A well-designed website can make or break your fitness club’s growth. That’s a lesson that Coaches’ Corner Fitness, a longstanding community pillar since the 1980s, took to heart. They found themselves grappling with an antiquated website that wasn’t serving their members or growing their revenue.

Lou Castleberry, Co-Owner of Coaches’ Corner Fitness, shares how updating their website with Club Automation enhanced their day-to-day operations and improved their member experience. Embracing a new website ultimately earned them 50 new members and more club revenue in just two months.

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The Challenge: A Website Clinging to the Past

Coaches’ Corner Fitness has been in business for over 40 years, and it’s become a cornerstone of the community. “The club was opened by my business partner’s father and my father,” shares co-owner Lou Castleberry. “Many of our members have been members for over 30 years, so we are like a big family.”

Providing the best experience possible for those loyal members has been top of mind for Coaches’ Corner Fitness over the last five years. They refurbished the front of the facility, backroom, and main workout area, but their online presence was struggling to keep up.  

“We spent half a million dollars refurbishing this place and we saw a website that looks like it was made in 1987...We’ve always run it like it was 1983 when we opened” says Castleberry. “But it’s not 1983 anymore. We have to be able to have people see these things without having to come in, because that’s how people do stuff now.”  

While their approach was steeped in tradition, it left them ill-equipped to navigate the modern fitness landscape and meet the evolving needs of their members. While Coaches’ Corner Fitness has primarily served an older demographic in the past, they’ve experienced an influx of younger members over the last three years. However, their stale online presence was missing key fitness club website essentials, making it difficult for younger members to engage with the facility online.  

Their website had far-reaching effects on other aspects of their operation as well, hindering how efficient their staff and fitness club management software were. “Last year when we switched to Club Automation, I realized we were not using many of the features available to us due to the fact that our website was not capable of doing the things that I wanted it to do,” says Castleberry. “It was so clunky to me...Every time I would bring [a new idea] up, it was like I would just run into a wall. I knew it had to be better.”

The Solution: A Modern, Integrated Website

Coaches’ Corner Fitness asked Club Automation to help them find the solution. “To me, the choice was easy. I like the fact that all of our platforms are under one roof so to speak,” says Castleberry. “The switchover to the club software was very streamlined. I was confident that the website remodel would be the same.”

After meeting with the team and their account manager Brittany, the path was clear: Club Automation was the right partner to create their integrated fitness club website. “After my first meeting with Brittany I knew that we had made the right decision,” says Castleberry. “Throughout the process, Brittany kept me on task and explained everything that I needed to do. I feel that she was able to see my vision and made it happen with very little effort on my part.”

The Impact: 50 New Members in Two Months

The result was a gamechanger for Coaches’ Corner Fitness. “The look is phenomenal, and the functionality is way more than I expected,” says Castleberry. “It just all of a sudden elevated our game from a little mom-and-pop that’s been around for 40 years to a modern health club that does all these things that everybody else has done. And now we can do those.”

Coaches’ Corner Fitness gained over 50 new members within two months. New website features like the real-time schedule elevated created a more positive member experience for them as well. “We would print out the schedule and then it would always be wrong,” says Castleberry. “Yesterday, I made a change for a class on Friday. By the time I refreshed the other computer, [the schedule] was updated.” Members now have a quicker, easier time signing up for the classes that fit their schedule.  

Their new fitness club website has improved their staff experience and efficiency as well. “I knew it was going to be good, but it’s made things so much easier...I don’t have to try to reinvent the wheel every time,” says Castleberry. Adding instructors, updating member information, and changing the schedule is quicker than ever. “I only have to make changes in one spot now. There are all kinds of things that have freed up my time because of the website.”

By embracing change and leveraging the right tools, the Coaches’ Corner Fitness team created a digital presence that’s engaged more members and improved their operational efficiency. Their journey underscores just how transformative a modern website can be for all fitness clubs, from mom-and-pop facilities to franchises.

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