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The Customer Retention Strategy Your Fitness Business Needs

Published on
August 10, 2022
|
Updated on
December 2, 2025
Written by
Chayan Garg

Retention strategies for clients help maintain relationships with customers to keep them committed to the fitness services. These tips will help you to do that.

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As a fitness business owner, one of the most profitable things you should do is sustain your established client base.

Customer retention boosts revenue and increases the lifetime value of your clients. It also helps you build better relationships with your existing clients who are the most loyal customers and advocates of your brand.

What is client retention?

Client or customer retention is the process of maintaining and building relationships with your clients so that they remain loyal to your fitness business offerings so that they don't switch to any of your competitors. It is also an indicator that whether your fitness service satisfies your current clients.

Four Ways To Improve Customer Retention

Encourage customers and highlight their success

Highlighting their success story with encouraging words on their achievement empower customers. A few ways of celebrating customer success are creating a minimalistic graphic with their picture, displaying a snapshot of their miles run or calories burned that day, etc.

You can also send a monthly newsletter to keep your customer happy and informed. A newsletter is a simple and inexpensive approach and can serve as a constant reminder of your fitness business to existing or new customers.

This type of content takes little time and effort and can make a significant impact to motivate customers, thereby improving customer retention.

You can give a few shout-outs each week on various social media platforms to acknowledge your existing customers or new customers who are truly committed and working hard.

For example, “Shout out to Maggie for hitting up her 15th class in a row today! That is so amazing!”

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Track your client's progress

Routinely measuring and tracking customer results should be a part of your customer retention program or strategy. Make sure you have their progress images and track record, as they are an excellent method to improve your credibility because they are real-time evidence.

You may use this data to personalize your services to fit every client's unique requirements, resulting in customer satisfaction and retention.

FitBudd makes it much easier to track your clients' progress on a daily basis and offers you the power of your own fitness app, giving your fitness business new strength. And when you pair this with robust tools like fitness studio software, you unlock a seamless system for tracking performance, managing clients, and improving overall retention with far less manual work.

Collect customer feedback

To boost customer retention, you must also ensure that customer experience meets customer expectations.

You can call a few members who participated in the virtual or in-person fitness session afterwards and ask for their thoughts. Find out if they enjoyed the workout and what you can do to make it even better. They'll respect your sincerity, and you'll almost certainly receive some great suggestions and reviews.

Asking for feedback will also make your customers feel that they are adding more value to your brand. It shows that you respect your customers opinions and will actively listen to their concerns. This, in the long run, will differentiate you from the other 90% in the industry.

Track client attendance

Attendance tracking is again one of the most important customer retention metrics. It demonstrates that you genuinely care about your clients and are aware that they are actively participating in your fitness sessions.

More importantly, you can contact a client who hasn't attended one of your training sessions and assure them you'll see them soon.

This communicates to your clients that their presence is valued and that whether or not they show up matters, laying a solid foundation for customer loyalty.

BONUS FORMULA

Now that you're aware of the key metrics of your customer retention strategy, you can easily calculate your Customer Retention Rate with this formula.

[ (Number of customers at End of Period) — (Number of customers Acquired During the Period) / Number of Customers at Start of Period] x 100

According to the Association of Fitness Studios (AFS), the average fitness studio customer retention rate is 75.9% and for personal training studios, the customer retention rate is 80%. You can use this data as a metric for comparison when you calculate your Customer Retention Rate.

Got a better idea on how to increase customer retention?

These are just a few customer retention strategies you can incorporate to increase customer retention in your fitness business. It’s important to retain your existing clients as not only does it speak of how satisfied your current customers are with your services, but it also gives you new avenues to attract more customers through a referral or loyalty program.

Retaining customers in the fitness industry is crucial in the long run to build successful fitness businesses and also a cost-effective method to grow your fitness business as it takes a lot more marketing efforts and budget to convert a new customer than a loyal one.

With FitBudd, you can be assured of delivering an interactive workout experience, creating personalized nutrition plans, performance tracking, and more, which will help you improve customer satisfaction and increase customer retention.

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Meet the author

Chayan Garg

Empowering coaches and trainers to thrive, FitBudd is the ultimate personal training software for accelerated business growth.

FAQs section

Frequently Asked Questions

Content Marketer & Strategist

Yangzey Sherpa leads content strategy at FitBudd, overseeing content planning and execution across fitness-focused digital channels. With over five years of experience in SEO and content, she works closely with the fitness industry to ensure content aligns with the needs of coaches, trainers, and gym owners. Her role keeps her deeply connected to fitness business workflows, coaching models, and how professionals use digital platforms to grow.

Yangzey Sherpa

Content Strategist & Marketer

Apra Pathak has worked closely within the fitness niche for several years, supporting personal trainers and fitness coaches through content and digital marketing initiatives. Her experience centers on understanding how fitness professionals build visibility, communicate value, and engage clients online. Through sustained involvement with fitness-focused platforms and audiences, she has developed a strong understanding of the digital needs and growth challenges faced by modern fitness businesses.

Apra Pathak

Digital Marketing Specialist

Aishwarya Mehra has been actively involved in fitness-focused digital marketing, working closely with brands and platforms that serve coaches, trainers, and fitness businesses. Her experience spans engagement-driven strategies designed specifically for fitness audiences. Through ongoing exposure to fitness campaigns and communities, she remains closely aligned with how fitness professionals attract, convert, and retain clients in digital environments.

Aishwarya Mehra

Content Contributor

Suchandra Das has contributed content within the fitness niche, working on resources designed for coaches, trainers, and fitness business owners. Her experience involves supporting fitness-related topics with clear, structured, and accessible content. Through consistent involvement with fitness-focused platforms, she has developed familiarity with coaching workflows, client communication, and the informational needs of fitness professionals.

Suchandra Das

Brand Author

FitBudd is a fitness technology platform built exclusively for coaches, personal trainers, gym owners, and fitness professionals. The platform supports fitness businesses through branded apps, white-labeled solutions, and websites designed around real coaching and training workflows. FitBudd works closely with the global fitness community, maintaining deep, ongoing involvement in the fitness industry.

FitBudd

Content Contributor

Ankit Uniyal has worked extensively with fitness-focused content, supporting platforms that cater to personal trainers, gym owners, and fitness professionals. His experience includes optimizing and structuring content around fitness-related search behavior and user intent. Through continued involvement in the fitness niche, he has gained a strong understanding of how trainers and coaches build discoverability and authority online.

Ankit Uniyal

CEO, FitBudd

Saumya Mittal is the Co-Founder and CEO of FitBudd. Since 2021, she has been actively engaged in the fitness technology sector, collaborating with global fitness companies to foster digital growth and scalable operations. With over a decade of experience leading high-impact projects in engineering and operations, Saumya has a strong background in developing reliable and scalable systems. Through FitBudd, she is dedicated to addressing the evolving needs of fitness professionals worldwide.

Saumya Mittal

Marketing Lead

Kinshuk Snehi has been closely involved in the fitness space for over four years. Through his work at FitBudd, he has contributed to shaping how fitness professionals build their online presence, attract clients, and scale sustainable coaching businesses. Deeply interested in the intersection of fitness, technology, and growth, Kinshuk brings a hands-on understanding of the challenges faced by modern trainers. His passion lies in building systems and strategies that support long-term consistency, both in fitness journeys and business growth.

Kinshuk Snehi

Product Manager

Kanika Verma has been closely involved in building solutions for the fitness industry, working with platforms used by coaches and trainers globally. Her experience includes direct exposure to fitness coaching workflows and operational needs. Through sustained involvement in fitness-focused product development, she has developed a strong understanding of how fitness professionals manage clients, programs, and daily operations.

Kanika Verma

Graphic Designer

Tanya Sharma has worked on branding initiatives within the fitness niche, supporting fitness platforms and businesses with visual identity design. Her experience includes creating brand systems used by coaches, trainers, and fitness-focused products. Through ongoing involvement in fitness-related design projects, she remains closely connected to how fitness brands communicate trust and professionalism.

Tanya Sharma

Graphic Designer

Niharika Sonavane has contributed to visual design projects within the fitness industry, supporting platforms and brands serving fitness professionals. Her experience spans creating digital assets used across fitness apps, websites, and marketing materials. Through continued work in the fitness niche, she remains closely aligned with the visual communication needs of coaches and fitness businesses.

Niharika Sonavane

Performance Marketing Specialist

Elesh Patel has worked extensively on marketing initiatives within the fitness niche, managing paid campaigns for fitness-focused products and services. His experience includes supporting platforms that target personal trainers, gym owners, and fitness creators. Through long-term involvement in fitness marketing, he remains closely connected to how fitness professionals discover and adopt digital tools.

Elesh Patel

Sources

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