WhatsApp reminders for gym membership renewals

This is for gym owners and front-desk teams who lose renewals because nobody remembered to message the member in time. It suits a single gym with a few hundred members just as well as a franchise group. The gym membership renewal reminder runs on its own, which makes this gym WhatsApp automation for the job that costs gyms the most: renewals. It does not depend on who is at the desk that day.

Most gyms still track expiry dates in Excel or a paper register and remind people from the owner's phone or a WhatsApp group. It works while you have forty members. Past that, someone has to scan the sheet every morning, copy numbers, type the same message again and again, and remember who they already told. Miss a few days and the member quietly drifts away. The cost is a lost renewal that one message would have saved.

Group messages make it worse: a reminder posted in a group is read by everyone, answered by no one, and scrolls out of sight within hours.

1. Every member has a plan with an end date. That date is the only thing the reminder needs.
2. Once a day, Fitvario looks for memberships that end in 7 days, 3 days and 1 day, and for memberships that ended yesterday.
3. It skips memberships that are not active, so only members who are really about to lapse are contacted.
4. For each of the others it sends a WhatsApp message to the member's mobile number: an "expiring soon" message on the three reminder days and an "expired" message the day after the end date.
5. Each message uses credit from your gym's messaging wallet. If the wallet has no credit, the message is not sent, so keep an eye on the balance.

This page covers two kinds of automatic WhatsApp message, and both run once a day without anyone at the gym sending them:

• Membership expiring soon: to the member, 7, 3 and 1 days before the plan ends.
• Membership expired: to the member, the day after the plan ended.
• Birthday wishes: to the member on their birthday, with a separate birthday alert to the owner.

Fitvario does not send automatic WhatsApp reminders for unpaid balances. To follow up on dues, use the dues list in the app and message the member yourself.

WhatsApp lets businesses send this kind of message only from pre-approved templates, so the wording follows a template for each message type.

You decide which messages are on. Each one has its own switch in your notification preferences, and a switched-off message is skipped. Reminders go to members, not to you, so your own phone stays quiet.

Fitvario keeps the templates and sending set-up in order. If you have a question about a message, write to Fitvario Support.

Messaging runs on credits in a wallet that belongs to your gym. Each message deducts credit when it is sent. A messaging allowance is included in every plan, and how big it needs to be depends on how many members you have and how many messages you switch on. Read how Fitvario pricing works or ask for a demo and we will size it for your gym.

Do members need to install anything to get the reminders?

No. The reminder arrives as an ordinary WhatsApp message on the mobile number saved in the member's profile.

Can I turn a reminder off?

Yes. In your notification preferences you can switch individual messages on or off, for example the expiring-soon message or the birthday wish. A message you switch off is skipped.

Do I get a copy of every member's reminder?

No. Membership reminders go to the member only. They are a matter between the member and the gym, so they do not flood the owner's phone.

Do members who have already renewed still get a reminder?

No. The reminder looks at each member's current end date, so a member who has renewed is not reminded about the old one.

What does it cost to send reminders?

Each WhatsApp message uses credits from your gym's messaging wallet. A messaging allowance is part of every plan, and the right size depends on your member count, so we work it out with you. See how Fitvario pricing works.