7 Experimental things you should be doing right now for your fitness facility

Keen to ‘get active’ (pun absolutely intended) in this COVID-19 environment? Wondering what you should be doing right now for your fitness facility and your customers?

You can get on the front foot and make sure your customers are counting down the days until they can back into your fitness facility.
Let us show you how.

7 things you should be doing right now for your fitness facility 

Virtual, virtual, virtual
It’s important to adapt quickly – continue to be your customers’ number one fitness provider. Video call technology can help you offer 1:1 coaching through to large-group fitness classes.

Customer Engagement
Ramp it up – don’t tone it down (another fitness pun?!). We look at this a little more below.

Take stock of your equipment
Now is the time to re-work your floorspace and add new equipment without disrupting business hours.

Review your group classes
Are they contemporary? Varied? Inclusive? Think about how you can mix it up and get your customers excited to try out new classes when you re-open.

Storage
Known for a while your storage is a little sparse? Now is the perfect time to install more storage space. Give those cables and plates a home of their own. The little things will be noticed and appreciated.

Supplements
When was the last time you looked at the data on what your customers are buying? Use the extra time to run some analytics and make sure you’re stocking the supplements your customers want the most. Bulking, cutting, prepping, weight loss? Get stocked up.

Add new content to your website
Keep it fresh and on-point with plenty of sharable content.

Access the funding and support you are entitled to

A range of options may be available to you as part of the Federal Government’s Stimulus Package for Business Individuals.

• Wage subsidies
• Low interest payment plans with the ATO
• Waived Payroll Tax
• Payroll Tax increased to $1 million
• Extension of time to lodge obligations with the ATO
• Deferment of amounts due through BASS
• Immediate asset write-off on asset purchases
• Find out more here

Support your customers’ strength and fitness goals in isolation

Maintain your customers’ passion for fitness and strength. Lead the pack with the following supportive measures:

At home substitutions
Show them how to use soup tins, laundry detergent and other household items to mirror their at-gym sets.

Fitness challenges
As humans – we love challenge and a little bit of competition. Use your social channels to set goals. Encourage your customers to post their challenge progress and @tag your facility. Some challenge ideas:

• ‘Get ‘em stacked’ - encourage your customers to smash their PBs by reaching a new lift weight in two weeks.
• ‘Iso in Iso’ – create muscle isolation challenges, a different muscle focus for each day of the week.
• ‘Newbie Sign-up’ – offer a free personal training session for every customer who refers someone new.
• ‘Plank it Up in 30’ – 30 day plank challenges (10 seconds on day 1, 20 on day 2… aim for 5 minutes by day 30).
• ‘Show us your gains’ – offer a prize (i.e. some gym merch) for the best gains pic posted across socials.

Virtual training
As mentioned above, move your classes online and offer 1:1 coaching.

Nutritional advice
People have more time than ever before to prepare fresh healthy meals. Share nutritional advice and meal plans aligned to different needs (maintenance, bulking, cutting, prepping, weight loss etc.).

Your customers should be counting down the days until they can walk through your doors again

Regular communication is essential at all times – it’s even more critical now that your customers can’t physically enter your fitness facility. Now is the time to promote, not to hold back. So what can you be doing?

• Strong social media presence with regular, varied and sharable posts
• Short how-to videos (think stretching, free weights, running regimes etc.)
• Newsletters – include fitness tips, nutritional advice and how-tos
• Weekly texts – direct your customers to the latest updates on your website/socials
• Promote all the new things they can access when you re-open (classes, equipment, supplements etc.)
• Be accessible – encourage your customers to reach out with their strength and fitness queries (socials, website, phone, email)

There are lots of things that you and your customers can be doing right now. Make the most of this time to invest in your facility and enhance the connection your customers have with your facility. Make a plan, find your what Federal Government funding you’re entitled to, take stock and connect.