094 Garrett Marshall, Paul Bedford, & Mike Leveque: Dealing With The Coronavirus

This week, on the Fitness + Technology podcast, host Bryan O'Rourke welcomes special guests from across the industry in wake of the coronavirus pandemic. As leading thinkers and experts in fitness and club operations, listeners will hear their foresight into the future and how you can stay prepared in this time of uncertainty. The upcoming podcasts will be a series of interviews we hope will be of value to you as this situation unfolds. If there is anything we can do for you, please reach out @bryankorourke or at bryankorourke@gmail.com.

Please know, we will get through this. We wish everyone the best.

Interview 1: Bryan is with Garrett Marshall, Leading Business Developer, Strategist, & Innovator of Xponential Fitness in Irvine, California. This chain has over 1,800 facility locations and an 8 brand network.

One Powerful Quote:
8:47: "We did make a deliberate decision to not over communicate and stick to a 48-hour schedule, so that we could be more formally prepared, and you know, not having the team speaking from a unified place."

Bullet Points (w/ timestamps) - Highlighting key topics discussed:
4:40: Bryan asks Garrett about his current situation and how he's dealing with the impact. Garrett illustrates how transparent his executive team communicates and how they prepared for probable scenarios with staff/members being exposed and closing locations. He says they have taken the simplistic approach and are trying to meet members halfway.

8:05: Bryan inquires with Garrett as to when his management knew they had to prepare a communication plan around the coronavirus. Garrett says they had an internal discussion and monitored the scope of the situation to see its severity. He says, with the constant stream of new information, he and his team decided to implement 48-hour updated talks to keep their teams unified.

11:10: Garrett mentions how this issue could be a lynchpin for some brands. He describes how they can differentiate themselves from the rest such as offering free streaming service for members.

Guest Contact Information:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrettmarshall/
https://www.facebook.com/garrett.marshall.56679

Interview 2: Bryan is with Dr. Paul Bedford, Researcher, Presenter & Fitness Industry Expert on Retention, Attrition, & Customer Experience. He has helped numerous operators worldwide retain customers & increase revenue.

One Powerful Quote:
22:18: "I actually think the small organizations are going to be the ones that get the biggest hit, but I also think they're probably the ones who customers are going to stay loyal to. And if you haven't created the loyalty already, if you're just providing a transactional situation,… then there's no loyalty there."

Bullet Points (w/ timestamps) - Highlighting key topics discussed:
15:25: Paul gives listeners some practical advice on how operators can keep their customers. You can watch the video he's created for his followers here: https://www.retentionguru.com/blog

17:19: Paul gives his summary of the three phases that will impact membership attendance and retention for health club facilities. He lists what these brands should do.

20:20: Bryan asks about Paul's personal experience in the UK. He says he is concerned but surmises the opportunity for small operators to build their value and foster a sense of community.

Guest Contact Information:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drpaulbedford/
https://twitter.com/guru_paul
https://www.retentionguru.com/
https://www.facebook.com/paul.bedford.378

Interview 3: Bryan is with Mike Leveque, Chief Operating Officer of MYZONE. MYZONE is the industry's leading wearable technology solution and is in over 6,000 facilities in 65 countries.

One Powerful Quote:
25:32: "The businesses that will win during this crisis and coming out of the crisis are the ones that do the social connectivity…It's social connection, social cohesion, social connectivity that's needed and to the extent that you can leverage technology to continue to build relationships with your clients that's really important."

Bullet Points (w/ timestamps) - Highlighting key topics discussed:
25:00: Bryan and Mike discuss how brands are approaching solutions to the situation for members. Mike says that the ingenuity of technology and social connectivity will leverage successful businesses.

26:40: Mike continues with examples of social campaigns and the impact for users in continuing their fitness journey.

28:52: Bryan agrees with Mike, and they mention how keeping gamification as a core aspect to keeping users engaged.

30:30: Mike offers his finals words of wisdom and reminds listeners that these hardships are temporary.

Guest Contact Information:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-leveque-29672b1/