
157 - What Your Group Renewal Rate SHOULD Be — And Why They Don’t Come Back
Sports Marketing Machine Podcast
Track Renewal Revenue, Not Just Volume
Jeremy urges tracking renewal revenue and understanding actual attendance changes to measure retention impact.
Most teams sit at a 75–85% group renewal rate… but that’s not the goal — it’s the starting point. In this episode, Jeremy breaks down what elite renewal actually looks like, why groups really don’t come back, and how small breakdowns quietly kill retention. If you want to stop rebuilding your book of business every year and start compounding revenue, this is a must-listen.
Key Topics Covered
- Why 75–85% renewal is average — and why 90%+ should be your target
- The hidden cost of low renewal rates (and how it kills efficiency)
- The real reason groups don’t come back: “death by a thousand cuts”
- Why lack of follow-up is the #1 renewal killer (and how to fix it)
- How experience vs. expectation gaps destroy retention
- Turning one-time group outings into long-term relationships
- Simple post-event follow-up systems that drive repeat bookings
- How to segment groups by renewal potential and prioritize the right ones
- Why you’re not selling tickets — you’re selling someone else’s reputation
- The KPIs that actually matter: tracking renewal revenue, not just volume
Timestamps
00:00 – Why renewal rates matter more than you think
00:30 – Industry benchmarks vs. real goals (75–85% vs. 90%+)
01:35 – Renewal rate = reflection of your entire system
02:28 – The compounding impact of lost groups each year
03:53 – Excluding one-time groups from your true renewal rate
04:51 – Why higher renewal = massive efficiency gains
05:20 – “Death by a thousand cuts” — why groups actually leave
05:49 – The #1 mistake: not asking for the renewal
06:45 – No follow-up = no renewal system
07:16 – Experience vs. expectation gaps
08:12 – Group leader pressure: you’re selling their reputation
09:10 – Why transactional thinking kills long-term revenue
09:39 – Creating next steps and ongoing engagement
10:08 – One-time vs. repeatable groups (and how to handle both)
11:04 – Turning situational buyers into repeat customers
12:23 – Game day execution + post-event engagement
12:52 – Using photos and recaps to reinforce the experience
14:35 – Pricing vs. perceived value
15:04 – Positioning your offer as a time-saver
16:55 – Building a simple follow-up sequence (24–72 hours + beyond)
17:21 – Creating urgency for next year’s booking
18:10 – Giving group leaders a “win”
18:39 – Segmenting groups by renewal potential
19:31 – Tracking renewal KPIs that actually matter
21:18 – Why renewal is always improve-able
21:47 – The real takeaway: small issues drive churn
22:17 – Shift from transactional → relationship-based selling
23:13 – Using surveys and feedback to continuously improve
Episodes mentioned:
134: Season Tickets vs Single Game - And How to Convert One Into the Other
139: What Is Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)?
Call to Action
Pull your group sales data from last season and answer two questions:
- What percentage actually renewed?
- Why didn’t the others come back?
Then build a simple post-event follow-up system — because without it, you don’t have a renewal strategy… you have a guessing game.
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