Prospecting for new members is a worthwhile, yet time-consuming effort. Each individual lead requires a high level of attention. In some instances, the focus placed on one prospect may cause you to miss an opportunity with another. Now imagine meeting with just one prospective member. Your sales presentation goes off without a hitch and your membership offer is accepted! That’s great, but the real bonus is even better. That one meeting could result in 10 or 20 new memberships, maybe more! Too good to be true? Not if your club offers a corporate wellness program.
With a corporate wellness program in place, you can confidently approach the businesses in your community. Since the benefits of workplace wellness are widely known, your program may be just the motivation a company needs to put something in place for their employees. This means, the shop next door or the factory across town could help you reach new heights with your membership numbers.
Benefits of a Corporate Wellness Program
Wellness programs can benefit a company in many ways. By encouraging a healthy lifestyle, employers benefit from reduced absenteeism, lower health and insurance costs, and higher levels of performance. Additional benefits include improved employee morale and work relationships, a reduction in stress, and fewer workplace injuries.
When an employer implements a wellness program, it demonstrates a commitment to employees, and shows a concern for their health and fitness. This is a sought-after benefit, and it may even help an organization to recruit and retain top performers.
The companies that can benefit most from a wellness program will be small- to medium-sized. Most likely, they won’t have the internal resources to design or implement a program themselves. However, they stand to gain just as much as the large companies that have customized programs on-site. Your offer of a wellness program will likely be met with an enthusiastic welcome – if it’s easy to use and manage.
The Tipping Point
If the businesses you approach sense that a wellness program is going to be hard to setup and an on-going management hassle, they may be hesitant. This is where your club management software can make the difference. By automating the tracking, reporting, and payout of reimbursements or co-payments, your software vendor can help you to create a corporate wellness program that will reduce the time and effort it takes to manage such an offering. And, that automation may be the tipping point for undecided companies.
But, what about the employees? What will be their tipping point? As the saying goes, “No pain – no gain.” In other words, a company can offer a great wellness program, but nothing will improve if employees are not participating. When it comes to lifestyle changes, many people need an extra incentive to get started. Certain people are encouraged by team challenges or workout clubs, and these are great elements to incorporate into a wellness program. However, one of the best motivators may be money. When a membership reimbursement or co-pay program is offered to employees, it may be the deciding factor for them.
Not One-Size-Fits-All
With your expertise in the fitness industry and the automation features in your club management software, you can create a specific wellness plan for each individual company. Depending on their requirements and preferences, you can offer them many different reimbursement options. Some examples include:
• Applying a fixed annual amount to their employee’s membership dues. For example, a company may choose to pay out $150 per year for club dues.
• Applying a fixed monthly amount to offset membership dues. For example, when a minimum workout requirement has been met, the employer will reimburse $20 per month.
• Applying a discount percentage of membership dues for each employee. For example, the employer may offer a 10% discount on membership dues. This discount can be applied on a monthly or yearly basis.
To determine if your software supports corporate wellness programs, talk with your vendor. If they don’t offer the features you need, you may want to seek out a software vendor that can make it happen.
The Importance of Follow-Through
After you have successfully implemented corporate wellness programs, your follow-through is extremely important. With an influx of new members, you need to accurately manage the membership reimbursement or co-pay elements of the program. This followthrough is vital to retaining your new corporate memberships. Again, your club management software should make this easy to accomplish.
Part of Something BIG!
The call for improved health and wellness can be heard from many sources – the government, medical experts, insurance providers, and the fitness industry. They all agree on the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, for now and generations to come. You can be a part of that movement by making fitness accessible to as many people as possible.
Terri Blattenbauer is the Vice President of Apex Management Services, a leader in club management software and receivables processing. She can be contacted at 800.317.2739 x 117, or by email at terri@apexmanagement.com, or visitwww.apexmanagement.com.
