Keeping Your Members Engaged After The Open

Now that the CrossFit® Open is over, we wanted to take this opportunity to share some of the ways that will keep your members engaged past the competition.

The Open is such a strong community event that some Affiliates struggle to keep excitement from coming to a halt. As Greg Glassman has famously said "People can quit a gym, but they won't quit relationships". CrossFit is not a transactional business it is a relationship business and the following 13 things are practices we do to keep our members engaged.

1. Equal attention for all. All of your athletes are important and everybody requires coaching. Make it a point to hit everyone in your class and use their first name. Give each athlete something specific to work on and be sure to check back with them.

2. Change isn't bad. Fitness is always changing. Stick to your core mission, however listen to your members, they are your business. 

3. Understand what your Member wants. Take time to talk to your members, find out why they CrossFit and what they are looking to accomplish. This goes for old and new members alike. When they can tell you why they come to your Box, helping them achieve their goals becomes much easier.

4. Community, community, community. It's not all just about CrossFit. Set up a regular schedule of community events where people can engage with each other over more than just the CrossFit® class. For example, you can host a BBQ at your box or maybe even a movie night. Any sort of event that draws your members not only closer to you as their coach but also to each other.

5. Partner workouts! Transform your CrossFit box with partner workouts! They're not just workouts; they're a community-building powerhouse. Keep your members engaged, connected, and excited about fitness together – the secret ingredient to a thriving CrossFit community!

6. Get Personal. Engage with your members on a personal level. What are their hobbies, who are their favorite teams, what is their favorite workout or lift? Stay mobile and touch base with everyone. 

7. Birthday shoutouts! Have fun with it, name your workouts in honor of the birthday that day. At the beginning of class, tell your athletes to wish NAME a happy birthday and list your birthday's for the month on your monthly newsletter.

8. Explain your programming. Have your coaches explain why we continue to work certain movements, what we are trying to accomplish and what results we are striving for. For Example, some boxes have started a 12-week strength cycle. At the beginning of every class, the coaches explain what they are doing, why they are doing it and what they are trying to accomplish. The coaches continue to speak openly about it welcoming questions and targeting results.

9. Fist bumps after every class. Fist bumps are a fantastic and simple way to engage with your members! After every workout, try turning the music down and encourage every member to walk around and give everyone a fist bump. No matter how exhausted people are every time the community ends with a fist bump.

10. Spotlight a member(s) of the month. Every month feature in your newsletter a member or members of the month. Interview the member and take pictures, really showcase them. Why do they love CrossFit®, what is their favorite movement, what have they achieved while being a member.

11. In-House competitions. Hosting different challenges throughout the year can help motivate members to get more involved with the box. By charging a small fee to enter the challenge, your athletes automatically become more committed to the goal. Then between member donations and the fee itself you can create a diverse pool of prizes to reward a range of categories. For example, you can host a nutrition challenge where you have to drink a certain amount of water a day and you loose points for every beer you drink. It's these small light hearted competitions that drive the community forward. 

12. Goal Board. Encourage members to document their goals and their progress. This goes back to number 2 above. Understanding where your member is starting and what they want to achieve helps you understand how you can assist them in reaching their goals! this because you get to see exactly what people are looking for. For example, you could have a focus on pull-up progression ultimately aiming for some people to achieve their first bar muscle up. 

13. Survey your members. Feedback can be scary but reference a great saying "If your not evolving, your dying" - Marcus Lemonis. Within our communities a traditional survey wouldn't fly, but approaching feedback one question at a time and casually can provide the feedback you need.