Tom Perkins Interview on Creating Strategic Fitness Business Alliances

Chris McCombs (CM): Tom, who are you and what do you do?

Tom Perkins (TP): What I do, Chris, is I call myself a fitness business development coach, or a business development consultant, in the health club and fitness industry. I've been involved with health and fitness probably about 30 years as a consumer, and professionally since about - essentially since about four or five years ago when I went and got certified as a personal trainer and a fitness nutritionist through NESTA, John Spencer Ellis.

Before that I had a five year restaurant with a degree in accounting, had a number of different start-ups outside the industry. So when I went and got certified as a personal trainer I had already taught spinning, tae bo, and bootcamp in the club setting. I was working out with my friends, helping them get in shape and me in shape, and I just wanted to be - my friends recommended to me that I be a personal trainer since I was in the gym four or five days a week at least.

And after about a year of training people, more people started coming up to me locally to help them with building their personal training business. So I started working with fitness professional first, then I moved up to studios and health clubs, and now I'm also working with fitness products companies to help them grow their business from all point of views.

CM: Can you tell our listeners what is a strategic alliance partnership?

TP: Well, what a strategic alliance partnership is, really it's just finding people that already have the customers that you're looking to get. What a strategic alliance partnership is, is a formal relationship with someone who you know (or do not know) that has access to the clients that you need or want.

CM: Can you tell our listeners, who are mostly health club owners and personal training business owners what a strategic alliance partnership is, or an SAP?

TP: Sure, what a strategic alliance partnership is, is it's a relationship formed by two or more persons, businesses, or associations, that share and participate in a joint project. And it's designed to link among common processes to increase the performance of both parties. So in layman terms, a strategic alliance partner would introduce their client base to someone's fitness business and invite their clients to engage in some type of interaction with another fitness professional, whether it's an introductory consultation or some other form. But it's a win-win situation, which means that it's great for the client, it's great for the strategic partner, and it's great for the fitness professional, because they're able to grow their business without having to do a lot of marketing.

CM: I heard there are a few different types of SAPs. Can you tell us what they are?

TP: Sure. What I tell people is that there's a professionally structured one, and what that is that it's just that you work to have a more structured, organized agreement. I needs to be more than someone saying, "I'll refer people to you." And what I work with people on this is training them how to coach the alliance partner to refer people to you. So I would go to you, say, Chris, if you were a chiropractor, and I might go into your office and show you where you put my cards; and I would train your receptionist as to when you send someone out from the room of being worked on, that you would say, "You need to go to the receptionist Rachel and tell her I said to refer you to Tom Perkins who's a fitness professional, he's going to really help you." So the professionally structured one is the one we should be working on for the most part, because that's when the more qualified leads really come to you.

CM: What are the benefits of forming powerful SAPs?

TP: Well, some of the benefits are, are that it's a triple win. Like I said, it's great for the client; it's great for the strategic partner because, depending on what the situation is, I could be training you, I'll use you as a chiropractor, or I might even give you a little commission for everybody you refer to me; and then, as a fitness professional, I get clients that I didn't really have to market for, and we all know how hard it is to target and to market people; and at the same time, we all get to know each other. So that's one of the benefits.

Another benefits is the exposure. People are going to be coming to me because of referrals from my strategic partners, and they're qualified leads, which is a big, big thing. And that deals with the credibility factor that when people come to me as a referral, they're pretty much closed. But if I had to contact somebody and actually call you up and say, "Hey, Chris, my name's Tom Perkins and I just opened up a studio down the street and I was wondering if you could come by and check us out," or whatever you say. You might not take it too seriously, but if you went to somebody's business or you knew somebody, and they referred you to me, then you'd be a little more receptive to hear what I have to say. So the exposure's great, the credibility factor's another thing, and that's what people really need to look at - that these people typically close by the time they get to you.

CM: How does one go about forming SAPs?

TP: Well, when forming an SAP, what they need to do is identify potential strategic alliances, and they need to have a specific target market, a niche in order to pinpoint the best possible SAPs. The goal should be to identify the types of businesses who serve the same target market as we do, or they do. And this doesn't necessarily mean there are specific people who they already know now, but they need to get in the habit of thinking out of the box to identify potential partners, ideas, opportunities.

I think way out of the box. Typically in the fitness industry people looking at chiropractors (which I can use as an example because it's easiest) and/or massage people, but typically the chiropractor's really too busy and the massage person is trying to get their business off the ground just as much as the fitness professional is. So I tell people recruiters, bankers, lawyers, accountants, financial advisors, investment bankers, stock brokers, church leaders, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, real estate agents, dry cleaners, mechanics, air conditioning people. I mean, I can go through the list of people that have access to people that might need your help either from a physical point of view and that can afford your services.

Another example I say is like, say someone wants to train golfers. Well, what types of professionals already have a favorable relationship with golfers? Accountants do, especially because they specialize in small business; and financial planners come to mind; but also printers, bankers, web designers, the Chamber of Commerce, attorneys, folks like that. So, what say is, imagine forming a strong strategic alliance with a successful accountant who has, say, 200 small business owners as clients. The accountant fully believes and supports your fitness and nutrition business and they systematically inform their clients about your services, and they channel people into working with you. I mean, that is a win-win situation, that's a no-brainer.

Now, the second step is to create and send an inquiry letter. So what I'm saying is gather names and addresses and put together a letter - I would say it's more so than sending someone an email. Email is just - too much of it nowadays. People just aren't open to that that much. So what I say is go through this identification process until it's complete. Create an inquiry letter, reach out for these potential SAPs. It's important to be aware of the fact that a lot of the SAP relationship is potential triple win and not everybody is going to be open to the idea. And this is important so that people do not devote all their resources to just one particular person, group of people. So what I'm telling you is pick maybe five people in each different industry. Five accountants, five attorneys, five dry cleaners, and basically drip [?] on them. Have a system set up. Like any sales process, it's about the numbers; therefore, the more people you can reach out to, the more likely that it's going to ultimately be successful.

And also, what I'm telling people is I work under the assumption that they have not established any relationship with an SAP. If they already have, and what I mean is that if there's any way for them to reach out to people that they know, then that's the best thing to do first is to - from an existing relationship or a referral, that would be the best thing to do. It's dramatically going to increase the chances of securing a meeting to discuss opportunities. So, what I'm trying to say there is that, look around your inner circle and spider out from that. Look at significant others, sisters, brothers, your doctor, anybody you can think of, but always ask them do they know anyone who might be a potential strategic partner for them.

CM: What are the critical success factors for strategic alliance partnerships?

TP: Well, basically, just for it to be successful they have to able to - I need to do an edit right here, okay?

CM: No problem.

TP: Okay, so I'm just going to go back and add one more thing about sending out the letter. Step three after sending out the letter, is to make sure you do your follow-up phone calls. And I cannot stress how important this is that you need to make the phone calls, and that's what's really going to make this happen. Also, people need to remember that it usually takes 5 to 12 contacts to get somebody to call you back. So don't just call once and give up. They could be busy, they could be out of town, it could be a bad time. I've called people back two years later and got a deal, so you've got to keep on calling. And also what you need to do is let them know in the letter that you're going to be calling them back. It might sound extreme, but keep in mind that just sending the letter alone and making one phone call is not going to be enough. Phone calls are the best way to get the follow-up, and also beside that you're going to be able to establish some type of personal relationship with them, even if you can't take it to a business level. Okay, go to the next one.

CM: What are the critical success factors for strategic alliance partnerships?

TP: Some of the critical factors is just basically you need to block out some time to follow-up.

Can you hold on a second, please?

CM: Yes.

TP: Sorry about that. Had a problem here, so I had to call someone in to fix something.

Okay, next one, go ahead.

CM: Is this the critical success factors one still?

TP: Yep. Here we go. One of the best things to do is just block out some time to make sure that you follow-up with these people. And the best thing to do is block out time on a weekly basis for following up on these marketing strategies. And the best thing to do is if you can make 10 to 15 calls per hour. So if you sent out 30 letters, set aside three to four hours of time for each follow-up. You're going to probably leave - 60 percent of the time you're going to leave a message, so you just have to remember that you have to keep following up. To get some type of electronic rolodex, or some kind of calendar that you can remember when to call these people back.

Also, I tell people to make sure you reward yourself. If you sat there for two or three hours and you made a bunch of calls, go for a walk, go for a job, go do something that you like doing that's one of your favorite things, and that's what's going to help you get through this. Because it's touch work, but it's very rewarding.

The other thing I recommend to people is that they prepare and fine-tune their script, so that way it helps them gain more experience, they're going to learn quickly, they're going to feel more comfortable when they get on the phone with people, they're going to be relaxed, they should make it fun, and that's what's going to attract people to them if, when you're talking to somebody on the phone that you sound like you feel comfortable with what you're doing.

Another thing I tell people is to visualize. And that's to see yourself talking to people. Look in the mirror. How do you look? How do you sound? Sit straight up in your seat. Envision getting the deal. Envision going out and meeting the person and telling them about yourself. Envision getting new clients.

The next thing is just make sure you do the call, which is I just said is speak clearly and remember to smile.

CM: How does one formalize a strategic alliance partnership?

TP: Well, basically, the best way to formalize it is to, after you've contacted the person, they want to talk to you, you're going to go meet the person, you're going to tell them about your business, you're going to let them understand that there's really no risk for them, and the best way to formalize it is to figure out how to make it a win-win situation. Is it going to be for goodwill? Are you going to refer people back and forth? Are you going to exchange for services? Is there going to be some type of referral fee that you're gong to pay? So you do need to get that figured out. And then from there, it's to what level that you think that you should get.

A lot of times, if you can get some type of agreement, even a one pager, that sort of makes it - how do I say? Makes it more concrete, makes it more accountable on both parts. But you have to place a situation like that to see if they'll be willing to commit, but that's the best thing to do.

That's what you've got to do is close them, then from there just get your information in there. Train their staff if you can. Have that person, your strategic partner, do an announcement to their whole list, and then just keep the ongoing contact up with the strategic partner so that they can refer people to you. I did mention that it's best to get some type of agreement, but some people feel uncomfortable asking for that, but if you can get at least a one-pager it's the best thing that you can do, because that way there is going to be accountability.

CM: How does one plan strategic alliance partnerships?

TP: The best way to plan it is just, you know, actually map it out. So what are your objectives and goals for creating these triple win situations? What makes you excited about this and why? List some of the different categories I talked about, real estate people accountants, attorneys, specify - be specific about who you know now. Go through your list, contact those people first, spider out from there.

What are the incentives? Figure out what you're willing to give out to get clients referred to you. Map things out. Figure out a strategy. What are the next steps? If there's any concerns and challenges, try to figure those out ahead of time. Figure out the strategies to overcome those concerns and challenges. And, basically what it does, it boils down to is, identify the SAP, find the SAP, identify what you should reward them, write the inquiry letter, send the inquiry letter, make follow-up phone calls, have the initial meeting, create some type of agreement, train the office staff in how to refer people to you, send the initial announcement, and create a referral system, and have ongoing contact.

CM: Should one have a schedule or a checklist?

TP: Yeah, I work off a worksheet. And basically what it is, is I prioritize the ranking, what group or industry their in, the names, I have a phone number, email, contact information, the date and place I first came in contact or how I came in contact with the SAP, the date of first meeting, if there's interests I should know. Also, when I send out an agreement letter, was it signed, the date and name of the first referral and every time that they refer somebody to me I always would send a thank you card, no matter if the client signs up with me or not, send a thank you card. So it's good to keep it in a spreadsheet.

CM: How can one track their progress?

TP: Well, basically, the best way is like what I said, in a spreadsheet. If anybody needs a way of tracking and to get all this information in one package, I have a free e-book that I'm willing to send out to people that will explain everything, and I have the chart in it, and it has sample letters and everything else like that.

CM: Where can they get the -book?

TP: Send an email to thecoach@fitnessindustrysolutions.com, and in the subject line put "SAP e-book."

CM: Is there any more you can list - any way you can list a bunch of business? You listed off a bunch earlier. Do you have any other ones you can rapid fire out, business that are good for this kind of thing?

TP: Oh, yeah, there's restaurants, there's ice skating rinks, there's hard wood floor installers, there's plumbers, there's electricians, there's driving ranges, country clubs, there's car mechanics, any category that has people - some of the one's I've had success with are dry cleaners, mechanics. People that are going to these people that can afford it. Home builders, that's another big thing. The developers are always building these homes, and they're building gyms inside these homes that they need somebody to train them.

Also, I've worked with the regular, fitness equipment places like OmniFitness, places like that. There could be chefs, personal chefs, seamstress, just about anybody that has a list of people that's coming to them for products or services.

CM: Any last tips for trainers who want to start getting involved with strategic alliance partnerships?

TP: I would say make sure you have a plan, like I just went through, and basically don't give up. You're going to get a lot of no's, but just one yes can really propel the business.

CM: Tom, where can people learn more about you, your products, and services?

TP: They can go to www.FitnessIndustrySolutions.com. And also, I do have a podcast called Fitness Business Radio, that's www.FitnessBusinessRadio.com

This has been a wellness, health and fitness marketing interview