What kind of performance metrics should I track for my fitness studio?

Whether you are operating a yoga studio or a strength training gym, tracking your performance is essential to running a successful business. Monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) can help you analyze your operations and better understand your studio’s financial health. This article identifies five important KPIs that your studio should start tracking to gain an edge over your competitors:

1. Revenue per client

One of the most common KPIs in the fitness industry is Revenue per Client (RPC).  It measures the average dollar amount of revenue generated by each of your clients. The RPC can be easily calculated by taking total revenue divided by the number of clients, usually in a monthly or an annual timeframe. As a fitness studio owner, you should strive to increase the RPC by selling premium or additional classes to your existing clients. A low RPC could indicate that your fitness studio is not extracting the appropriate value from your clients, which is detrimental for its long-term success.

2. Client Retention Rate

The Client Retention Rate (CRR) measures the number of clients your fitness studio retains over a given period of time. It is calculated by taking the total number of clients at the end of a time period minus the number of new clients gained during that time period, followed by dividing it by the number of clients at the start of a time period. The CRR is an excellent gauge of your client’s loyalty as well as the quality of the experience that your fitness studio provides. Maintaining a high CRR can benefit your business as loyal clients tend to promote your brand and refer new clients. If you find yourself having issues retaining clients, you might want to consider improving your services and client engagement, or adopting a loyalty program.

3. Average Class Attendance

The Average Class Attendance (ACA) measures how much a class is filled on average for a period of time. It is calculated by dividing the total number of clients who attended class in a time period divided by the total number of class slots available in that time period. The ACA shows how desirable and popular your classes are on average, which in turns reflects the profitability of your fitness studio. You should strive to ensure that your classes are fully filled as much as possible. If you are struggling with filling your classes, you will need to identify the problem areas which could be related to the type of class offering, the class timing, or even the class instructor. Some ways to improve your ACA include offering incentives such as free merchandise or allowing your clients to bring a friend along. 

4. Client Acquisition Cost

The Client Acquisition Cost (CAC) measures how much a dollar amount it costs to add a new member to your fitness studio. Some typical CAC in a fitness studio includes promotions (e.g. discounts, referral credits), advertising (e.g. social media and Google ads), and the cost of your marketing and/or sales team. It is calculated by dividing the total dollar amount of acquisition spent with the total number of new clients gained. The CAC provides an insight into the effectiveness of your sales and marketing efforts. Keeping your CAC low shows that your client acquisition spending is leading to a proportionate increase in new members. It is important to assess the performance of your marketing strategies to determine the most cost-effective marketing channel to acquire new clients. It also helps to optimize your operations as well as ensure that it is money well-spent by actually attracting consumers to join your fitness studio. You can lower your CAC by implementing a word-of-mouth client referral program or by improving lead conversion rates.  

5. Client Lifetime Value

The Client Lifetime Value (CLV) is an important metric that measures the monetary value of a single client throughout their lifetime with your fitness studio. In other words, it represents the total amount of profit that you can expect to earn from that particular client until the end of the business relationship. One way to calculate the CLV is by multiplying the profit per client with the average length of membership. You can utilise the CLV to make better expenditure decisions by comparing it against the CAC. A higher CLV would mean that you are generating a higher return on investment for every dollar spent on acquiring new clients. In addition to reviewing your pricing strategy, another way to increase your CLV is to find ways to increase the average length of membership which can be achieved by improving client satisfaction and loyalty. 

KPIs are powerful tools to help you accomplish your business objectives. However, it is necessary to have a system in place to consistently monitor and analyse KPIs. You might need a solution to help you collect and manage some of these performance data such as sales and number of members. That’s when a booking solution might come in handy to support you in performance management. There are a plethora of KPIs that you can use but try not to overload yourself with too much data as it can backfire instead. Stick to the most crucial and relevant KPIs that drive your performance and measure your progress over time.

This article was written by Joshua Kek.