Inside the YMCA’s Successful Recovery Rollout

Any operator who thinks recovery is just for elite establishments should check their assumptions at the (red light sauna) door.

With consumers increasingly knowledgeable, or at least curious, about recovery and wellness, even mainstream operators are seizing the opportunity. The webinar “The Evolution of Wellness for YMCA’s: From Amenity to Strategic Growth Driver” illustrated how such items can be a catalyst for excitement, retention, acquisition, upsell and, yes, profit.

“We had people that were coming into our Y to say that they were going to terminate their membership. But once they saw the recovery sign and they heard that we were having it, they actually stayed,” said Lindsay Lewis, SVP of programs, evaluation and membership at the YMCA of Greater Houston, who rolled out recovery to remain in line with nearby competitors.

Here, Lewis, along with Brian Vest, VP of operations at the YMCA of Greenville, South Carolina, detail their respective experiences introducing recovery programs and their differing strategies for generating ROI through membership structures.

The Rollout

The YMCA of Greater Houston launched across three locations in April with four WellnessSpace Brands’ units: HydroMassage, CryoLounge+, RedZone Sauna and PolarWave Dry Plunge. Lewis focused on value-add strategies, as they had already increased membership rates 30% over the past two years. She offered an annual contract option where recovery is included for free to drive retention, while monthly members can add it for $20 per family.

They are measuring success by the high demand for more space and over 1,200 unit add-ons. “We’ve already seen an increase in membership length of stay by approximately two months,” she said.

The YMCA of Greenville introduced wellness and recovery across five branches, starting in January and staggering rollouts through June. The program, titled R&R (Rest & Restore), featured RedZone, PolarWave, two HydroMassage beds, two CryoLounge+ chairs, and Normatec compression boots. The program received 1,000 enrollees within months.

This YMCA, however, opted for a tiered structure. The basic R&R program ($15 per month) covers massage and cryo features, while the premium R&R Performance tier ($25 per month) adds access to the sauna and cold dry plunge. Vest reached break-even within nine to 10 months via equipment leasing.

The Expectation

Wellness and recovery equipment might be the new shiny things in wellness, but neither Vest nor Lewis were sure how they would be received by their members. They added them because of what they were seeing in the market and their competitors, but once committed, they immediately set out to generate buzz.

“There was a lot of excitement about the recovery space because consumers could see it coming, plus our staff did a great job telling the story and building excitement,” said Vest, who said he had “realistic expectations” but was impressed by the immediate response.

“Demos right out of the gate went through the roof, and people didn’t blink at the price. It really felt like we were adding an amenity that even if people didn’t know they needed it, they were looking for it and got excited.”

“We felt these folks can go across the street and pay really high dollar for the same amenities, or we can put them in-house and help them see value in the bundle and gain more connection points to the mission of the organization,” he added. 

“Pun intended, it’s been a ‘recovery tactic.’”

Back in Houston, Lewis’ YMCAs built excitement with staff wearing ‘Ask Me What’s Coming’ buttons and even a ribbon-cutting ceremony once things went live. “We wanted to build that energy within the Y first, and we started a member email drip campaign a month before,” she said.

They soft launched on Healthy Kids’ Day to capitalize on the “traffic that was already coming through. Not only did we get new joins that day, we got add-ons for our recovery room, even though it wasn’t even 100% open yet,” she said.

The Training

Having staff that understands, appreciates and knows how to talk up the equipment was essential, and the Y’s used training videos, QR codes and playbooks to keep team members up to speed—from talking points to recovery room guidelines. Training was even gamified to keep staff engaged, with fun quizzes to help them remember and retain what they learned.

“Your strategy is only good as the people who are sharing it; your staff who are giving that experience,” said Lewis. “So make sure they feel like they’re a part of the journey and can really spread that value to the members to get them to stay even longer.”

The Visibility

Whether you price the program as an add-on or a built-in value-add, giving the equipment high visibility is essential. And there’s no such thing as not enough space.

“The number one hurdle that comes up [when selling recovery equipment] is space — people think they have nowhere to put recovery,” said moderator Sarah Pelligrino, southeast regional sales manager of WellnessSpace Brands. “It can sometimes be true, but we’re pretty good at identifying dead space. Plus, couches aren’t making you any money.”

Lewis found smaller rooms and alcoves, which they dressed up with signage to make sure members saw them and the staff could talk about them. She added large TV wall screens and purchased a subscription to the Calm app with music and visuals.

Vest renovated the entire front lobby, ripping out the front desk and adjusting walls, adding LED strip color lighting around the ceiling that dovetailed with the “cool vibey lights” that the machines.

The Implementation

Both Vest and Lewis tried a variety of equipment for the pilot, finding the HydroMassage got the most use for “relaxation and restoration.”

The RedZone Sauna has been another driver, even offering an unexpected opportunity to sell branded Y-logo glasses for the sauna.

“Although we learned the hard way that we had to create a sign that clothing is required,” laughed Lewis.

Vest was pleasantly surprised how much the Hyperice massage guns and vibrating foam rollers were used. “They give people a reason to go to the recovery room and stay there a while.”

Staff got barcodes to scan during the soft-launch phase so they were comfortable with the system, and once live, clients could scan their own barcodes on individual pieces of equipment to help the Y track usage.

“Our first couple weeks there were 100 sessions a day, and that was just on the room of 600 to 800 square footage,” said Lewis.

Vest’s Y’s operated on a tiered model, so they had to set up permissions based on what people purchased.

“If you have R&R Performance, you have access to all the machines. If you just have R&R, then the RedZone is not going to turn on for you when you scan your barcode. The customizability allows us to decide how we want to program it,” he said, adding that they also set it up so that people can only use each machine one time per day, which has been helpful for crowd management.

The Learnings

Looking back, Vest said he would have launched Recovery in all five of his branches at once to make a splash, but in hindsight, the soft launch was beneficial as he “learned as he went.”

Lewis found that since people were so willing to move from facility membership to an annual contract at no charge, she felt she could’ve added a small upcharge, which she still might do going forward.

Another learning: “Start with your strategic purpose,” she said.

“So if it’s value-add, price towards that. If it’s revenue generation, price towards that. It matters so much when you’re building out your membership model.”