Getting Raw - Ep #6 Neil Earey, Client Connect

How you going? It's Richard, Mark Toutounji, and welcome to Getting Raw. Today, my guest is Neil from PulseTech Solutions, and the reason why I got Neil aboard today was, well, first of all, he's a very special major sponsor on our site. His company's a major sponsor on Meat Your Fitness Marketing, and it's companies like he that have been in the industry for a long time, really educating Educating gym owners, personal trainers, fitness studios of how to run their business more successfully. Now, Neil obviously has been in this business for a while. You've been in it for years. How many years have you been in the business?

Well, I've been in the fitness industry for about 12 years with the software and IT side of things, and I've always been in IT my whole career, so that spans now, you know, going back about 30 years. And I've always worked in, you know, the database area, so I know the value of having data in a business and using that data to help you manage and grow it.

What I'm really intrigued about is that you've been in the business for 12 years, so you would have talked to so many different gyms. You would have spoken and had so many different conversations with personal trainers, with gym owners, seeing what really is running their business, seeing the problems, seeing what the solutions need to be. And that's what I'm really intrigued about today. I want to know, like, what other problems are out there? You'd be the best person because you see how the structure is. I guess it's companies like that have been running for a little bit, they've They probably have little Excel sheets, they have this Excel sheet, that Excel sheet document, they're writing on Google Calendars, and they probably go, you know what, this is all getting a little too hard. And then they shop around for different providers, and you have that conversation with them. So what is, I guess, the— what are the things that you can't see, that nobody sees except you, you know, working on those conversations?

Well, I think it is that, it's very much what happens is a business starts up, and I guess the computer software is one of the last things that people think about, and the systems. They wanna get out there and get their— Well, they wanna get to the gym They get it going. But they forget they've got to do their billing. They forget they've got to track their leads and whether they're working through those leads properly. They've got to make their bookings, not mess up the bookings. And you've got to make sure that you're tracking your sessions against them. You're tracking people who are checking in. All that sort of side of things. And what happens is that, yeah, you can run them in spreadsheets. You can use your Outlook calendar or your Google calendars. But they break down eventually as your business grows. And you get to the point where you end up in a bit of a mess.

Is it affecting their business then? Like their growth?

Because if you're not tracking what the activity of your members are, you don't know who's coming in and who's not coming in. Sure. As one simple example, one of our key features in the system which people use is a thing just called— simple— it's called tags, where you can just tag all the interests of somebody. And then you can go and search the database.

What do you mean interests? So like someone—

Well, someone who likes, say, running and doing marathons. Sure. You might have a fun run coming up in the area, and you want to do some special training for those members so they can get ready and do well in that. So it's all about— having information and using that information to enrich the experience that your members are having at

your club. Okay, and when people get on the software, what are people looking for? Like, what are gym owners, I guess, looking for when they're obviously calling you guys up, they're calling your competitors up? What are they really looking for? What do they want?

Well, it depends on the particular clubs and that, but usually at different stages of the game. Sometimes they're just looking for something that's going to give them back a bit more time. Time. some changes or they want to start using direct debiting, but they don't know how to work that into the system.

Got it.

So if you've got a system that can talk to the billing companies and send the transactions through and process the declines, it just takes that big headache away from—

Well, I think that's a massive thing. I mean, you've got— you're trying to grow your business, you know, you're at that stage where you really want to push on and then hang on, you've got expiry dates stopping, you don't know if that client's away for holidays. So that's, I guess, what a system does. So really, it's like an engine for a car.

Well, it is. It's going to track everything for you. And I guess that we probably didn't finish the last conversation about spreadsheets and all that, is that you can put the information into a spreadsheet and then you might have to put it somewhere else and somewhere else. So you're repeating all that data entry and you still don't have it all tied together. Whereas if you've got a system, you know, somebody inquires, you record their details, you convert them into a member, you sell them a membership, it creates invoices. They check in, you record their history. Yep. They do some classes or some bookings with your personal trainers. They buy their packages to do that and you You count your sessions down. So it's all just sort of happening. At the end of it all, you end up with this great database of what's been happening in your club. How you can operate without that, I don't really know. But people do try until they usually get too big and then they realise they're in a mess. And by that stage, you've lost all that history of what's happened up until that point.

Tell me the worst— you don't have to name the clubs— but I want to know the worst— someone calls you up and in the worst situation, like they're still writing receipts out by hand or they're They have no idea the phone number. They're looking at their iPhone for their phone number. What's the worst case you've come across?

It's probably even worse than that, where people have just been using spreadsheets and then their computer's hard drive's failed. All gone. And because it's a spreadsheet, you don't back it up thinking it's a database. There's a whole lot of parts to it. Or in one case, there was a bit of an argument in the club and the manager took off with the computer and all the data. Whereas if you've got a system, you've got backups, You can back it up online over the internet to our servers. So, you know, you've got that business continuity. You just don't want to risk your business for the sake of—

You're risking your business here on a couple of Excel sheets. Yeah. And if someone comes and steals the computer or the computer breaks or you have a fight with your partner and—

I mean, those, they're tools to use, but they're not systems. They're just things that can help you do your job, but they're not the whole job.

So you said you came into the fitness industry out of an IT background. What triggered you to come How did you come to the fitness industry? Because it's a bit of a, you know, it's a very close industry. Generally people like yourself, they've been in the industry and then they go, you know, I want to do something in the industry. But you haven't been like a trainer or a club owner, have you? You

just come directly in.

No, no, no. So what was the story?

Probably I stumbled into it a little bit, but then as soon as I saw the fitness industry, it was just, this just seems like a good wholesome industry to be in. I like the people you're dealing with. It's real people. It's not financial systems. It's not insurance systems. So it's The business sizes are a good size to deal with. I mean, we work with single personal trainers right through to some of the large club chains. And, you know, look, I just enjoy mixing with people that are in that industry. Even my software developers, some of them are ex-personal trainers, so they love the industry too. So it's just, I think it does get into your blood.

Yeah, well, I caught up with Neil the other day. He's at the Fitness Biz in Melbourne and pulled him aside, wanted to have a bit of a chat. So you're always at these events and always circling, and I see you at Fitness Expo all the time.

been doing the fitness Phylax for 10 years now. Yep. I also, you know, as I said, I'm a supplier member of Fitness Australia. And one of the other areas that I'm working on at the moment is to work with some of the TAFEs, so that as people are being trained up in the fitness industry. I've got one of the major TAFEs in South Australia who's actually looking at our software to incorporate as part of their training course, because what they're finding is that I think it's

a good point. Yeah, exactly. They've got to come out with business skills so we decrease the drop-off rate a lot earlier once they understand how the business works.

Yeah, and that works for us too because obviously they're going to see our system and then when they're out there and they're going to start their business, hopefully they'll think of us.

I want to know, I'm going to put you on the spot. I want to know the 2 biggest business mistakes that you've ever made in your business because I think Out of every mistake people make, they generally learn a really big lesson. And John, sometimes it skyrockets their business to new growth. And we've heard it from all the people we've had on Getting Raw. Everybody that's had a business mistake always bounces back generally and they come stronger and better. So what's been your, I guess, biggest mistake? Is it financial? Was it personal? Was it— what was it that really stuck things around for you?

I think in the early days, it's very easy to lose faith in what you're doing in your direction and you sort of chop and change and trying to find the magic formula. Yeah. But if you've got a solid base where you're starting from, I think it's just a case of persisting. And you've got to get past certain threshold points. And I think the other thing I've learnt is the value of networking within the industry and giving something back to the industry. You can't just sell stuff to people. You have to actually be involved and understand what they want to do and what they need. And just by working with people, having a good reputation, then I've

Versus just saying, yeah, just want to grab those clients and not giving anything back and then going off the path. In the early days when you started your business, were you going off different directions? Were you not sure which way to go?

Yeah, I think so. I mean, we were sort of going after the club market, which everybody, every software developer was going after that market. And then I was sitting there, I think I was coming back from the early Fyrlax shows that we used to do. Yeah. Thinking, well, we had a whole bunch of people from clubs asking us what we could offer them.

Yeah.

But we had 10 times that number of personal trainers asking for a system that they could help them run their business.

Yeah.

So we came back from that and that changed my thinking and we actually developed a really good PT management system. And then we've extended that towards the club end of the market.

Yeah.

And now it works well for the small to medium-sized clubs. We're not aiming for the large chains. There's plenty of people out there who go after the Fitness Firsts and those large sort of multi-club chains. But the bottom end of the market was being left with virtually nothing that they could afford, at least.

So you put a lot of time and energy going to the big clubs thinking, yeah, that's where it's all happening. But then you realized, hang on, there are gaps. But you actually had to open your eyes and go to the Filexes and go there and actually talk to these people and figure out, well, hang on, I've got all these leads. And so you're changing the way a little bit. Did that slow your business down by going Focusing just on gyms, could you have done the business faster and grow faster if you realised that a lot earlier?

Oh look, I think it might have been just the right timing, I think, for it because of the way personal training was growing. It really has grown in the last 5 or 6 years. And I think we just picked the right time to get into that sort of side of things. And yeah, the studios are doing really well. As you can see, the larger club chains are sort of finding it's tougher going.

Yeah, you've got the in-between clubs now, between fitness and the gyms, the 24-hour clubs that are popping up at every street corner.

And there's some really good personal trainers out there running some really good businesses. I mean, you can see some that grow very, very quickly and very successfully, and then they, you know, that's the way they go.

Well, that's why I really like talking to you, because again, you've been in the industry for, you know, 12 years plus, and you're talking to real people every single day. And if somebody can't learn off you, How to run a business better, I think you'd be the right person to chat to. Tell me, you've got a few different brands out there. Let's quickly go through each brand and tell me sort of in a nutshell, 30 seconds, which— what each one is, because you cover things from retention to new people. Just take me through each one, please.

Well, really we have 2 core products. One is Client Connect club management software, which is ideal for single personal trainers right through to, you know, What I call a small to medium-sized club, around about up to 2,000 to 3,000 members. Okay, yep. And that pretty much manages the whole gamut of what you would want to do in managing a club. I guess where it differs from some of the others is that it is very easy to use. We focus very heavily on the user interface, so it's got to be easy to use or you won't use it. And we try to make it affordable, so we have a graduated licensing system so that As your business grows, your licence fees can sort of parallel that.

Okay, and what's the website for that?

Give it away. It's www.clientconnectsoftware.com.au.

Okay, that's the plug right there. And what's the other side of it?

Now what we also found is that there was a big gap in trying to keep your members, so retention management.

So you get them on first and then actually keeping them.

Yeah, so what I actually went over to ERSA about 5 years ago and I talked to A very successful company over there called Retention Management, and we're resellers for that service in Australia and New Zealand. Okay. And what that does is it pulls information out of whatever club management system you're using and then uses that information to generate an automated member retention program, taking information like how often the members come in and then also providing nutrition, health, and fitness tips to educate them in and motivate them in continuing to train. And

what's the website for

that one? That one's just www.retentionmanagement.com.

Okay, excellent. Well, it's been a pleasure. Always is. And where can people find you? Where do you hang out? Do you hang out on the Facebooks, the Twitters? Where are you hanging out?

Well, we're just starting to get into the social media. Oh, good. I have launched some Facebook groups.

Excellent. So you're on Facebook?

Yeah, I am.

Excellent.

Don't expect a lot. It's starting, but we're going to be there.

Okay, so you'll be in the Facebook stage.

Yeah, that's where you're going to help me, Richard.

Yeah, we're going to set up some Facebook stuff, do some videos. And so obviously you go to the website, you get the information, you're always available to talk to. I've run into the company a few times and always, you're always on the phone or you're getting a call from them.

Yeah, look, we are a small personalized company, so you'll get to talk to people and we really do try to do the best in customer service we possibly can.

I think that's awesome. And you know, Chuck Tennell, he's bringing this site to you, he's a major sponsor and we're pretty proud to have him aboard. So thanks a lot.

Okay, cheers. Thanks, Richard.