With lockdowns sweeping across ANZ and many states and regions within our two countries moving in and out of various stages of lockdown, we wanted to put together a helpful guide for Envibe customers. This guide will help give you a few tips of some of the key things that need to be actioned when a lockdown is announced, during a lockdown when your business is closed, and preparing to reopen again.
Preparing for a lockdown
When a lockdown is announced, there are a few things you will need to do in your Envibe leisure system.
If your business needs to close as a result of a lockdown, you will need to freeze all direct debit membership payments for your members which can be done via Envibe.
You will also need to cancel any classes and notify both instructors and attendees of the cancellations for the lockdown period. Courses will also need to be put on hold, and game payments will also need to be deferred.
Lastly, don’t forget to communicate to your members the changes that will occur in your centre due to the lockdown. Depending on your country or state, and the level of restrictions for the lockdown, you may need to communicate different things. These could be changes to hours, capacity limits, social distancing requirements, or a notice of complete closure. You can communicate these messages as an SMS via Envibe’s Trigger Messaging feature.
We’ve prepared a guide of all the technical steps you need to take in Envibe to prepare for a closure. Click here to read the full guide.
What to do during a lockdown
While it can be frustrating to be caught in a lockdown with no foreseeable end date in the near future, try to view it as an opportunity to work on your business and make improvements. There are a few things you can do to get your centre in order while you and your staff have some down time.
Perform a stocktake
If you carry a lot of merchandise and it’s been a while since you’ve done a stocktake, then now is the perfect time while your facility is closed!
Brainstorm innovative marketing ideas
Get creative! How can you bring new members through your door when you re-open? Maybe you can work with other local businesses to promote each other’s services. Or kick-start a referral campaign for members who refer their friends to a membership.
Come up with revenue drivers
If you’ve had to pause memberships, chances are your main source of revenue has ceased. So it’s time to find new opportunities even when you can’t open. This could be offering members a virtual membership at a reduced price of a regular membership. For a small fee, they could gain access to at home classes and a coach to help them get through lockdown.
Engage your audience
For your sports and courses members, think about how you can keep them engaged and eager to jump back into their sport when you re-open. You could offer weekly drills for them to complete, mobility tasks and general fitness workouts so they can be at the top of their game when sport resumes.
Revive or renovate your facility
If you have the budget, now is the perfect time to update your facility and even under-go major renovations without impacting your members and their experience.
Preparing to re-open
When you’re finally given the blessing to re-open your doors, there are going to be a few things you need to do to prepare.
This will include doing the reverse of a closing for a lockdown, like resuming direct debits for membership payments, rescheduling classes and resuming courses. We prepared an entire article on how to prepare to re-open after a lockdown so be sure to check it out!
Click here to read the full article on how to prepare to open after a lockdown.
