The Definitive Guide to Reopening Sports & Fitness
Strategies and best practices for re-opening based on insights from The UPLIFT Roundtable panelists and Upper Hand Market Research.
The UPLIFT Roundtable
Re-opening Sports + Fitness Through Best Practices
On May 12th, Upper Hand invited some of the industry’s most respected business minds to join in a new collective mission to empower sports + fitness businesses for re-opening. Together, through this “best practices” event, we outlined a playbook of strategies that produced a recommended Sports + Fitness Re-opening Guide, made available to everyone in our industry around the world.
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Average response from attendees when asked how useful they found the content of the webinar on a 1-5 scale
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Percentage of attendees who said they believe the content from the webinar will help in their re-opening strategy
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Average response from attendees when asked how likely they are to recommend this webinar to a colleague on a 1-10 scale
Stats based on anonymous post-event survey
Kevin MacCauley
Chairman & CEO; Upper Hand
Kevin is an active businessman and entrepreneur in the startup tech community. While attending Indiana University, he founded the nation’s first collegiate hosted mini marathon. He went on to serve as Sr. VP of Sales for venture-backed ClassWatch until it's $15M acquisition in 2011. Kevin founded Upper Hand in 2012 after seeing an opportunity as a Little League coach to revolutionize the sports and fitness industry. Kevin actively supports the startup and sports community as a TechStar Sports Accelerator mentor and overseeing a predictive analytics program with Butler University.
Dr. Kerri O'Brien
President; Bottom Line WL
Dr. O’Brien has nearly 30 years experience in the fitness industry working for for-profit fitness facilities, spas, trade associations, rec centers, university and college settings, weight management clinics, corporate wellness, franchises and police and fire services.
Josh York
Founder & CEO; GYMGUYZ
Josh York is an American entrepreneur and the founder & CEO of GYMGUYZ, a fast growing, fitness franchise. GYMGUYZ is #1 in Home Personal Training, providing convenient, customized and creative workouts at a setting that works best for each client. Headquartered in Plainview, New York, GYMGUYZ operates over 250 franchised locations in 30 states and 3 countries.
Krishea Holloway
President & CEO; Curves
Krishea Holloway started her career with Curves NA, Inc. at the age of 21, opening her first Curves franchise in 1997. Her franchise quickly became one of the most successful Curves franchises! Due to her success Co-Founder, Gary Heavin, asked her to become a mentor to other club owners. She joined the corporate support team in 1999 as a club operations trainer, and has progressively moved up within the company taking on responsibilities as: Sales and Resales Manager, Country Manager for New Zealand and Australia, Director of North America, and most recently, President and CEO of Curves NA, Inc.
Josh Lyon
VP of Franchise Operations; Title Boxing Club
Josh Lyon is an entrepreneur, franchise leader and advisor with over a decade of experience in the fitness industry. Today Josh is Vice President Franchise Operations of TITLE Boxing Club where he leads the team on the design, development, execution and adoption of system-wide operational initiatives to ensure Franchisee top and bottom line performance. Josh is also an active Executive Advisor for CITYROW and is the Owner of Hot Yoga Experience.
Matt Lane
CEO; Streamline Brands
Matt Lane is CEO of Streamline Brands. Streamline Brands is the largest operator and franchisor of Swim Schools in the US. Streamline operates more than 250 swim schools in both brick and mortar locations as well as inside health and fitness clubs. Prior to managing Streamline, Matt served in executive positions such as the EVP of North America – Technicolor, COO – Ponderosa Advisors, and SVP and GM – Hewlett Packard Media and Entertainment.
Lisa Druxman
Founder & CEO; FIT4MOM
Lisa Druxman, M.A. is best known as the founder of FIT4MOM, the company that brought Fit4Baby, Stroller Strides and Body Back to women nationwide. She is also a nationally recognized speaker and author. Check out her podcast, The Empowered Mama. Her new book, The Empowered Mama, by Fairwinds Press, is helping women regain their time, their health and their life as a mom. A fitness professional for more than 20 years, Lisa is a voice for wellness and living life to the fullest. Lisa teaches people to live by design and how to focus on what’s most important in life.
Alexandria Warren
VP of Operations; BrandONE Franchise Development
Alexandria comes from a long line of franchise experience on both the vendor, broker and franchisor side of the fence. As a proud Clemson University Alumni, majoring in Marketing and Law – she has honed her unique skill set to focus strictly on franchising for the last 9 years. Alexandria’s’ talents line in the art of relationships. Her career has been built by diving into brands and finding the perfect way to showcase their unique elements. Her experience within the broker world lays the perfect foundation for the strategic partnerships the BrandONE team relies on.
Charlie Graves
CEO; Athletic Republic
Athletic Republic CEO Charlie Graves was an Olympic-level swimmer and professional triathlete, and the lessons he learned as an athlete have had a big impact on the way he leads his business. Three decades in the making, Athletic Republic is the industry leader in evidence-based sports performance training, offering programs appropriate for athletes of all ages. Over ONE MILLION athletes have taken advantage of individualized sport-specific training programs designed to enhance their speed, power, agility and sensory skills to gain more than just a step on their competition. Athletic Republic’s performance sports training network totals 100 facilities throughout North America, Japan, North Korea and Australia.
What was discussed:
Our research-based roundtable was designed to help sports and fitness business owners and staff pave a smooth transition to re-opening, improve the customer experience and build a stronger sales engine. Each session topic had a particular area of focus to help deliver on what matters most to you and your business.
Under the threat of a global pandemic and shifting buying dynamics, sports and fitness business owners need to not only manage risk, but also take action to position their organizations to re-open during this period of uncertainty.
Re-opening is only 10% of the battle. What each leader does when their doors open is the other 90%.
During this session we examined business priorities created from the impact of COVID-19, uncovered how to position organizational strengths to inspire world class customer experiences, improve sales performance and identify surefire bets to win.
Topics discussed during this session:
- Biggest concerns for you and your clients
- What clients are saying about re-opening
- Client engagement strategies
- Key lessons from COVID-19
In a perfect scenario, we would have all the pandemic data in the world to apply predictive analytics to output expected consumer behavior in order to thrive when re-opening a sports and fitness business.
In this session we gained valuable insights from peer-to-peer discussion on practical and effective ways to re-think how to leverage consumer behavior in your re-opening strategy.
Dialogue focused on data-proven methods that align with consumer behavior, how to think differently about the consumer journey, and how to apply these strategies before it is too late.
Topics discussed during this session:
- Consumer behaviorism
- Client lifecycle and pricing strategies
- 4 areas of consumer risk: money, time, emotional and sustainability
- Specific strategies to re-open with confidence
Who should download?
Anyone in the sports + fitness industry who plays a direct role in the success and growth of business.
- CEOs, Founders and Owners interested in company-wide strategies and insights
- COOs, VP/Director of Operations looking to incorporate CEO and leadership changes for growth while minimizing impact on efficiency
- Instructors, trainers and staff wanting to understand the changing market dynamics to improve engagement with clients
- Regional and Local General Managers preparing their teams for how to adapt to new client demands and behavior
Download the UPLIFT Re-Opening Kit
Includes the on-demand recording and Definitive Guide to Re-Opening.
Additional Reopening Resources
Re-Opening Checklist for Sports & Fitness Businesses
From immediate facility and operational considerations to re-engagement strategies, this checklist outlines important recommendations and steps your business should consider before re-opening.
Post-COVID Consumer Survey Data
Data collected from surveying 1,200 consumers who frequently train at local sports businesses. Insights for sports businesses charting a path towards reopening.