Lockdown
So it’s officially week 6 of the lockdown, and since fitness facilities had to close their doors indefinitely. The lockdown has seen fitness professionals across the UK rush to take their services online with many live home workouts and online personal training programme being delivered. This has meant, for us in the fitness industry, we have managed to continue to get paid to some extent, even if some clients have decided to cut back on their personal training.
But now the dust has settled. As people become familiar with their online schedules, it has given fitness pros time to re-evaluate their services and their own business. Personal Trainers, facility owners, Sport Massage Therapists and Physiotherapists across the country have some valuable time to re position themselves and come out of this situation with a more efficient business and service.
We’ve outlined three ways you can improve your fitness business during the lockdown
1. Improve your online presence
Most fitness professionals are on social media, that’s a given. But think about what content you’re pushing, is it just you going live with workouts?
During the lockdown, try to build trust with your current and potential clients by engaging in relatable content. Not everyone wants to see a live workouts every day, sometimes they simply can’t be bothered and they’re having some down days.
Think about engaging with them on wider topics like lockdown recipes or simply talk about your own thoughts and feelings during the lockdown and how you’re coping using different strategies. We’re all human and being able to relate to clients will further endear them to you.
Also think about your wider online presence. We’ve outlined specific points below on your business processes and email marketing but it all starts with generating leads through social media and your website.
How does your website look? Do you have one? Do you need one? If so, it’s a great time to give it a face-lift. If you’re not tech savvy there are plenty of fitness specific website builders out there, but we recommend UK based firms like Internetfitpro and Colescreative.
2. Learn something new
In-between your live workouts, zoom calls and hourly exercise you could be learning a new skill that will really move the needle on your business. This can be a new skill to increase your revenues or a qualification that can help you to broaden your services to clients.
There are study at home options like accredited nutrition courses that would enable you to provide a wider scope of services to your clients, or you could start a course that combines online study during the lockdown with practical training days once the lockdown is relaxed, like a Sports Massage Therapy course.
But it doesn’t always have to be an accredited qualification. You could be investing in experts within the fitness field to learn skills that have enabled them to build a successful business, like Paul Mort’s email marketing business. You can enrol with Mort’s email domination and receive support and guidance on how to get leads and convert them into paying clients all through daily emails and offers. If you’re considering using email marketing as a way to get more clients, then Mort’s no bullsh*t approach is one we would recommend.
3. Level up your processes
Lastly, have a look at all of your business processes. This can apply to any fitness professional’s business right now. Think about the whole process of your client’s journey – what does it look like? To paraphrase the words of Gymownr “zoom way out and then zoom in on every single part in detail”. Analyse every single step it takes from a lead being generated to the on-boarding process and induction of a client.
Does your client journey vary depending on the client? The time of year? How busy you are that particular week? The guys behind Gymownr are the owners of Steel Habitat, one of the most successful independent gyms in the UK right now.
Gymownr has some great informative posts that can be relatable to all fitness businesses, not just gym owners where they really make you think about your current processes and how you operate. They are massive advocates of creating an excellent customer experience, and then standardizing it across their workforce and facility so every new client gets this high standard of service.
As well as your business processes, we would also recommend linking this to your current clients’ feedback. Now is a great time to ask them questions and reflect on what they are missing and what they don’t miss. A great free tool is Survey Monkey or Google Forms to capture their responses. Depending on their responses you may be able to put in new processes in place ready for when they’re allowed to come back that will not only boost their happiness but may lead to new clients coming on board and staying after their trial period.
Your move
We know it's a tough time out there right now. Making money and keeping your business alive is the number 1 priority for fitness professionals, but we are afforded some vital time during this lockdown to really work on ourselves and our businesses.
Have a positive mindset and look to use your time to grow.
