Running challenges for new and existing clients sounds simple, so why does it often turn into an admin nightmare? Here’s how to create challenges your clients will love to be part of (and you won’t end up regretting!) It’s all about streamlining the systems….
Client challenges – the win/win marketing strategy
Benefits for your fitness business
- A simple retention tool that can be switched on during quiet times (like summer holidays)
- Challenges are great for sharing on social media – and word of mouth marketing spreads fast
- Motivating challenges create community and inject just the right level of competition into the gym
Benefits for your clients
- Challenges at the gym can be a fun and motivating short-term goal that prevents plateaus
- Signing up to an in-house challenge adds another level of progress tracking to workouts
- Regardless of winning, finishing a challenge gives a valuable sense of accomplishment
Client challenges shouldn’t be challenging
Forget no pain/no gain. Running client challenges should be almost as enjoyable for you as it is for them. Whether you choose to do challenges for existing clients (for retention and community) or for prospective clients (as a lead gen activity), it’s worth spending a little extra time on the planning stages.
Three steps to planning great client fitness challenges
Choose your challenge. Pick something that your clients will really get excited about. It’s OK if every challenge isn’t for every client (in fact, making all of your challenges suitable for absolutely everyone would probably make them less engaging). Just make sure you cater for everyone when looking at the bigger picture of your annual challenges.
Set the rules. Be very clear about how the challenge works, when it starts and ends, exactly how to measure/record/score, and what clients can expect from taking part.
Communicate like crazy. Make sure everyone understands what the challenge is and how it works. Expect plenty of questions, and create FAQs that clients can access without needing to message you every day. Consider using your socials, email comms, in-house noticeboards, and any push notifications on apps to communicate the rules of the challenge.
1. Overcoming barriers to taking part in client challenges
If you’ve tried client challenges in the past, you might have noticed that some people run faster from challenges than they do from burpees. Here’s how to understand what’s going on and create challenges that they’ll love to do.
Over-communicate. As we’ve already said, you need to be very clear about the what/why/when/how of your challenge. Make it very easy for people to access the info, get involved, and take part.
Emphasise inclusivity. Make it clear that the challenge isn’t just for the top achievers in your gym or for the newbies. And if it is (because sometimes that’s the best approach), reassure people that the next challenge is coming soon…and it’ll be ideal for them.
Highlight the benefits. If clients seem reticent, tell them why it’s worth getting involved. Challenges can be a great way to boost fitness, speed up fat loss, set a new PB, make gym besties, or unlock a new lift or skill.
2. Five fitness challenge ideas for your gym
- Load It Up – track training volume over a set period (you’ll need to provide a user-friendly tracking method that all clients can access)
- Class Act – class attendance challenge to shake people out of their routine and get them trying a new schedule
- PB Challenge – awards for lifting PBs, new skills, or perhaps most improved member
- Next Level Newbie – challenge for new members or for a new intake of beginner/on ramp class alumnae
- Daily Moves – tracking movement outside the gym, from step count to outdoor activity and team sports.
3. No member left behind – tailoring your fitness challenges
Know your audience and decide exactly who this specific challenge is for. You can’t make every challenge be for everyone, it would quickly lose that motivating sense of excitement. Niche your challenges, but make sure you cater for everyone across all of your in-house challenges.
Understand your goal – is this challenge to motivate members, improve retention, to give you some great testimonials and social media fodder, or to bring in new members?
And make sure the rewards are worth it. There’s no point giving away free classes to people who are already on unlimited membership, and it’s silly to give chocolate or alcohol to a fat-loss focused group. Make it something they’ll really appreciate.
Clear up any confusion by making the rules crystal clear, providing FAQs, communicating the start and end dates, and ensuring every member can log or record whatever metrics they need to be tracking.
