 The Fort Collins Club: A Place of Fitness, Fun and Community The Fort Collins Club is a health and fitness club that puts a strong emphasis on community. With a warm and supportive atmosphere, it's the place local residents come to work out, play and socialize. And a wide variety of activities and classes including boxing, racquetball, swimming, yoga, fitness classes, a kids club and even a bar, means the Fort Collins Club truly has something for everyone. Open 20 years in November, the club is now owned and operated by Todd Heenan and his partners. Since buying the club three years ago, they've invested nearly $750,000 in renovations, including installing new equipment and completely renovating the locker rooms. The improvements have not only enabled Todd to generate more revenue, but they've added to the level of service and community which are now hallmarks of the club. An important part of that service is communicating with the club's members. For Todd, eNewsletters are his tools of choice, and members respond well. "We get decent feedback from our members," says Todd. But content is key. "We know it's important to put in schedules, changes in schedules, upcoming events, staff profiles and fun facts. But we also put in member profiles — people who have had success working out at the club, losing weight or changing their health situation. We get a lot of feedback on member of the month. It shows the club is involved and it makes it fun to read." Todd should know because he's had previous experience with newsletters. "We'd done newsletters in the past by mail and it was costing us a lot more than what we're spending now. We sent them out quarterly, but we still got a lot of phone calls about class schedules so you knew they weren't being read." So Todd turned to Proven Systems for help. "They showed me how the system works and what they could provide — and for the price it looked like a great value." The club has been sending out eNewsletters for a year now and Todd feels they're working for him. "Now," says Todd, "people who want to get the newsletter will give us their address and those who don't, won't. And we're able to provide a lot more information compared to the mail version." So why does a health club need a newsletter in the first place? "We look for member retention," says Todd. "We don't sign people up for long term contracts; we sign them up on 30 day agreements. Because they can choose to quit whenever they like, it puts the onus on us to keep our club clean, continue to provide great programming, and provide a good service — like an email newsletter. It not only keeps them informed but it keeps the club forefront in their mind and reminds them that the club is there. So they continue to use the club and get value for their dollar." When asked if he had any advice for other marketers, Todd didn't hesitate. "I think if you're able to collect a database of email addresses, can provide a strong newsletter with good content about your industry and/or business, and interest your customers or potential customers in what you do, then there's tremendous value compared to expense. You can almost look at it as advertising. For what you get from email newsletters — I think they're a great value." Well, Todd, we'd have to agree! Thank you for sharing your time with us and we wish you continued success with the Fort Collins Club! |
