The fitness industry has fully experienced what “new normal” means. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the gyms got closed, and most of the fitness clients turned to some kind of digital platforms for home workouts. And fitness professionals did so, too. But, how do you keep your clients motivated and maintain client retention even during the coronavirus pandemic?
The answer to the question of how to keep your clients engaged during the pandemic has several parts. As personal trainers, to engage fitness clients you should:
This might seem overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it all at once. And you don’t have to go through this hard time of switching to online fitness all alone.
Communication, communication
You should keep communicating with your clients openly about what is happening with your gym during the pandemic. No matter if the news is good or bad, they want to be well-informed.
Let them know if you are struggling, or helping your community get through the pandemic healthier. Make sure to let your clients know what is going to happen with the money they already invested in monthly workout programs and what is your plan for the future.
Home workouts
Adjust your workout plan so that your clients can do them at home. Don’t use complicated equipment and try to think of exercises that are effective if you use your own body weight. You can even get creative with home “equipment” – your fitness enthusiasts could fill their backpacks with books or use water bottles as weights. Your new workouts must be easily available to them, so use whatever digital platform suits you and is not complicated for your clients.
Fitness challenge will keep your community together
The sense of community you used to have in your gym could still last even if everyone is working out from home. Organize monthly challenges, so your trainees could see how they are doing compared to others, or just have a feeling of competing again. Make room for them to discuss the challenge and eagerly wait for another one.
Make discounts
Now that your clients no longer use your gym and services in person, they are wondering what is going to happen with their memberships and monthly programs. Try to figure out what would make your clients feel satisfied and be creative with the solutions. For example, you could offer them a free nutrition plan, online personal training, or “freeze” their memberships until the gyms are reopened. Let them know how their engagement kept your business alive even with the lockdown.
Tracking progress will keep your clients motivated
People still want to stay active and reach their health goals, now even more than before. We are all flooded by the news that says it is very important to stay active to keep your mental health in good condition, too. Enabling your users to get a comprehensive view of their workout statistics or upload progress pictures are great ways to provoke even more training. Encourage good work with medals and make sure to show burned calories after every workout to keep your client’s motivation steady.
With a digital fitness app, you can offer even more than you could in a gym
Transferring to online fitness, the ways of communicating with people are becoming more diverse. Using an app gives you the opportunity to create workout plans specifically for a person’s needs, desires, and body type. You can also offer a nutrition plan, write a fitness blog, or offer private/group sessions. Explainer videos are now a must so that the users can always repeat a certain exercise or make a pause to read/watch clearly what they should do.
Start a digital gym
It would be easier for you and your users if you had only one platform with everything mentioned above. You should make an app where people can browse through diverse workouts, read your blog, check out your recipes, and feel it is there for them whenever they can squeeze in a workout. But, you must be thinking – how much is it going to cost to make an app just for my brand? Well, it doesn’t have to cost anything, but a bit of your time.
You are not alone in this change
For all of us to endure this period of COVID-19 pandemic a little bit more easily, it is important to feel like we are a part of a community. We are witnessing the flourishing of solidarity among people, and it is the same in the fitness community.
Even though people are alone while working out, digital fitness still brought a sense of togetherness with various IT solutions. If you want to engage your clients with a custom branded fitness app, you don’t need to invest thousands of dollars and spend months developing that kind of software. You don’t even have to work for a platform that thousands of other fitness professionals already use. You can make the most of white label solutions and customize them to look and feel just like your brand.
Why not try the one Lean On Digital offers. For you as a business owner, they create your branded app free of charge. They only take a small percentage of net income generated through your app. This way you get your branded fitness app that enables you to easily take all the steps mentioned above and make your clients look forward to the next workout session.
The Lean On Digital team is there for you to help you make the branded fitness app and provide it with quality content. Just concentrate on your skills and clients, and let Lean On Digital work for you.