Our Wodify Guest Blog Series is part of our initiative to open our doors to the Wodify fitness community around the world, so they may share their experience, news, and advice.
Guest author Emily Rittenhouse is the Senior Wellness Partnerships Manager at Peerfit, a digital platform that connects employers, brokers and insurance carriers to local fitness experiences and wellness services.
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Whether it’s free onsite flu shots or fitness subsidies, corporate wellness programs are meant to encourage employees to get and stay healthy, which in turn lowers healthcare costs coming out of the employer’s pocket. Historically, these programs have a bad rap, and rightly so. Poor engagement, lack of options, and an inability to prove ROI for the employer had companies looking for more. Enter: boutique fitness.
Rather than continue to subsidize monthly memberships at big box gyms or the local YMCA, employers have moved toward subsidizing workouts at boutique fitness facilities like CrossFit gyms and HIIT studios - with amazing results. Employees are working out on their company’s dime, opening up a new stream of revenue for those facilities that are connected to corporate wellness funds. Your gym can do the same! Here’s how:
Make use of your strong fitness community! Ask members to introduce you to their HR team to plan out a wellness event together, and take the opportunity to get in front of a new pool of potential clients. Not sure what to say once you do? Host an onsite seminar on ‘how to fit exercise into your busy day’, or a class about ‘easy office workouts’ in a conference room setting. Suggest an offsite after-work ‘Healthy Happy Hour’, where employees can sign up to come to your gym for a group workout, and then grab smoothies (or other drinks) afterwards.
Form relationships with third parties that connect you to a new market and a fresh set of clients. Find a partner that will advertise your facility on their platform for free, lowering your acquisition costs and letting you get the most exposure for your dollar. At Peerfit, we connect studios and gyms to employer programs and health plans, making it simple for business owners to tap into a hard-to-reach revenue stream (corporate wellness dollars).
According to a study, 95% of employees join their company’s wellness program because it’s a free benefit offered by their employer. Yours may be the first gym they’ve ever stepped into, giving you a new set of clients and an unique opportunity to recruit their friends and family members who aren’t part of the corporate wellness program. Welcome them all with open arms and woo them into coming back regularly with a coworker, or two.
Ready to join the Peerfit Network and access those corporate wellness dollars? Click here to get started.
