The Value of Member Information

Information about your members is incredibly valuable. Data gives you the ability to preempt problems, analyze past performance and determine trends and likely outcomes. From contact details and membership information to purchase histories and interests the variety and type of information you can collect and potentially utilize is immense.  

What can you collect?

When it comes down to it the limits of what you can collect is between you and your members. However, even ignoring sign-up forms, surveys and other direct methods of obtaining data the shear amount of incidental information you can collect can be massive.   Visit Histories, Classes and bookings, Purchases, SMS and Email communications, Tasks and follow-ups, Client leads, etc. All this data is simply the result of your interactions with your members and potential members, how much of it you record and what you do with it is the key.   Much of this information can be collected with only minimal changes to your existing procedures and while you may choose not to utilize it immediately it is available if your priorities change.  

Data applications?

There a variety of ways to use the gathered information. Visitation data for example can be used to determine peak periods of usage within your facility. This can allow you to optimize cleaning and maintenance, staff schedules, etc. You can also monetize quiet periods for your facility with offpeak memberships and other offerings.   Purchase histories give you a glimpse, not only to popular products on an overall level, but also into individuals and groups. Maybe certain programmes cause a rise in demand for certain products. Perhaps other members of those programmes could benefit from some additional information on the benefits of those products.   Communication logs not only show you how and when members were interacted with allowing you to determine if anything was forgotten or mishandled when a client leaves. It also gives you the ability to determine what contact frequency and what types of contact work best for retaining members.   There are obviously far more applications but hopefully the above examples provide some food for thought on how you’re using your current data and what, if any, additional data may be worth collecting.