This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Yann Magnan, the 53-year-old CEO of 73 Strings, a fintech company, who is based between New York City and London. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I founded my company, 73 String, during the COVID-19 pandemic, so it wasn’t until 2022 that I started meeting potential clients and partners in person for the first time. At that time, I was based in France, so I traveled to London, New York, and San Francisco to meet them.
They were always short trips, so I started to think about what I could do with my clients to spend as much time with them as possible.
Every morning, I like to do something physical, whether that’s a fitness class, gym workout, or run. I realized the people I was meeting were the same. So, on one trip in 2022 to meet a client, I thought, “Rather than going for a drink, why don’t I invite him to come run with me?”
We went for a run in Central Park, and it was really nice. We weren’t exercising as intensely as I would if I were alone, but we had a great chat and made a connection. He’s actually become a good friend since then.
From then, I started taking clients for a run or inviting them to an OrangeTheory or Barry’s Bootcamp fitness class every time I traveled. And when I went to a conference, I would invite clients to come with me to Barry’s for a class before the events began. I do classes or runs with my team members now, too.
It has gotten a really good reception and it’s a great business tactic, because it’s fun, people enjoy it, and you can have good chats at the same time.
More businesspeople are up for a workout in the US than in France
I’m French, and the typical French way to maintain relationships with clients was “wining and dining.” I’m still doing that, but we also have fantastic feedback on the early morning gym meetings, too.
Doing both is great because after a night of wining and dining, you appreciate being able to get into the gym the next morning.
I won’t try to sell a contract during these meetings — it’s about connecting with a person and getting to know them better, whether that’s by sweating together or having a nice glass of wine. Hopefully we like each other, and the business conversation can come later.
I’m probably “wining and dining” clients 70% of the time and doing fitness the other 30% — I exercise with a client about once a week on average. The trend toward fitness is evolving pretty fast, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it were 50/50 in a couple of years, especially in the US.
The US is a totally different beast when it comes to fitness. The average business guy in France is not into fitness as much as in London or the US. The culture of a person’s country is very important, but there’s definitely an uptick in interest in fitness in the business world — maybe because there’s a competitive element to both.
I find that I’m so much more efficient when I’m exercising regularly, so it helps me perform better.
I wouldn’t force anyone to work out with me — but lots of people are up for it
So far, it’s mostly been driven by me, but some of my clients and team members have started asking me to join them in whatever fitness activities they’re doing that day.
I understand that not everyone is into fitness, and I don’t want to force exercise on anyone or make anyone feel bad if they are not joining in. In my team, it’s just like, “If you like it, you join. If you want to do something else, absolutely zero problems.”
I ask my clients subtle questions to figure out if they’re into fitness and see if they would like to join me for a workout.
You get some nice surprises — I found out that a guy who I assumed was in a similar physical condition to me was actually much fitter, and ran three or four marathons a year, while another client had run a 180-kilometer race (about 112 miles) the weekend before.
I’ve even hired people I met in fitness classes. Our chief of staff was my workout partner at a gym in Paris. It took about two months before we started talking about what we did for work, but I liked his attitude and his competitiveness. He also had the expertise and qualifications required, but that’s how I hired him.
I got into working out to network by chance, but it works really well for me. It’s basically killing two birds with one stone.
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