Healthy Alliances

In one month we will have had the Chairman of the Fitness Industry Association, Fred Turok, co-chairing the first meeting of the Responsibility Deal Physical Activity Network with the Minister of State for Health, the Leisure Property Forum’s evening seminar on ‘When Healthcare meets Health & Fitness’, and in Barcelona the Managing Director of the Fitness and Wellbeing Centres at Nuffield Health, Nick Burrows, will be addressing the IHRSA European Convention.

All of these, along with many more local initiatives, are positive examples of how two industries that once suspected each other now see the current trend of ‘coalition’ has many benefits, not least  financial savings! Examples of public, private, third sector partnerships where the primary goal is to improve the health of the immediate community are becoming common.  It’s now official, prevention is more cost effective than cure and the big budgets of the Department of Health are looking to take on a far bigger role, directly or indirectly, in dealing with physical activity. Of course for those who have been around over the last 5 years we have heard this before but this time round there’s a deficit that’s concentrating the minds and the budgets. 

By David Minton

For all the latest news from The Leisure Database Company follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. 

Attract New Swimmers and Increase Your Swimming Revenues with Splashpath 

Splashpath, the new web and mobile phone app, connects consumers with their local pools in a bid to boost demand. Targeting consumers who want to find where and when they can swim locally, Splashpath is a user friendly mobile phone app which publishes details of pools and their timetables and synchronises neatly with the pools’ own websites.

Splashpath increases demand for swimming by publishing pool timetables online, by encouraging  greater swimming frequency with fun challenges and progress tracking and by enabling links to social networking sites.

Splashpath is FREE for operators to use.  Publishing your pool timetable on Splashpath you can reach a wider audience searching for swimming venues, times and activities.  Splashpath also creates a great looking timetable for you to include on your own website and a management tool to keep the information up-to-date.

Splashpath drives customers to pools promoting their swimming timetables and links to listing websites, community groups, search engines and social networking sites.

Visit www.splashpath.com and see how easy it is to find your facility and start using Splashpath as part of your online strategy. Register your facility now at http://splashpath.com/get_involved.

Embrace Social Media

Rob Gregory, Owner, Lifetime Health Ltd writes:

"The essence of social media is dialogue. In contrast to broadcast media monologues, social media is about two way communication. This not only amplifies the voice of the consumer but also presents huge opportunities for businesses to connect with their customers."  

Social media is not just Facebook and Twitter and a bunch of other applications. It’s more fundamental than that, it reflects a siesmic shift in the way customers and companies interact. Importantly there’s no turning back.

Social media comes in many forms including blogs (& micro blogs), social networks and communities (e.g. Facebook and Linkedin) media sharing sites (e.g. you tube and flickr), social booking marking sites (e.g. Digg and Reddit), review sites (e.g. Trip Advisor), forums and virtual worlds. But it is very unlikely that these are all relevant to every business.

The decision as to which ones to adopt need to be based on a strategy and clear objectives; just as you would implement any other marketing communications. Setting up a Facebook page because you think it is a good idea and everyone else is doing it is not going to produce meaningful results.

As in most times of change early adopters of social media are reaping the benefits of deeper engagement with their customers. Sure they made mistakes but failure is part of the learning. The worst strategy is to just ignore it. However, participating in the conversation requires planning, resources and policies to be in place. Of course there are now plenty of resources available to help companies in the process and ensure social media strategies are integrated with other digital and offline marketing efforts.

The key to success lies in both companies and customer sharing their core intent and motivation. This means creating the right environment of trust. Consumers need to be encouraged to help businesses understand what they value and why. Companies need to do more than just listening, they need to fully engage and understand the detail - this is time consuming and requires investment.     But there is no turning back so I urge you to embrace social media and your customers too!!  But there's no turning back, social media is part of the marketing landscape and it’s time to act.

Rob Gregory can be contacted on
robgregory@btinternet.com
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/robgregorylifetimehealth 

Fully Managed Online Customer Surveys

If you are looking for insights and feedback from customers or staff then we can design and run a professional and customised online survey for you. 

Our service offers:

-Help with setting objectives for the survey

-Design and layout of questions

-Quick, efficient survey set-up

-Branch logic for questions ensuring respondees only asked relevant questions

-Customised branding including web links and embedded media if required

See How ISPAL Benefited From Their Online Survey

Sue Sutton, CEO of ISPAL commented: "I am delighted with the service provided by The Leisure Database Company, they have been very attentive throughout the project and have listened hard to what we wanted to achieve through this survey. 

Feedback from the survey has been very good, highlighting what our next steps should be in engaging individuals in the industry.  The online survey has been extremely professional reflecting our brand image and messages.  I would recommend The Leisure Database Company and their new online surveys as a means of gaining valuable customer feedback quickly".

Click here to read the full details.

To discuss online customer surveys contact Charlotte on 020 7395  6177 or email charlotte@theleisuredatabase.com

Conference Season

IHRSA’s European Conference (18th – 21st October) will be held in Barcelona this year and IHRSA warmly invite UK delegates with a special price offer available via this link.

If you’ve not been before the BISL Conference is also well worth attending.  This year’s speakers include Rt Hon Dr. Vince Cable MP and Richard Segal, Chair of Esporta amongst others.  The conference will be held at Lords Cricket Ground on Wednesday 10th November. Full details here.

The ISRM’s 2010 Conference will be held on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 November at Holywell Park at Loughborough University.  For full details click here.  

TLDC 2010 State of the Industry Reports

We recently published the 2010 FIA State of the Fitness Industry Report packed with critical market intelligence on the structure, size and makeup of our sector.  If you want to understand the sector, the various segments, top operator rankings and regional analysis plus the strength of the sector this report is for you.  To order a copy of the report or for more details click here.

Our inaugural State of the UK Swimming Industry Report is also available.  Publishing for the first time key market intelligence on the UK’s swimming pool facilities.  The report covers the state, number and age of pool facilities across the public and private sector.  To know the sector in detail this comprehensive report will be invaluable.  For details and how to order click here.