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Cryotherapy: Frozen
Cryotherapy is hot right now, with more people attracted to its cited benefits, from reduced recovery time to improved sleep quality. Operators offering this chilly experience give us their advice
Where? London
Supplier Zimmer
How long have you been offering cryotherapy?
Two years.
How do you encourage members to try it?
We offer one-off cryo sessions and courses but we also plan cryotherapy into the fitness programmes we create for clients. This can include pre-cooling, post-cooling or, in some cases, both.
Most of our bookings come from us consulting our clients on their aims and history and devising a fitness regime that includes cryo. In this way they know cryo is a serious therapy that can help them achieve their goals better. When it works and they see the results, they really appreciate how important cryotherapy and recovery and preparation are.
How has it been received by members?
Extremely well – we have a 100 per cent return rate.
We’ve seen popularity and demand for cryotherapy grow since we first installed the unit.
We have had multiple success stories from clients who have experienced the benefits of cryotherapy during their fitness journey. Pain and delayed onset muscle soreness is reduced, flexibility increased and stamina and recovery significantly improved. It’s a clever therapy that adapts to clients’ needs, and we find if we consult clients on what they want to achieve and plot cryotherapy at the right points, the results are impressive.
What advice would you give to operators considering offering cryotherapy?
We consult and educate our members throughout their journey. In that way we manage their use of cryotherapy and we’ve seen our uptake of cryo rising as a result.
If we were just to offer cryo as an isolated, standalone therapy, we would get some uptake, but the traction is far greater when it’s integrated into a fully expanded and considered wellness plan.
I also think it’s important that all staff are as positive and energised about cryo as possible and for this reason we’ve made the therapy available to all our staff members. We make sure they’re educated in its benefits and use, so they understand it thoroughly and can talk to clients about it.
Where? London
Supplier Mecotec
How long have you been offering cryotherapy?
Just two months.
How do you encourage your members to try cryotherapy?
We get a lot of walk-ins who are unfamiliar with the benefits of cold therapy. We introduce them to the treatment and explain the range of benefits and what they should expect. We also assess what they need, to find the best plan for them.
How has it been received by members?
Excellently. We are located in an area where people work long, exhausting hours and don’t always have the time for self care. Our clients can be in and out of a cryotherapy session within 15 minutes and then attend their meetings feeling re-energised and clear minded.
What advice would you give to operators considering offering cryotherapy?
Ensure your staff are well educated on cryotherapy and its benefits and that they know enough to be able to cater for every type of customer’s needs.
Where? Dubai
Supplier °CRYO Science
How long have you been offering cryotherapy?
We’ve been offering °CRYO Science equipment for two years.
How has it been received by members?
Our clients love the °CRYO Arctic machine and it is our top selling treatment. Ever since we got the machine we have seen an increased retention rate. Clients are very happy with the results as it provides a private and cosy experience, which looks and feels premium while delivering excellent results.
How do you encourage members to try cryotherapy?
Setting up a business in any country comes with its challenges. But we have experienced several advantages because treatments like cryotherapy were completely brand new to the region in 2013. The idea of freezing people in the desert was just a cool concept straight off the bat. However, this also meant heavily investing in awareness campaigns through marketing and PR for the first two years. Even today, we are consistently working on educating the masses about the various benefits and usability of cryotherapy in the modern healthcare industry.
What advice would you give to operators considering offering cryotherapy?
We would advise they invest in educating their clients about what cryotherapy is – explain the various benefits and focus on how it can impact their lives. Also have influencers who can vouch for the treatment and speak to clients on a human level.
From a service provider perspective, it’s important to invest in the safest and latest cryogenic equipment. Don’t penny pinch with equipment because you will ultimately lose your clients due to a bad experience, faulty machine or worse.
Where? Dorset, UK
Supplier CryoAction
How long have you been offering cryotherapy?
18 months
How has it been received by members?
Very enthusiastically – all customers and members absolutely love it. Feedback has been extremely positive from customers, as we see in the reviews posted to our Facebook page.
What advice would you give to operators considering offering cryotherapy?
First, determine if you are aiming to target the spa market or the professional/clinical market and then choose your chamber accordingly. Speak to other operators to check whether or not manufacturers’ claims as to operating temperatures are true rather than ‘optimistic’ and find out whether proper maintenance and servicing are available at short notice if anything goes wrong.
OPERATIONS
Start with a split timetable of available slots and grow it to include walk-in customers. Time the slots around other behaviours and demographics, for example, before work and around noon, office workers will be searching for brain fog relief and after a high intensity exercise class, people will want to optimise their recovery.
Choose your demographics, choose their benefit driver and create your timetable and messaging around it.
CHOOSING YOUR UNIT
Experts say anything above -100 degrees Celsius does not give a cryogenic effect, so ensure your chamber can offer sessions below this level. Equally as important is the way air circulates inside the chamber. Ensure the one you choose doesn’t let the air concentrate in the space from the waist down.
You’ll also need to consider whether the cryotherapy chamber can be programmed to automatically turn on in the morning, whether it needs any drying time or down time each day and how long it will take to reach the optimal temperature – all of these factors will impact your operations.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Not all chambers get approval for insurance coverage; so ask that question early on in the process. Also make sure your service cover supports you not only for remote support and login for quick fixes, but also for on-site support with a good response time.
DOWN TO BUSINESS
It’s best practice for clubs to work with their cryo partners to design ROI guidelines and a longer-term business plan. Successful business models would expect to return their investment in around 12 months.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
When it comes to cryotherapy, the list of claimed benefits can be split into physical performance and mental performance. The most-cited are reduction of recovery time and pain management.
However, cryotherapy is not magic! Doing it once is unlikely to yield results, therefore, make sure your first-timer sessions are a great experience, but are also educational, taking your business beyond just an Instagram post.
