These days physical fitness in one's life cycle usually begins with their parents enrolling them in local swim lessons. In no time at all he or she will be climbing ropes, tumbling on mats, and playing dodge ball in elementary school, at this point organized sports of some type are usually are not far behind. Before you know it you're in the working world diligently trying to stay financially ahead of the game, while actively pursuing a diet and fitness regiment to keep in good shape, well OK most of us are at least thinking about staying in good shape. As time passes and you enter the golden years, hopefully your spending more time on travel, leisure and moderate exercise to keep fit and active. This little tale is not exactly spell binding news to any of us, but the common theme throughout is that fitness plays a role in our lives from virtually birth to death. If one is to be a service provider in this evolving niche market, service versus cost is a huge factor, good marketing and a friendly environment are not bad commodities either.
One of the premises we are trying to convey in this article are the relationships that could or do exist between various fitness service providers. We talked with John Frittenburg of the JF Group, located in Mississauga, Ontario, about some of the fundamental principals that are common to most service providers and consumers.
The JF Group conducted a study on the target markets of the fitness industry and how consumers interrelate with the service provider. John explains, "the service expectations of the fitness consumer is identical, whether they be involved with a not for profit club, (YMCA, JCC, etc.) a public sector facility, (Parks & Rec./Colleges etc.) or a private sector fitness club. Unfortunately, people believe these factors will be the same, regardless of the sector in which the facility is operated. The major differences are in the individuals needs with respect to the services they want compared to what they can afford. For example, some may want to exercise in an environment where there are kids, some may not, some may want one on one training, some may not, some may want a facility with a strong visually attraction and profile, some may not and so on".
Everyone of the above mentioned operations basically offers the same type of training. They all offer aerobics, weight training, cardiovascular workouts, and to some degree personalized programs if it isn't personalized training. On the issue of getting people involved with your facility John had this input, "Fitness is just like any other service based business, for the customer to understand what their getting from a fitness facility they have to experience it. One of the major deciding factors that people use these days is price, and therefore people will gravitate to the least expensive facility that offers them an acceptable level of service based on their expectations. They must physically be in the building and experience everything the service has to offer, the workout, the socializing etc. The most successful sales approach is to get someone into your facility, even if it means giving them a free trial offer. Once the individual experiences the service, up to 50% of the time they will sign up for some type of participation."
Of all of the fitness providers in the game the two hardest players to find a link for is probably private sector fitness clubs and municipally based parks & recreation fitness operations. Peter Quevillon is the Co-ordinator of Sport & Fitness with the City of Vancouver, on the subject of public and private relationships Peter said, "other than B.C.'s regional group, the Alliance for Health and Fitness, (which is comprised of members from many different backgrounds, including the fitness field, public and private) their really isn't much in the way of links between us. The only connections are usually based on personal relationships, for example, I know a few people in the private sector that I'll exchange information with about good instructors, or were paying instructors so much and that sort of thing, but nothing really formal."
Most private sector clubs conduct public outreach programs as a means of prospecting for new business. If the private club was to offer the services of one it's instructors say once or twice a week on a no cost bases to the P & R department, an equitable relationship may develop. The city would get an experienced instructor and the private club would gain access to a group of fitness consumers that may be looking for a different style of program than the city has to offer. The city by its mandate is catering to the entire community's fitness needs regardless, to a certain degree, of how much they can afford to spend. The private club on the other hand is usually looking for a specific niche, for these reasons the two are not usually competition to one another. Peter Quevillon had a few thoughts along this line, "In some cases an individual coming into one of our facilities may find that their just isn't enough of the high tech top of the line equipment, and may actually be better served going to a private club, but conversely someone may go to a private club and for whatever reason, doesn't feel comfortable there, can't afford it etc. and would be better served in one of our facilities. Ultimately I believe that exposure in the community whether it be advertising or otherwise, works out to be good for us all as it creates a higher awareness of fitness."
Some of the more common relationships that exist can be found between amateur sports, parks & recreation and the education system. For years amateur sports groups have utilized the properties of both P & R departments and school system to host their league activities and tournaments. More times than not these activities are bordering on a break even scenario from a dollars and cents perspective, but provide essential community service and in the process are producing some of Canada's high caliber athletes of tomorrow.
A specific example of a more aggressive amateur sport/recreation relationship can be found in Windsor, Ontario. The Windsor Tennis Club, an amateur non profit sport group, has been in existence since approximately 1935. The club had ran a 5 month outdoor program and in more resent times added an indoor program at the Windsor Health & Racquet Club. (A private facility) In September of 1994 the Windsor Health & Racquet Club decided to drop the indoor courts and put in a full scale roller rink. This change of direction left the Windsor Tennis club with no off season practice facility. Gord Wickham is the President of the Windsor Tennis Club and he filled us in on the details. "We approached the City of Windsor with a proposal to put a roof on the outdoor tennis courts adjacent to the Windsor Health & Racquet Club. We had been using the outdoor courts for our summer program for a number of years, and because the courts were on city property, we sat down together and worked out a deal to erect a building around the 4 outdoor courts. Essentially we are going to be leasing the land from the City and paying for the building. The City is going to guarantee the loan to make it all happen. The club will run all programming and administration. This is a great opportunity for tennis in Windsor and we are looking forward to its opening this year."
Over the last few years traditional fitness service providers have looked for other potential partners, one of the groups becoming a hot prospect today is working with medical facilities. The relationship between a club and its corporate market is based on this concept somewhat, in that companies that pay part or all of the employees membership encourages the employee to stay fit, thus lowering sick days and increasing performance on the job. The relationship with the medical health profession however is built on a slightly different strategy. If a club was to partner with, for example, a private local medical centre or a centre that specialized in physiotherapy the returns could be huge. The club could essentially operate inside the confines of a medical centre. The benefits, other than that of your regular club activities, is that patients could be referred to the fitness facility for rehabilitative reasons. This situation would open up a new world of clientele that is coming into the club, naturally you would have to have staff with the proper training to be able to conduct this type of operation, but having the facility inside a medical centre offers prospects for more business relationships.
John Wildman is the President of the Fitness Institute, a prestigious medically based fitness organization that operates 3 clubs in Metro Toronto. The company was acquired by the H.J. Heinz Company of Pittsburgh USA in 1988 and operates in conjunction with Weight Watchers (a Heinz subsidiary) and their sister club organization, Cardio Fitness in New York and Chicago.
The Institute was founded in 1963 under the guidance of the famous Canadian coach, Lloyd Percival, and the financial stewardship of Toronto businessman, Jim Gairdner. They started with one facility slightly north of Toronto, which eventually was moved in 1969 to a 50,000 square foot facility in Willowdale. In 1993 this club relocated to the modern Atria building complex also in Willowdale.
In 1974 they opened another facility in Mississauga, and then in 1985 they opened their third club on top of the Aetna Tower of the famous "T-D Centre" in downtown Toronto. John had these comments on the companies crown jewel property "Our T-D club is the first truly professional fitness club, in a first class recreational environment, to be located in the penthouse of a major office tower anywhere in the world of corporate fitness. We fully expect the evolution to continue long into the future, as we upgrade our facilities, add the best of new equipment, further sophisticate our fitness, lifestyle and medical procedures, and add new personal services."
Currently, along with a complete line of the latest fitness equipment and a staff of top notch fitness trainers, the club's medical side focuses on; Cardiac Rehabilitation (for those unlucky enough to have experienced a heart attack, but smart enough to stave off more of them) Sports Medicine (amateur, professional, and recreational athletes) Nutritional Counseling (most people, and most athletes won't admit they don't know what they're eating) Orthopedic Consulting (overuse syndrome, bone, and soft tissue problems) Physiotherapy (the bulk of approximately 60,000 visits per year) Stress Management (for those who have found out the hard way that the mind and the body are, indeed one) and finally Executive Preventative Medical Assessments (to help Executives get ahead, and stay ahead)
As a natural offshoot of their medical and testing services, and with the cooperation of the Federal and Provincial governments, as well as the Canadian Olympic Association, in 1984 they opened Canada's first ever "Olympic High Performance Testing and Sports Medicine Centre. The mixture of professional medical staff and fitness training staff working in concert with each other offers the fitness consumer, athletes, executives and individuals requiring rehabilitative medical care a unique experience in the fitness and lifestyle services field.
Whether your running a private club, a non profit club, or public sector facility, your ability to influence the consumers in your market is only as strong as your ability to provide service. Keep an eye out, and your ears to the ground for opportunity, cause like the saying goes, time waits for no one.
William Bishop is an associate writer with Cornerstones Magazine.