Augie In Action! Augie In Action! - Ihrsa

your acquisition cost for the new
member is lower, and your retention
tends to be higher.”
Also, because Healthtrax has positioned
itself within a wellness community,
it’s able to charge a slightly higher
price for membership. “A medical
affiliation helps your credibility, and
it appeals to the kind of member
who’s not interested, or comfortable,
in a traditional club setting.”
The company derives additional
positive benefits, both directly and
indirectly, from its cooperative partnerships
with its medical neighbors. At one
hospital, 600 employees have become
members of the club—which provides
the company with invaluable marketing
power to bolster its corporate aspirations.
At others, the constant referrals
between the hospital partner and the
medical offices create an enormous
amount of foot traffic that Healthtrax
wouldn’t otherwise enjoy. In just about
every case, Healthtrax and its medical
neighbors cross-refer—sending members
to their offices and gaining new
prospects from physicians’ patients.
“It’s a steady source of new
members, particularly nontraditional
joiners—people who aren’t already
in shape,” Stauble remarks. “This
arrangement really helps us crack
into that 85% of the population that
doesn’t belong to a health club.”
This innovative model has produced
healthy margins for the business, helping
to turn it into a $35-million company.
Each of its wellness model locations has
about 4,000 members and generates
annual revenues of approximately
$3 million with an EBITDA margin of
over 20%, according to Stauble.
And Healthtrax continues to grow,
with a brand-new center recently completed
in Raleigh, North Carolina, and
two more in the pipeline for 2008. —|
– Jennifer H. McInerney,
j.mcinerney@fit-etc.com
“This arrangement
really helps us crack
into that 85% of
the population that
doesn’t belong to
a health club.”
www.ihrsa.org | MARCH 2008 | Club Business International 87