Fitness Industry Solutions

September 24, 2006
Author: Tom Perkins - Business Development Coach and Certified Personal Trainer

Can you accurately describe your target market? Do you know what your clients will want and need? If you cannot, you need to start. Detailed and specific answers to these questions are pivotal to your ability to effectively design your marketing strategy, and draft a successful sales and marketing plan.

Chances are you already have a pretty good idea as to what types of people will use or benefit from your services. You probably can build an accurate profile of who they are in terms of their age, gender, socio-economic status, occupation, etc. Common sense is also telling you that you should be focusing your marketing on these people. However, knowing you have to and doing it are two completely different things. It can also mean the difference between failure and success.

Not only do you have to have a clear picture of who your target market is, but you also need a very clear and precise understanding of what they want and need. Without this, you cannot develop a specific marketing message that will most effectively sell the benefits of your service to your clients.

One of the best ways to gather this information is by talking to your clients. If you do not have clients yet, talk to the clients of your competitors, or survey people who you have determined to be your ideal client. This allows you to confirm that you have indeed built the right profile of your ideal client and their needs and wants. Also, take the time to refine your list of prospects. Double check that you have correctly classified your prospects and eliminated any that do not fall into your target market profile.

Finally, ensure that you are providing your prospective clients with exactly what they need and want. Are you doing it in a way that is convenient for them? Are your services marketed at a price they can afford to pay and are willing to pay? All questions require that you take one more critical and objective look at your services and marketing plan to make sure all elements are in alignment.

All too often businesses make mistakes that end up costing them time and money. For example, they may think they have a pretty good idea as to who their target market is, but fail to test that assumption before they launch into their marketing campaign. By testing, you can either confirm that your target market profile was correct, or you can adjust your offering until you do get it right. Being precise leads to more sales more quickly, and more profitability over the longer term.

With a degree in Accounting, certified as a personal trainer, and primary function as a business development coach; Tom Perkins works with personal training departments, fitness professionals, management of health clubs, as well as fitness product and sports nutrition companies in the areas of sales, marketing, and promotion; operations and administration, and staffing and human resource management. With 6 startups in 15 years under his belt and over 20 years of working with the fitness industry Tom leads companies to profitability through Fitness Industry Solutions www.fitnessindustrysolutions.com.