Johnson Reed Fitness Finance has recently partnered with Impact Fitness, who specialise in membership sales solutions throughout the UK health and fitness market. We spoke to Managing Director, Neil Haughin, to find out more about the business.
Neil Haughin, Managing Director of Impact FitnessTell us a bit about your background, Neil, and why you decided to set up a service like Impact Fitness?
I graduated with a degree in Sports Studies, and have built up a considerable amount of experience in the fitness industry, mostly working in advisory roles, before starting Impact Fitness in 2008.
We offer a fully-comprehensive service, taking into account the increasingly digitised nature of the gym and fitness industries. Our solutions thoroughly integrate both practical and digital solutions, and to date, we have successfully launched almost 50 separate health clubs.
What services can you provide to UK fitness operators?
We split what we provide into two main channels; Impact Sales and Impact Online. We’ll conduct mystery calls and visits, digital audits and full website audits for no cost to outline the areas in which the business is performing well, and to identify areas it could improve. The customers we go on to work with receive immediate and sustainable membership sales and marketing solutions; we can help with everything from sales generation strategies and foundation sales training, to social media management and SEO services.
What does success in a project look like to you?
Ultimately, a sustainable increase in membership and revenue, as is the aim for any fitness business. We found that around 50% of prospective customers will invest in a membership if they’re convinced effectively by a salesperson, and this presents a huge opportunity. For Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust, for example, we engaged in a 9 month sales provision contract with the aim to achieve 1500 members. At the end of the period, we have achieved over 2000.
We’re increasingly seeing fitness operators working with a Facebook page instead of a website. Why do you think this is?
Facebook is a really sophisticated marketing tool, and interestingly, we’ve found it generates around 60% of our total ROI. Not only that, but it also happens to be the most popular online platform for gym members and prospects.
Having a website is still highly important, and this is just one of the areas where Impact Fitness can assist. Your website provides a solid presence on the web that gives you the freedom to reflect your company branding, host your own blog content to link out to, and reach out to potential customers who are not Facebook-fluent.
To find out more information, visit Impact Fitness’ website.
