By Pablo Viñaspre – CEO of FitnessKPI
It’s widely known that keeping your current members is cheaper than acquiring new ones. What is less often discussed is that the Cost of Acquisition (CAC) increases as competition intensifies. On top of that, the fight for new customers often relies on discount strategies that damage pricing and these hidden costs are rarely calculated.
That’s why increasing your average member lifetime has become a strategic priority.
Because many operators react too late.
When the member has already stopped coming.
When they’ve already started to lose motivation.
When cancelling is just one click away.
Here’s the hard truth:
If you want members to stay longer, you can’t be reactive.
You have to anticipate and act before it’s too late.
Average lifetime is the amount of time a member stays active in your club, from sign-up to cancellation.
Improving it doesn’t just increase profitability it transforms your entire business model:
And the most important part:
It can be improved with data and the right method.
After analysing thousands of data points in over 1,500 clubs, we consistently see the same patterns in those that retain members more effectively:
They segment, analyse, and personalise.
They know that a strength training user is not the same as a group class regular.
And that someone with cancellation risk needs a different approach than a newly renewed member.
👉 The key: Work with dynamic customer clusters and adapt messages, offers, and follow-up to each profile.
Every stage of the member lifecycle has its own risk:
Clubs with higher retention build automatic flows with messages, surveys, challenges or reactivation actions depending on each member’s stage.
👉 The key: Think in journeys, not isolated campaigns.
They don’t wait for complaints.
They monitor usage, NPS surveys, bookings, cancellations, visits and when they detect early signs of drop-off, they take action.
👉 The key: Anticipate churn with clear indicators, not just intuition.
Their staff doesn’t work blindly.
They know who hasn’t visited recently, who’s at risk, which actions work better, and what truly helps increase retention.
👉 The key: Connect data to day-to-day operations — make it actionable.
They don’t just see a number.
They see a journey, a pattern, a behaviour.
And they understand that every interaction matters.
👉 The key: Build relationships, not just services.
Improving member lifetime isn’t luck.
It’s management.
It’s not about flooding members with emails.
Or giving out free sessions at the last minute.
It’s about supporting members from day one.
Understanding their behaviour before asking questions.
And acting at the right time.
Because data shows us something very clear:
👉 Churn is predictable
👉 Retention isn’t luck
👉 Member lifetime is built
