Whether you’re starting a new fitness business or looking for a more affordable, easy-to-use alternative to Mindbody, choosing the right fitness business software platform can make a substantial difference.
The right fitness business software will provide your customers with an easy-to-use platform for viewing your class schedule, purchasing class passes and memberships, registering for classes and events, and receiving email communications.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the key components of gym management software that are necessary for running a successful fitness business. We’ll show you how these essential features can contribute to taking your fitness business to the next level, and how to choose the best fitness business software for the price.
What is Fitness Business Software and Why Do I Need It?
Fitness business software allows gyms, yoga studios, dance instructors, martial artists, personal trainers and other fitness professionals to collect and store customer information, offer online class schedules, attendance and bookings, take payments, track sales and instructor or staff hours and manage leads and promotions.
When you have one cloud-based platform where everything you need to run your fitness business is a click away, you have the opportunity to save a lot of time and energy, not to mention access to features that can really grow your community, boost revenue and dramatically improve your customers’ experience.
A Partner in Growing Your Fitness Business
When you use a software platform to run your fitness business, you tap into the latest fitness industry best practices that can streamline your operations and up your game when it comes to customer outreach and retention. Over time, you will gain access to invaluable insights by running reports on all the customer behavior that’s captured in your software – from the most popular class times to your new student conversion and membership retention rates.
Gym software solutions make the most sense for fitness professionals who offer personal training, group fitness classes, or own and operate a fitness studio or chain of fitness studios. Most often, fitness business software offers the ability to set up an online class schedule, sell and manage class passes, memberships or class drop ins and helps business owners manage customer information, class schedules, instructors, payments and sales reports.
As a small fitness business owner, you probably do it all from scheduling to staff management to marketing and accounting. This can be overwhelming if you’re trying to manage your fitness business on paper or in spreadsheets. Fitness business software puts it all in one place, online, so you can sleep better at night.
5 Key Features to Look for When Selecting Studio Management Software
How to choose the best fitness business software? Make sure that the software you select offers these key features that every fitness business needs to succeed. Also, make sure that the price is right and that you aren’t overpaying for features you don’t need, or that another company offers for a better price.
Identify key growth drivers for your fitness business or areas where you know you have room to improve. Look for a fitness business software platform that will help you streamline administrative tasks, marketing and membership management.
Here are five important features that will help you choose the best fitness business software for you:
1. Online Class Schedule & Bookings
One of the biggest benefits of using a fitness business software platform is that you are able to set up and publish your class or appointment schedule online and allow customers to pay and book sessions.
Of course you want to be able to collect and store your customer’s information when they make a purchase and attend a class or training session, so make sure that your software provider offers a contact management system.
A good gym management software will allow you and your customers to sign in for class in-person and also give your customers the option of reserving a spot ahead of time. Look for a software that allows you to set limits on class size, create and manage waiting lists and automate the process.
2. Customer Relationship Management
Being able to collect and manage new and existing customers in a cloud-based system is critical. At the heart of any fitness business is the ability to attract and retain new, paying customers. Having the ability to log on to your fitness business software from anywhere and access your customers contact information, engagement with your products and services, run analytics reports to inform you of active and inactive customers, and send communications to specific groups of contacts is essential to building membership – and recurring revenue.
Offering an online portal for your customers that gives them access to information such as pricing, class pass counts, recurring membership status, class and event schedules, instructor bios and special program registration is vital to elevating your customer service and presenting your fitness business as a professional brand.
These days convenience and access are critical factors for consumers when seeking a workout experience. Fitness business software makes it fast, simple and easy for them to connect with your brand.
3. Payment Processing
Being able to take payments, from cash to debit or credit, is an essential part of running a successful fitness business. Your fitness business software should give you the option to accept all forms of payment at the point-of-service, and through your online class schedule or store. Make sure that your system also allows you to set up automatic, recurring billing so that you can offer your customers membership programs.
The best fitness business software will offer you the option to automatically remind your customers when payment is due and prompt them to update payment information and make online payments to bring their accounts current.
4. Business Performance Reporting
Another huge advantage of using fitness business software is that all the data from sales to attendance levels to retention and class engagement is stored digitally. When purchasing a fitness business software program, be sure that it offers you the ability to run business-critical reports such as tracking new student enrollment, weekly or monthly sales, and class attendance statistics.
Reports and analytics provide a way to track these key measures regularly so that you can access the strengths and weaknesses of your business and allocate resources wisely. Performance reports can alert you when it’s time to change up your class schedule, identify top-performing instructors, and reach out to customers whose participation has dropped off.
5. Seamless Online Video Integration
The fitness world has changed forever, and online fitness classes – whether live or on-demand – are here to stay. There’s tremendous opportunity in this for fitness businesses looking to expand their offerings and open up additional revenue streams. But online video can be tricky, leaving customers feeling lost and confused, or making it difficult for instructors to collect payment.
A top fitness business software platform will allow your fitness business to create and publish online classes as part of your regular class schedule, make it easy for customers to pay, register and log on at class-time, and utilize proven technology such as Zoom.
Another feature to look for when choosing fitness business software is the ability to host pre-recorded video content online. The best software platforms will include the option to password protect the content and include non-video digital files like PDFs.
Lastly, when choosing the right fitness business software for you, be sure that the features are relevant to your daily needs as a fitness business owner and will help you grow your business, not bog you down with complicated, time-consuming tasks. Your fitness business software shouldn’t require hours of training or reams of help articles to figure out. Look for a software provider that’s there to help you every step of the way and that is simple, easy and won’t break the bank.
