Retention Desk · Software guides · Capitan

How to send a win back campaign in Capitan

Capitan's help pages describe no bulk email or texting tool. Capitan finds your lapsed climbers and shows them prices current members never see. Mailchimp, through Capitan's integration, sends the emails.

Checked in October 2026 against Capitan's own knowledge base, release notes and product pages, linked under Sources. Capitan ships updates every two weeks, so if a step does not match your screen, the linked article has the current path.

Build your win back list

A win back list has two groups: members who cancelled, froze or stopped climbing in the last six months, and customers who visited but never bought a membership. Capitan calls everyone a customer, and a customer holding a membership a member.

Past members

  1. In the Reports section, open Membership Cancellation Logs. Export it to CSV and keep the last six months.
  2. Do the same with Membership Freeze Logs for members who froze. Both logs filter by billing location if you run several gyms.
  3. For members who still pay but stopped climbing, open Customer Check In Counts in Date Range. Capitan suggests it for spotting members with low counts.

Mailchimp gets an Active Member and a Frozen Member tag from Capitan automatically.

Customers who never joined

Capitan's help pages describe no lead status. Your second group is customers who signed a waiver, bought a day pass or entry pass, or used a guest pass, but never bought a membership.

  1. Create a custom inbox. Capitan's own example pairs a membership status condition (no active membership) with a check in count of at least two.
  2. Add an Account Age condition to keep it recent. Matches land in Custom Inbox Items, which has Export List for a CSV.
  3. The help pages do not say whether an inbox catches people who matched before it existed, so check its count first.

To tag any filtered group for Mailchimp, tick the customers on the Customers report, choose Bulk Actions, then Add To Association, and pick an association named for the campaign. Mailchimp then gets a tag such as Association Member: Win Back.

Start with the most recent

If the list is long, send to people who left in the last three months first, then months four to six. Recent leavers are the easiest to bring back.

Send the three emails

Capitan sends receipts, booking confirmations and failed payment notices itself. Its help pages describe no way to email a list, so marketing email runs through Mailchimp.

  • Connect Mailchimp under Organization Settings and pick the audience. New Capitan customers are added to that audience automatically.
  • At setup you choose whether Capitan's or Mailchimp's email preferences win for people in both. That choice cannot be undone.
  • Customers who never opted in to marketing email are transactional only in Mailchimp. Set Display Email Opt In to Yes and add the opt in box to the email field on your waiver.
  • An unsubscribe in Mailchimp syncs back to Capitan. Customers can also change it in the Climber App under Settings.
  • Scheduling, the From address and replies are handled in Mailchimp, and Capitan's help pages do not cover them.
  • Not using Mailchimp? Export your list to CSV and send each email by hand on its day from the email tool you already use, only to customers who opted in.

Send the two texts

Capitan's help center and product pages describe no text messaging. Send the two texts from the tool you already use for texting, and only to customers who agreed to get texts.

  • The Customers export includes each customer's telephone number.
  • There is no documented text consent field. Make a checkbox under Admin, then Customer Profiles, then Custom Fields, and add it to your waiver.
  • Custom fields show as columns in the Customers list and its export, so you can text only those who ticked it.
  • When someone asks you to stop, untick the box on their profile.

Your ten day plan in Capitan

DayMessageHow to send it
Day 1Email: the offerMailchimp email to your campaign tag, linking to the Climber App offer
Day 3Text: a short reminderYour texting tool, to customers with the consent box ticked
Day 5Email: what is newSame tag, minus anyone now tagged Active Member
Day 8Text: a check inSame as Day 3
Day 10Email: last callSame tag, minus anyone who came back

The five messages, ready to fill in, are on the win back email templates page. Each membership category in Capitan has its own URL, so every email can link straight to the memberships you are offering.

Can Capitan run it for you?

Partly. Capitan's automations run the offer, but none of them sends a message. Mailchimp can send when Capitan's tags and events arrive.

  • On a recurring membership's upfront payment option, tick Only show to customers who have not had a membership for a minimum amount of days under Discount Amount. Only lapsed customers see that price in the Climber App.
  • A membership discount can require a minimum number of days without a membership, and since July 2026 it can apply to recurring bills. Another option limits a discount to customers who have not checked in for a set number of days.
  • Guest passes can be set to Lapsed Customers Only, so your members can bring back friends who stopped climbing.
  • In Mailchimp, a Customer Journey can start on Tag Added under Contact Activity, or on a Capitan event such as membership_cancelled through Event API. Events need a Mailchimp API key.
  • Delays between emails and which Mailchimp plan includes journeys are Mailchimp settings that Capitan's pages do not cover.
  • Capitan's pricing page tiers plans by average daily check ins per location, with every automation feature in each. In October 2026 it listed plans from $399 a month for under 100 daily check ins.

See who came back

  • Make a checkbox custom field for the campaign. When someone says your code word, staff tick it on their profile. Then export the Customers list with that column included.
  • If your offer is a discount tied to the campaign association, filter the Payments report by Discount Association to see who used it.
  • The Memberships and Members reports have a Start Date filter. Set it to your campaign dates and match the names against your list.
  • In the Chart Builder, Product → Membership Conversion counts first time product users who became members within a window you pick. Membership Status Changes can count Unfrozen memberships.

Watch out for

  • A Capitan event appears in Mailchimp's journey list only after a customer triggers it after you set it up. Reach people who cancelled earlier through your campaign association tag.
  • Frozen members never see a lapsed only price. Give them a separate offer.
  • A later document with the same checkbox question wipes the earlier answer, even if optional. Recheck your text consent field after waivers renew.
  • The guest pass lapsed window is one setting for the whole organization, 12 months by default, and a change applies at once to every pass.
  • An association discount works only when everyone on the purchase belongs to the association, so one outsider on a group membership blocks it.

Sources

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