Unless you run a brand-new club, this is not your first re-opening.
Some clubs have re-opened 3 or 4 times over the last 12 months.
And whether you are opening for outdoor exercise only, gym but no classes, or another variant, there are lessons to be learned each time you do it.
We have listened to some great stories and some not-so-great experiences from clubs re-opening over the last year on The Collective, and several other private fitness forums. To help you avoid some of the pitfalls, and get your fitness business back on track asap, here are the top 8 lessons for a successful re-opening.
1. Your staff are most important asset (more than your members)
Ensure you focus on and spend time with your staff. Whether they have been furloughed or not. If they are experienced or new employees. Nothing is going back to ‘normal’; they will need support from you and others. Learning and development is critical right now. They need confidence and reassurance so that they can pass it on to your members.
The customer is not always right, especially if it means your staff are wronged… sometimes you must lose a member (client) to save a good staff member. Be crystal clear on processes, especially related to things like cleaning and social distancing, and make sure staff know you are there for them.
2. Keen members will be straight back, but others will need more encouragement
Your club will be busy in the first few weeks, but this will be your keen bean members, excited to be back. Clubs saw 20-30% of members return immediately, making 3-5 visits per week on average. This is not normal. You need do nothing for these members (other than open the door).
The next 50% of members will come back slowly. Some clubs expect members to return quicker as the vaccine rolls out, but it is more about motivation and getting over that hurdle of the first visit back for these members. You need to reach out and reassure members, build confidence, and support them, or they might drift back in a month, longer, or not at all.
3. Track members who have returned, but then drop off again
Do not assume that a member who has returned once or twice is back for good. After the first and second re-openings, we saw up to 5% of members make one visit, and then not come back for 2-3 weeks. While this is a small number of members, they are absolutely critical. You need to contact them and find out what has gone wrong.
Clubs making these critical calls last time found one or two members struggling one way or another, and others who had had a bad experience with another member or staff member on their last visit to the club. Which could mean a review of systems or processes is needed. Communication is key to save these, and other members who are about to return.
4. Go to town on your member communications
Get your re-opening message out to all your members on as many channels as possible and keep sending to members until they return. SMS (98% open rate within 10 mins) is better than email (20% open rate), and postcards are a great way of getting people’s attention.
Do not worry about unsubscribes, but do monitor your member engagement – open, bounce, click, response rates. And follow-up. One message is rarely enough for the average member.
5. Don’t start taking payments without asking/telling
Sure, you have the right to turn on the DD tap again, but how much admin and resentment will that create? Best practice is to ask the member when they would like to re-start or tell them you will take the payment the day after their first visit back. As above, one email is not enough… SMS gets through much quicker and gets a better response.
You might want to charge a small fee for membership freeze going forwards, but you will do better to tell members this is the plan and give them the opportunity to discuss it with you, before it becomes your default option.
6. Re-inductions for all
OK, we do not call them inductions anymore, but you know what we mean. This is a great opportunity for one of the most important interactions that every happens between staff and members. Use it to re-build rapport, even if you dress it up as a mandatory group welcome that runs every hour for the first couple of months. Many members will try to wriggle out of it, but they need to know the new procedures, the same as everyone else.
Some of your members have not visited for over a year (they did not all come back on the last re-opening), so they need confidence and reassurance that everyone knows the new rules. After all, everyone will benefit from the opportunity to have a new program, talk about their goals, or maybe buy some PT from you in the next month... (OK, now have we got your attention?)
7. Online content must continue
Obviously, with the staged re-opening (hopefully Group X will return in May), virtual classes must continue in the short-term. But we were shocked to see several facilities stop virtual classes when they last re-opened.
Here is what 2 or 3 public sector General Managers said after the second lockdown:
“The centres are buzzing, it’s great, our classes are 130% booked, I’m so glad we don’t have to do virtual classes anymore!”
With class capacity reduced, and many members not back, virtual is now more important than ever. Virtual numbers may drop, and it may be tough for staff to run virtual classes, but you need them for members who cannot or will not visit the club yet, and for the 30% who cannot book onto those capacity classes!
8. Ex-members are your source of hidden profits
Depending on your capacity, loyalty, and priority for current members, you should consider contacting your ex-members, leads, prospects. After all, your competition is almost certainly in contact with them already!
While you may not have capacity for them at the moment, you can ask about their health and fitness goals, and tell them about all the new programmes you are running or talk about your new virtual or digital offerings.
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