Coaches on the Couch: i2c’s Top 3 Player Retention Pillars

While adding new players to our coaching programmes is always important – we never lose sight of the value of our existing players in our programme. We don’t believe that good player retention is an accident. In this Coaches on the Couch Richard and Mel discuss i2c’s top 3 player retention pillars.

3 pillars of player retention

1. Make it easy to play by setting up your programmes so that there are lots of opportunities to come in
2. Make “keep playing” the default choice rather than have programmes that finish and players “opt out” – or stop playing
3. Add value by providing “special moments” such having the kids wearing kit and feeling part of something, having Christmas parties and providing term reports.

Kids don’t remember that on week 4 we worked on consistency. They do remember when they went and played a match against the club down the road and they won as a team, had good fun and went out for a pizza afterwards.

Make player retention your priority

It costs a lot more to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one. So, it makes sense to work your hardest to keep the players you already have. Plan to provide “special moments” for your players and review your programmes to remove situations where it is easier for players to stop playing than to continue.

Other articles on Tennis(24/7) relating to player retention

• Nick Jacques’ Thinking C.A.P. (Interview)
• 4 Guiding Principles for Introducing Competition to Tots
• Christmas Word Game
• Top tips for tackling tantrums and teaching kids to lose well
• Warsaw 2019: Developing the Serve at Orange and Green
• Warsaw 2019: Developing the Offensive and Defensive Game at Orange and Green
• Kids Who Play: Joel (14)
• i2c Social Media Policy
• Staff Induction Checklist
• Team Training
• Spooky Halloween Wordsearch!
• Nerves – Fear or Fun? Positive Use of Negative Thoughts

Other clips in our Coaches on the Couch series

• Coaches on the Couch: i2c’s Top 3 Player Retention Pillars
• Coaches on the Couch: Secrets of Successfully Recruiting a Tennis Coach
• Coaches on the Couch: Rich’s Tips for Being a Great Coaching Team Leader
• Coaches on the Couch: Three Steps to Successfully Completing Projects (video)
• Coaches On The Couch: Manage & Prioritise time (Video)
• Coaches on the Couch: Safe-Guarding Customer Retention (video)
• Coaches on the Couch: Managing a Coaching Team (video)
• Coaches on the Couch: Avoiding the Traps That Can Totally Destroy Your Coaching Programme
• Coaches on the Couch: The 5 Keys to Programmes That Optimise Court Usage (video)
• Coaches on the Couch: The When, Why and How of Recruiting to Grow Your Tennis Business (video)