4 Ways Fitness Business Leaders are Fighting Uncertainty During the Pandemic
Sections
Fitness businesses are in a constant state of uncertainty right now. The fluidity of COVID-19 shutdowns has never been more apparent with some areas safely reopening and others choosing to mandate closures again.
You want to be the fitness business owner who leads your community through these challenging times and comes out stronger. In order to do that, you need a way to keep the community connected and your cash flow existent no matter what mandates you face.
There is no magic button to guard against these uncertainties, but Zen Planner has prioritized solutions that will make it easier to adapt to the ever-changing demands of government regulations and the safety of your members. There are a handful of features to help respond and adapt your business as things continue to change. Some were already in place before the pandemic, and others have been pushed out in response to it.
Either way, Zen Planner has your back. Let’s take a look at some ways fitness business leaders are using Zen Planner to fight uncertainty during the pandemic.
Running Virtual Classes
Just two weeks after gyms started closing their doors, Zen Planner recognized the need for our customers to continue running classes and trainings in order to keep members engaged and revenue coming in. The development team quickly added a feature to enable virtual classes and appointments within the Zen Planner software. This feature also allows instructors to link a meeting ID to a certain class so that it auto-generates for members. This takes away the manual work of sending out the meeting information to those who are planning to attend. Members are able to receive all the info they need by reserving their spot for that class.
Pro Tip: This is also helpful for the interim while some members don’t feel comfortable to physically return to the gym, and might want to watch/participate in virtual classes for a while longer. It’s also been advancing businesses going partially or fully virtual!
Managing Class Capacities
Managing class capacities was already something the Zen Planner software provided seamlessly, as it is the best way to accurately track attendance and expected revenue. Since gyms have reopened, many have local ordinances that require much smaller class capacities than before. Classes that used to be able to accommodate more than 20 people now must be cut in half in most places, which is why providing a fair and easy way to reserve spots is crucial for gyms that are able to reopen under these restrictions.
Pro Tip: This is a safe way to cover your bases when it comes to contact tracing (a clear roster of who was in your gym and on what days).
Book a Chat with Me to Start Building Your Recovery Toolkit
Check-Ins without Contact
Another feature the Zen Planner team developed quickly in response to the pandemic is contactless check-ins. This is an obvious one to help accommodate as little contact as possible for members who are coming into the gym. With these features, members can choose to check themselves in upon arrival to class or a staff member can check them in. All of this is done from their phones through the member and staff app.
Pro Tip: Increasing member app usage through making reservations, checking in, and logging workouts actually strengthens retention!
Setting Tasks for Yourself and Staff
Setting tasks has been an easy-to-do thing in the Zen Planner software for quite some time. Recently, the team made it possible to push tasks from the backend to each staff member through the staff app. This has loads of opportunities to make sure things around the gym are getting taken care of each day, namely, cleaning tasks.
Pro Tip: Set recurring tasks to trigger after each class so you only have to set the tasks once and then it will push it out to your staff on duty each day.
The world needs fitness now more than ever.
In this daily fight, we must acknowledge the things which we can and can’t control. While we can’t directly control government policy in our areas of operation, we can control our agility as fitness businesses.
Together, we can go from disconnected and uncertain to surviving and thriving.
Know what’s happening in your industry. Explore the Insights and Impact Report today!
