This blog was updated on June 6, 2022, to include the new Membership Tools section, which is now home to the COVID-19 membership management tools.
Opening the doors to your gym or studio will require a lot of patience, trial and error, and confidence that your customers will return. It will require that you prioritise ensuring the health and safety of your staff and customers, maintain any necessary guidelines, and offer your customers the best and safest experience possible.
Quarantine guidelines can change every week. So it's best to start with staying up to date and aware of the evolving situation. Here's how to stay on your toes.
The reality is, COVID-19 is very much still a mystery. For the foreseeable future, planning in advance is not a sustainable option as laws, regulations, and restrictions change daily. But you can still prepare for the interim and keep your customers aware of news and changes in your local community and area. Here are some things your customers will need to know before you re-open:
Let your customers know that you are keeping your calendar and schedule as up to date as possible. If you have to make changes to your regular schedule, your customers will understand, but give them time to adjust as they consider new changes. Let them know you are doing everything you can to accommodate everyone, and are still available for online classes if you currently offer them (if you don't, we recommend you read this article about customer preferences for the immediate future).
One of the big areas of focus has been both complying and making customers (and staff) confident in the safety measures you are taking. The CDC has provided good resources for gym and studio owners and what they need to do to guarantee compliance with the rules. These include:
As some customers may be more motivated to attend in-person classes than others, make sure you have different membership and class pack offerings to fit customer needs. If someone would rather stay at home and participate in classes online this may be a different membership offering than those wanting to go back to class regularly. Talk with your customers and build a solution that works well for both of you. Consider modifications to your normal offerings and create tiers or different packages that can best meet their comfort needs, as well as their financial needs.
If one of your customers decides to put their membership on hold or opt-out of class for a period of time, let them know you have options for this. Offer your customers a pause period or opt-in option that will allow them to come back whenever they feel comfortable. You can also use the slipping away feature in your dashboard to check in with your customers if you think some may be going down this route.
We’ve seen hundreds of examples of business owners that have been incredible community leaders and helped their customers get through this challenging time. As well as an opportunity you have a responsibility to your customers. Help them because you want to help them but also know that you are building long term value in your business. You may struggle too, but we’ve seen so many examples of how that can be used to be transparent and be ever closer to your community too.
Just as much as your customers rely on you to offer them classes and keep up their workouts, we know you rely on them to help you keep your business running. Let them know how much their customer loyalty means to you and encourage them to review your plan for resuming in-person classes. What do they think about your new structure? Are they feeling comfortable coming back to class? Ask them to follow a code of conduct and that by doing so, you can keep running your gym or studio for them. You can use your TeamUp dashboard messaging and emails to send policy updates and safety forms to your customers before they walk in the door.
As a gym or studio owner, you know that preparation is key. Class plans equal motivated happy customers that get the most out of their sessions.
Once you have your rollout plan ready to go, health and safety measures in place, and your customers aware of your new policies, it's time to prepare for the big day. Here's how:
You've finished your first week back, congrats! It's time to evaluate the results and see what needs to be done, what you can improve on, and how your customers felt. Start with customer feedback and reports.
Once you have planned and know what to do, your next mission is to utilise your TeamUp dashboard to help you streamline your new processes. Here are 7 TeamUp features that will make the next steps smoother.
Remember that your online calendar and class schedule are your customers' first steps to booking a class and connecting with you. Organize your calendar with details including class size, venue, instructor, and availability. Your customers will be able to completely manage their bookings and account via their member app.
As your customers may be split on returning to your studio full time when they can still take classes online, alter and customize your memberships and class packs to incorporate both. You can add as many memberships or class pack options as you would like in your TeamUp dashboard. You can even conduct a survey and ask your customers what they prefer, so you can organize your membership options and create the best selection for everyone.
Safety first! Using the customer forms tool, you can send your customers waivers to fill out before they come back to class. In your waivers, you can include things like new safety measurements, what you require your customers to do, and how to conduct themselves at your gym. If your policies change or you need to make an update, you can easily edit the forms within your dashboard and re-send them to your customers.
Find tools to manage your members during COVID-19 in the Memberships Tools section in your dashboard. As well as in our articles from our how-to guide in the COVID-19 resources page. This tool allows you to help you manage memberships that were on hold and make bulk price edits to your new membership and pack options. It will let you manage all of your business changes due to COVID-19 in one place.
Create your very own email templates to quickly send information directly to your customers' inboxes. Whether it's to send uplifting words of encouragement or to relay tips and updates, email templates will help you get your message across, and save you time...at the same time! TeamUp integrates with several email marketing providers and offers all the email options you need directly in your system - class confirmations customised by class type or venue, milestone emails, and many more.
The reporting tools manage all of your customer data. Check and see which of your customers are coming to class more, sticking to online classes, choosing memberships over class packs, and vice versa. Reports also allow you to track your current and new sales during the pandemic. These tools will help you collect important feedback about your customers based on their attendance online, in-person, or both.
The waitlist feature alleviates the worry of no-shows and last-minute cancellations. Because your customers will pay online before class even starts, you don't have to worry about messy refunds and back and forth. Depending on the options you have arranged for your memberships and class packs, if one of your customers has to cancel in advance or miss a class, as long as they inform you through their customer app or dashboard, their spot will go to the next person on the waitlist, ensuring your class is full.
Re-opening your gym calls for an all hands on deck approach. To offer the best and safest experience for your customers and staff, keep them informed, have a plan of action, and evaluate the results. Make sure to bookmark this page for weekly updates and tips on running your gym or studio. If you're looking to hear from more of our providers and what they are doing to re-open their gyms and studios, check out our collection of fitness business stories. Just like you, they are learning how to create a healthy, safe, and successful in-person fitness business again. Their advice may be just the thing you need.
Looking for more resources on running your business during the pandemic? Check out our COVID-19 tools and resources, here.
Thanks for reading!