons. Further club swim classes based on age groups- high-school or college groups and offer special plans on beginner swim lessons for adults and kids at different slots. For example – start a membership program for training competitive swimmers, triathlete training, diving lessons, scuba, training for championships, survival swimming, life safety skills, and other aquatic activities.
3. Smart Scheduling
Another way to make memberships work is effective and convenient scheduling. The possibility for your members to flexibly schedule their pool time according to their convenience is like finding gold. Offer members a little more than what is offered to guests!
For a specific swim class or coach that is popular among groups, you should increase that class’s frequency so that every member get a chance to drop in as they like. Smart scheduling also makes it convenient for families, friends, and groups to participate and have fun summertime together!
4. Easy Access
Memberships help create a community of customers closer to your brand by giving them access to specific classes and offers that are not available to all. Hence easy access to pool slots should be your top priority.
Using an intuitive online booking platform like Omnify for your pool facility can conveniently help book classes and programs. For a maximum chance of participation, it is critical that your facility appears right on the map that they are searching for. Hence, using a robust booking system is a must!
5. One Membership across Services
While a swim club may open for a season, activities/memberships in a gym or fitness center continue throughout the year. For a swim club that offers both these services to its club members, you could club one membership program across your services. Offer ‘Gym+Pool’ membership packages or pair any multiple services together in one membership. You could also add a ‘Family Sharing’ membership program, so there is no waiting for a parent while his/her kid is taking a beginner’s swim class. The parent can go for a quick run on the treadmill with all the time in hand.
These membership ideas will undoubtedly give your members a hassle-free experience, feel welcoming, and refer your club to a friend who probably has just a gym membership across the street. After sweating it out at the gym, a clean pool for that refreshing dive sounds lit, doesn’t it? You’ll see how your membership renewal stats soar up!
6. Announce pool opening
Announcing your pool opening is crucial. After you go through all the maintenance work to make pool time welcoming and sustainable for all, it is crucial that you spread the word right, as well!
Use fliers, posters, email campaigns, social media, etc., aligning well to your demographics. Let people know about the safety measures your club has undertaken, Covid-19 guidelines that have been followed, the date of opening, discounts, if any, etc. The right marketing strategy will help you go a long way.
Still, if you are opening a new pool facility and are unsure of your community’s wants, always be proactive in conducting surveys via emails, phone calls, or social media. Put the word out about your offerings, membership, and safety guidelines.
7. Re-engage, Retain
Membership programs are a great way to re-engage and get returning customers. More often, it is easier to retain your existing customers as you have already won them over with your services. Their word of mouth about your facility and services is of high value for conversions.
Your existing pool customers are gold. So member retention is crucial for any community pool. Toss a rewards or referral program for your regular members and frequent visitors. It works as a token of appreciation, and who knows, you might just land a new membership!
You can also include introductory discounts as a way to lure first-time visitors to your pool. They will get a sense of all classes that your facility offers which makes enticing new visitors to a membership plan easy. Similar pricing options could also be offered to existing clients who are probably not as active in using pools and as a facility owner, you want to retain them.
Depending on the type of frequent visitors, focus on creating packages that are ultimately suitable for the engaging lot. Provide more opportunities for your members in picking the programs of their choice. This will encourage more sign-ups from your clients which could in time be transformed into memberships. Because at times it’s not just about low prices or affordability but prioritizing member needs.
Ultimately, it’s all about your pool offerings, your infrastructure, ease of access, the convenience of visitors, discounts, and lots of member benefits that will certainly assure you a good number of pool visitors every summer!
This article was first published on Omnify. You can read the original post here.
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