Nine ideas on leadership, operations, virtual fitness and more from the 2020 Virtual Club Solutions Leadership Summit.
The 2020 Virtual Club Solutions Leadership Summit took place November 9-11, culminating in 20+ educational roundtables and webinars presented by the top club operators and vendors in the fitness industry. As an added bonus, the content was free to everyone who attended.
Six roundtables took a deep dive into hot topics in the industry, including navigating financial uncertainty, leading through a crisis, the latest consumer trends and more. Plus, partner webinars shared educational thoughts and applications for the current times.
Following are nine ideas gleaned from each of the roundtables released as part of the virtual summit, straight from some of the best minds in the fitness industry.
- It’s easy to be a positive leader when things are going well. In times like a pandemic, leaders really need to dig deep to stay positive and be a guiding light for their teams. Go back to your mission to stay positive.
- Educate government officials as part of your club’s strategic marketing plan. While COVID has been devastating to the fitness industry, it has also showcased the importance of health, wellness and fitness. It’s vital government officials know that as well.
- Great, adaptable leaders have the ability to lean into uncertainty and embrace it. Detaching from “certainty” is a tough, but important lesson.
- Put people first, product second and profit third when it comes to your priorities.
- The return to a “bootstrapping” mindset has benefited many operators. It’s a good time to restructure any bloat you may have gained over the years, by getting rid of programming or amenities that aren’t profitable. You can’t accept poor ROI right now.
- It’s vital to empower your staff to make things right. They shouldn’t always have to escalate things to management. Empower the front line. As long as your employees are making decisions with the right intent, you should support that.
- Due to COVID, you can delight people a lot easier. How can you recognize small wins?
- Virtual fitness is here to stay. Consumers are now expecting most gyms to offer some sort of virtual fitness offering to complement the in-person experience.
- Just like in-person classes, people will follow your instructors. Consider adding language to your employee or work-for-hire contracts that includes language surrounding solicitation. Some gyms are seeing instructors launch their own virtual offerings that compete with the club’s.
Of course, these are just nine ideas of many that came out of the 2020 Virtual Club Solutions Leadership Summit. To access the content on-demand, visit peakemediaevents.com/csvirtual.
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Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
