The Fitness Business Podcast | COVID-19 planning: action plan & tips for fitness business owners and managers

Thank you to our incredible partners The Fitness Business Podcast for assembling a world-class panel of industry leaders to discuss a plan for COVID-19.

You can watch the fill video here: Watch Now

Be sure to follow The Fitness Business Podcast for more COVID-19 updates: https://www.facebook.com/fitnessbusinesspodcast

Here is the OneFitStop summary from the panel:

Building Relationships and Creating a Positive Member Experience is KEY!

Communications can be challenging during a time of crisis. Be mindful not to under communicate or over communicate with members. Manage expectations by sticking to the facts. Members are receiving an abundance of emails regarding Covid-19. It is important to make sure your emails are engaging, attention grabbing and factual. Keep your emails light and spirit lifting.

What you can do NOW!

• Be Involved in your Local Community:
• Promote members success stores on Social Media,
• Offer online Classes - It’s important to keep online classes on the same schedule as in the club and maintain consistency for your members during this time,
• Create online family workouts to include the kids at home,
• Offer nutritional value,
• Post pictures of your members home workouts,
• Create challenges and online competitions,
• Implement meditation wellness seminars,
• Rent equipment to members as a means of revenue (cycle studio-rent bikes),
• Offer members to make donations during this time as a means to generate revenue.
• Focus on Family Health and Promote Awareness:
• Engage entire family in online activities,
• Scavenger HuntPost pictures and share your experiences of cooking healthy meals, mindful mediations, outside activities and workouts that include the kids. Offer members and non-members prizes such as a 30-day membership for winning the challenge,
• Promote education on healthy lifestyles,

• Build community spirit by engaging in community volunteer opportunities

This all leads to fostering hope and motivation for people!

• What you do NOW will impact your relationship with your members in the FUTURE:
• Be proactive when freezing, suspending or cancelling memberships. Call or email your member and advise them of the change you are making to their membership. This is a great opportunity for you to invite them to join an online challenge!
• There are instances of smaller clubs still charging members extend memberships on the back-end for a secured revenue source to the club. These clubs need to be open to their members about being a locally owned business and explain you want to be here for them both during and after the pandemic, and this is the best way to ensure the business will still be here as soon as isolation ends.

• Work ON your existing business plan:
• What is your business strategy?
• Evaluate your current member experience
• Train staff during down times to continue education
• Audit your operations and perhaps provide members with a survey for feedback

Be Future Orientated: “Rather than focusing on how bad it is, focus on how you can use this time to connect with your future customers,” Mark Cuban.

• Provide Staff Workshops for Refresher Trainings

1. Create a 12-month calendar for training with each month covering a different theme.

• Member Retention
• Review member profiles and make training recommendations to individual members or groups of members,
• Create a customized workout for members who may be identified as ‘at risk’,
• Decide what a 12-month workout plan looks like for your members?

• Build a Virtual Community:
• Engage existing members and non-members,
• Produce weight loss challenges for all community members (perhaps focus on people sitting at home and getting them motivated to move their bodies)
• Include weigh-ins from members, photos and workout feedback,
• Offer winners memberships once the club re-opens. Work to promote the club and any opportunities to grow your member base.

• Don’t Stop Marketing - Smaller Clubs/Studios can Capitalize on their Local Community
• Post on social media as well as create ads for leads generation to encourage community involvement.

• Opening Day Extravaganza!
• Create the best member experience once the club re-opens! Be on the floor and greet members coming back into the club. Engage-converse-positive feedback to all members coming in the door.