This press release was originally featured on Health Club Management.

The biggest challenge facing UK operators is getting members back after lockdown.

While some predict a reopening surge, others are more cautious, questioning whether new at-home habits will keep people away.  Operators will be working with tighter budgets and so marketing spend – often the first to be cut – is likely to be hit especially hard.

With this in mind, have you considered all the available options? Now more than ever is the time to give something new a try.

Partnership working

Tom Canning, GM at Charing Cross Sports Club, says: “We’re a small independent club surrounded by heavy hitters with big budgets. While we compete on price and facilities, we couldn’t get near them in terms of marketing exposure without our partnership with Hussle.

“Hussle offers us a free digital marketing channel with powerful UK-wide reach, opening up new member options at no extra cost.

“We’ve worked with Hussle for 10 years now. The partnership gives us invaluable exposure we can’t get anywhere else and gets us in front of customers we wouldn’t otherwise be seen by.

“I can clearly identify the value our partnership brings. In fact, since the relationship started, it’s done nothing but get better – pre COVID-19 we were getting £1,200 a month via Hussle,” he explains.

Hussle targets customers that don’t engage with traditional gym memberships and so offers up members operators would never normally attract – either direct, through partnerships with the likes of Vodafone, or via employers offering fitness-as-a-benefit to staff, such as Facebook and the NHS. It’s ideal for occasional gym goers, ‘try-before-they-buy’ customers and those wanting multi-venue workouts.

New for 2021 

The new Membership Conversion Service (MCS) turns Hussle customers who regularly use one facility into direct club members, to boost member sales.

“For me the joy of Hussle is that consumers can use clubs wherever they find themselves. But it’s reassuring to know if someone uses us frequently, Hussle will promote joining us direct,” says Canning.

“I believe this element of our partnership will come into its own after lockdown. The pandemic has changed the way we live and work. People won’t be in offices five days a week, they’ll divide their time between work and home. Hussle is a wonderful platform for that; it would be a benefit for any independent club.”