Canada’s largest health club chain, GoodLife Fitness, has partnered with all-in-one team management app CoverMe Fitness to manage its 1,750 instructors, who are delivering more than 6,200 group fitness experiences every single week across its 198 locations.

The CoverMe platform addresses some of the biggest challenges facing fitness operators, streamlining instructor recruitment and subs, team management, compliance and communication. By automating time-consuming tasks, CoverMe helps operators reclaim up to 15 hours every week, saving thousands of dollars each year.

According to Nad Myan, GoodLife’s VP of Innovation and Corporate Growth, before onboarding CoverMe, managing the team and coordinating class cover through chat groups and phone calls proved a daily headache. He explains: “It was a very manual, laborious and time consuming part of the club management’s day-to-day work, taking up to 20% of club operation’s time. We needed a time efficient, fit-for-purpose solution to manage subs and decrease the volume of classes that were being cancelled or substituted by an ‘on-demand’ video. In addition to maximising our team’s time, we wanted to improve the in-person member experience in our clubs by ensuring we provide the right cover instructors to deliver expectations.”

With a robust set of criteria and expectations, GoodLife requested proposals from a number of solution providers in this specific space before partnering with CoverMe. Myan continues: “What really stood out about CoverMe was the extent of the functional considerations that are designed to truly enhance the experience and delivery of group exercise classes, as these are such an essential component of our clubs’ offering. Together with the professionalism, accuracy and likability of the entire team, it was not a particularly difficult decision to make.” 

The CoverMe app came at an important juncture for GoodLife, as Myan explains: “We are in the midst of evolving our tech infrastructure, and all decisions or directions that are taken now are considered in the context of a broader ecosystem and longer term plan. CoverMe fits perfectly into that ecosystem. Our expectations have been exceeded. We often find that, given the size and complexities of our business, things take a little longer to land than any of us would like. But with CoverMe, every milestone was achieved on time and the initial plan has been executed perfectly.”

GoodLife is still piloting the CoverMe platform, but is already feeling the benefits of the efficiencies its offers. Myan says: “Alongside switching to on-demand classes where available, we were having to cancel around 30 classes every week. We’re still in the pilot phase, so the improvement has yet to be fully measured, but CoverMe is already improving our class subs and reducing cancellations.”