5 Steps to Making a Health Club an Essential Community Resource [Podcast Series]
[:53] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Tom Richards
Tom Richards is the Founder and Managing Editor of the Activist in Motion and Principal of the Activist in Motion Advisory Services.
Tom is a long time part part of the health & fitness industry through roles at IHRSA and ACE
[1:13] Communicating a club’s value proposition to the community
“The health and fitness community is really good at marketing to a certain segment of the community, who are in the right frame of mind at the right time to commit to exercise. I think most clubs struggle, however, to communicate their value to the wider community. And I'm thinking of the county council, public health officials, school boards, large employers, libraries, civic organizations, certainly the media, and really all the people who could benefit from the services provided by the club, but who don't really consider themselves to be health club type people.”
[3:28] COVID-19 and “essential” businesses
“And I think what we're seeing is that the health & fitness community is chronically undervalued, misunderstood, and really isolated from the broader community. And so now, when a crisis hits, we have public health officials and policymakers who are good people, they're not trying to do harm to any particular industry, but they are also in a crisis trying to make quick decisions based on the information that they already know.”
[6:17] Moving away from “non essential” toward “essential”
“But I don't think that, broadly, what's happening inside the club—the professionalism and the credibility—is being communicated or translated outside the club. And that's put us in this position where we are now being ‘non essential,’ lumped together with bars and restaurants and casinos, when we should be lumped together with healthcare providers, allied health professionals, and people who are doing the best work in the community.”
[9:40] Understanding the needs of the community
“And my sense, my belief, is that many clubs are already set up to address those issues and to partner with those groups. They just haven't made the connections yet. And they haven't made the outreach with the approach or with the language that resonates with the broader community. And what that means for clubs is more members in the club, more guests in the club, more activities, more events, making the club more essential as part of a vibrant community.”
[11:36] The Activist in Motion vision
“So I named my website and the advisory business the Activist in Motion not really in reference to me, but in honor of all the people who I've come across and who inspire me, who make a positive difference in their community by motivating others to move more and sit less.”
[15:58] Transforming the health & fitness industry
“There are so many, like you and I are sort of kindred spirits in this work. I also know that there are hundreds of thousands of exercise professionals, physiologists, PhDs, club owners, managers who feel the same way. They're just looking for a place or an idea to put their energy behind. And I think the club industry could be transformed and elevated significantly, both in stature and in revenue, if it can become that community hub that transforms communities.”
[19:55] 5 steps to becoming an essential community resource
“The essential resource plan—the five components that we've discussed—starts with the essential resource scorecard or assessment. The purpose of that assessment is to establish what the club is currently doing that has great value to the community.”
“And then, from there, we would move into a community health needs assessment. And that's a review of what are the public health concerns or what are the health concerns in general in that location, in the club’s community. That can be a high rate of diabetes, high rate of obesity, it could be isolation, depression, a range of mental health issues, what's going on in the community that the club could address.”
“Clubs need to understand their stakeholders and what their needs are, what their initiatives are, what their goals are, what they hope to accomplish for the next 12 months. And then when you take those three components—the essential resource scorecard, a community health needs assessment, and a community stakeholder scan—you can start connecting those three pieces to the resources in the club and start making recommendations for how the club can better serve the community.”
“And then I think the fifth piece is just developing that outreach plan. So you know who your stakeholders are. You see what, how you could add value to them in the club. How are you going to reach out to them and who is going to do it in your club. How are you going to do it effectively. How are you going to do it in a way that presents the club in the best light and brings forth the credibility of the club. And you use the word trusted, which is probably the most important asset that a club can have in the communities, that it's trusted. And that trust leads ultimately to a feeling of indispensable, where the club is just an indispensable member of the community, valued and trusted.”
[26:24] Connecting health clubs to healthcare
“And what the essential resource project can do is help clubs connect more effectively, more directly, and more quickly with health care systems and other stakeholders in their community.”
