How to get more positive online reviews for your gym (and manage the bad ones)

These days, customer reviews are worth their weight in gold. They’re one of the first things that many prospects check when thinking about joining your gym, and they pack a real punch when it comes to building your reputation. 

In fact, 82 percent of people rely on online reviews when buying from local businesses. 

Let’s take a look at why reviews matter so much, and how you can tap into those feel-good endorphins your members get after class to build your portfolio of positive reviews.

Positive reviews help strengthen your reputation

Online reviews have become one of the most influential factors shaping buying decisions. They’re as impactful as personal recommendations, with up to 91 percent of people trusting online reviews from strangers as much as they’d trust their mates. 

Why do so many people trust other people’s advice? It’s got a lot to do with a psychological phenomenon called social proof. Everyone wants to fit in — if other people are raving about a particular product or service, then you’re more likely to want to try it, too. 

Positive reviews do more than lure in new members. They can also help with member retention, which is critical to the long-term success of your gym. Acquiring a new member costs five times more than retaining an existing one — if a current member is on the fence about rejoining for another year, seeing some great reviews on social media could convince them to stay. 

With positive reviews proven to help you build trust, boost sales, and strengthen your brand’s overall reputation, it’s in your best interests to create an environment where you can capture as many positive reviews as possible. In fact, it should be central to your online reputation management strategy.

Negative reviews are unavoidable, but manageable

Yes, bad reviews will occasionally appear. No matter how brilliant your gym or fitness studio is, there’s always going to be someone who complains about it. Negative reviews are a part of life — so it pays to have a strategy in place to deal with them.

Responding to negative reviews requires a bit of attention. You need to approach them with empathy and the mindset of solving the customer’s problem. Aim to:

• Answer as quickly as you can
• Respond thoughtfully and honestly
• Never get personal with the commenter 
• Show your appreciation for their feedback
• Explain how you will try to address their feedback

Keep a close eye on your Google Business reviews and your social media channels, and get on the front foot whenever someone has a vent about your services.

The more reviews you bring in, the better

You can’t control all the reviews that come in via channels like Google or Facebook. But you can get on the front foot in proactively requesting and responding to reviews — good and bad. Every review that comes in will give you a peek into your members’ minds, and give you ideas for how to keep improving your business. 

And the more reviews you collect, the more you can tip the scales in favour of positive reviews (unless, of course, your classes or gym environment aren’t up to scratch). Most members should happily share their great experiences if asked, particularly if you time it right and get their reviews straight after an endorphin-fueled session. 

Feedback surveys are one way to gauge what members think. Quick review requests are another. You can automate these requests to be sent at key moments in a member’s journey. For example, you might send out a request after their first week with you, or after they’ve completed ten classes. These “milestone moments” are something worth celebrating, after all.

With the positive reviews rolling in, it’s up to you how you leverage them. You could create a reel with a slew of rave reviews. You could add them as testimonials to your member newsletters. You could add star ratings to your website. It’s really up to you.

How Hapana helps you collect reviews

The Hapana platform has a whole section dedicated to helping you manage your fitness studio’s reputation. Here, you can set up automated triggers at any “milestone moment” of your choosing, and get the system to send an email or SMS requesting a review.

Plus, in the branded app, you can configure a feedback form so that members can share their thoughts and ratings, right in the app. It’s an easy way to find out what your members think.

When reviews come in, you can view and reply to them from one central dashboard. This includes reviews from Facebook and Google Business reviews. It all helps you keep track of what people are saying, so you can respond in a timely manner. 

To see how easy it is to capture and reply to online reviews with Hapana, take a tour of our gym management software today.