Automatic WhatsApp reminders before gym memberships expire

In Lebanon, WhatsApp is how members talk to their gym. It is also how most gyms chase renewals: someone at the desk scrolls through a list of expiry dates, copies a phone number, types "Hi, your membership ends on Friday" and moves on to the next one. On a busy week it does not happen at all, and the members who would have renewed with a small nudge simply drift away.

GymLeb sends that message for you. This guide explains how automatic expiry reminders work, what else can be sent automatically, how the message allowance works and where members' replies end up.

How the expiry reminder works

Every time you sell or renew a membership, GymLeb schedules one reminder for that member. It goes out at 10:00 in your gym's time zone on the day you chose, and it includes the member's name, your gym's name, the plan, the end date and your gym's phone number so they can call or message back.

A few rules keep it from becoming spam:

• One reminder per member, not per subscription. If a member holds two subscriptions, only the one that ends last carries the reminder.
• No reminder when it makes no sense. Frozen and cancelled subscriptions are skipped, and so is a member who already has another running subscription to the same plan.
• Renewing moves the reminder. When the member renews, the old reminder is replaced by one for the new end date.

On the members list, each member shows whether their reminder was Sent, is Pending or was Not sent, so you can see what happened without guessing.

Choosing when reminders go out

Go to Gym Settings, then Messaging, then Monthly Reminder Settings:

1. Turn on Send Monthly Reminders.
2. Pick the Reminder type: before expiration, after expiration, or on the expiry day itself.
3. Set the number of Days, from 0 to 30. If you never set it, reminders go out 3 days before expiry.

Before expiration sends a "your membership will end soon" message. After expiration and on-the-day send a "your membership has ended" message. Most gyms do best with a few days before: the member still has time to plan the payment, and nobody feels chased after the fact.

If a member should not get a reminder, for example a staff member's family or a complimentary plan, tick Don't create renewal reminder for this membership when you add the subscription.

English or Arabic

Under Messaging, Message Language sets the language of all automatic messages: English or Arabic. Every message exists in both languages as a WhatsApp-approved template, so the wording is fixed and professional, and the details (name, plan, dates) are filled in automatically. You cannot write your own wording for the automatic messages; that is what keeps them approved and delivered.

Other messages you can switch on

Under Gym Settings, Messaging, WhatsApp messages, you choose which messages your gym sends. The options include:

• Welcome message when a new member is added (on by default).
• Payment confirmation when a member joins or renews.
• Member expiration reminder (on by default).
• Class booked and Class reminder for gyms that run classes.
• PT reminder before a personal training session.
• Birthday message, sent once per birthday during the day.
• Unpaid balance reminder, sent when staff press the remind button on the unpaid list.
• Member form link to send a waiver or agreement.
• Offer / promotion broadcasts.

Everything else is off until you turn it on, so a new gym never surprises its members with messages it did not choose.

The message allowance

The WhatsApp add-on comes with a monthly bundle of messages. The dashboard header shows how many you have used, how many you have, and when the counter resets. It changes color as you get close to the limit.

Not every message costs the same:

• Utility messages such as reminders and payment confirmations use 1 from the counter.
• Marketing messages such as offers use 4.

The type of each message is shown next to it in the settings. Note that WhatsApp classifies some templates differently by language, so a message can be utility in one language and marketing in the other; the settings screen shows the real cost for your gym's language.

When the allowance runs out, further messages are not sent until it resets. If you need more mid-month, the GymLeb team can add a top-up for the current cycle. On yearly plans the full monthly allowance comes back every month on your plan's start day. Bundle sizes and prices are on the pricing page.

Reading members' replies

Members reply. "Can I pay on Monday?", "I am travelling, can you freeze me?", "Thanks!". Those replies used to vanish into a phone nobody checked.

On the WhatsApp Notifications page, the Replies view lists members who replied, unread first. View chat opens the conversation with your sent messages and their replies together, so the context is right there. The replies are read-only in GymLeb: you answer the member from WhatsApp, and the chat in GymLeb tells you what they asked.

The same page logs every message the gym sent, with its status: delivered, read, failed or pending. When a member says "I never got anything", you can check.

Sending reminders by hand

Automatic reminders cover most cases, but sometimes you want to sweep. The Expired Memberships page lists members whose membership has ended and has a Send monthly reminders button that messages them all at once. It is a good monthly routine for winning back members who lapsed without saying anything. Our post on grace periods and renewal follow-ups covers that routine in more detail.

Tips that improve renewals

• Pick one timing and stick to it. Members learn the rhythm, and your desk knows when to expect calls.
• Make sure every member has a correct phone number. No phone, no reminder. Check new members at sign-up.
• Turn on payment confirmations. A receipt on WhatsApp reduces "I already paid" disputes at the desk.
• Read the Replies view every day. A member who asks a question and gets no answer is a member who does not renew.

The WhatsApp add-on is described on the pricing page, and the FAQ answers common questions about messaging. For the meaning of terms like renewal warning or retention, see the glossary.