How CrossFit One Shot Continues to Train Members Despite Social Distancing

Small business owners have seen their companies change overnight due to the coronavirus. In our #OpenForBusiness series, we're highlighting Northwestern Mutual clients who have been forced to get creative in order to adapt to these unprecedented times and keep their businesses running. We hope you'll get inspiration from their stories and help support them whenever possible.

Business: CrossFit One Shot

Owners: Courtney and Chase Ford

Location: Green Bay, Wisconsin

Website: cfoneshot.com

CrossFit One Shot is an in-person business. Our mission is to use fitness as a gateway to connect and change people’s lives. While social distancing has changed a lot about how we’re running our business, we’re working hard to make sure that our core — our product, service and relationships — do not change.

While we have lost a few members due to people losing their jobs or going through changes in their lives based on what’s happening, we're lucky that most of our members have stayed with us and are continuing to train, albeit in a slightly different way.

Here are three ways we have pivoted CrossFit One Shot to keep our business running.

WE MOVED TO ONLINE CLASSES

We’re using Zoom and still holding four classes daily. We’ve had really good attendance; about 75 percent of our members are attending the classes virtually. They initially just needed a backpack filled with some supplies for weight. For members that can’t make the online classes, we’re also producing videos that we share on our private Facebook page for members. The virtual classes actually opened up our product more broadly — a woman who is living in Texas joined!

Chase and I are still going to the gym and leading the virtual classes from there. He goes in the morning and runs our two a.m. classes. I go in the evening and run the two classes later in the day.

WE LET MEMBERS TAKE EQUIPMENT HOME

Typically, our members come to the gym to use our equipment. Now, after members complete 10 Zoom classes, we’re letting them check out equipment like medicine balls, dumbbells, and kettlebells so they can use it to train remotely.

WE'RE BEING EVEN MORE DELIBERATE ABOUT OUR CLIENT FOCUS

Relationships are a key part of our business. When we’re able to see people in person, a lot of that happens naturally. That's obviously not happening right now. So we’re being more proactive and reaching out to our members to check in on them and make sure we keep up those relationships.

While we’ve had to change how we run our business, the good news, in our case, is that we have been able to keep the business running. Right now, we’re really focusing on our current members but we’re always open to new people who want to sign up.

Courtney and Chase Ford are clients of Northwestern Mutual; they work with Financial Advisor Kyle Vanderloop.

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