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Cooper’s Teamwork program entered the untapped market for
corporate (and other group) experiential teambuilding.

Here’s a new twist on corporate fitness programs. How about a program that combines fitness activities with team building exercises and results in increased revenues? Sound too good to be true? It’s not. Just ask Dallas-based Cooper Fitness Center. Last year Cooper began Teamwork, a program designed as a get-away retreat for businesses. The program incorporates a series of outdoor and indoor activities to help group members focus on cooperation, willingness to accept help, appreciation of individual differences and support for team members.

The fitness center designed the program after receiving requests and inquiries from members, says Lora Hinchcliff, who now serves as Teamwork’s program director. “We tested it with our own staff and realized this would be a real profit center,” Hinchcliff says.

Teamwork is a “low ROPES” program, meaning Reality Oriented Physical Exercises that take place no higher than 14 feet off the ground. Exercises may include using team abilities to build a bridge over water or scale a 14-foot wall. The program begins by a Teamwork staff member interviewing a business’ staff to determine what issues need to be developed within the organization. The program is then designed around the specific needs of the group. It can include a one-hour workshop or build up to a two-day retreat. A half-day program is most popular, says Hinchcliff, who learned how to design the programs after extensive research.

The program paid off, resulting in $52,555 in revenues, up 24 percent from what was expected. Cooper Fitness Center had planned to host 18 groups, but instead drew 36 groups. What’s more, Cooper has seen benefits in other profit centers such as food and beverage services, which were used by 48 percent of program participants. An estimated 35 percent of participants rented the center’s conference facilities. Many program attendees also have inquired about personal and corporate memberships, as a majority of participants are located in the Dallas area.

Situated on a 33-acre campus that includes guest lodging, Cooper Fitness Center is a prime candidate for a program such as Teamwork. But Hinchcliff says the property isn’t a requirement for a ROPES program. “We’re unique in the sense of our property. But [fitness facilities can] also use conference rooms, lounge areas [and] cafeterias,” she says. “We use our racquetball courts.”

Cooper Fitness Center is filling a niche that exists among the corporate market. “We’re becoming more and more of a sedentary society,” Hinchcliff says. People are beginning to see the importance of incorporating physical and mental challenges to improve themselves. “I believe (the fitness industry) is going to be looked at as more than just a fitness center. With the health care movement, there is a focus on taking care of the whole person: brain muscles as well as the body,” says Hinchcliff, who is currently developing her budget for next year’s Teamwork program. “We have to look at whether the market is still there. We believe it is based on the feedback we’ve received.” That feedback is a 98 percent satisfaction rate.