Elevate Fitness and Wellness

“Punchpass is just so easy for people."

When Dan Kanney and his business partners, wife Natalie and friends Kelly & Michael Hoying, opened Elevate Fitness & Wellness (EFW), each had a passion for inspiring people to get fit and healthy outside a traditional gym environment. But none of them had ever opened or run a small business before.

Despite their inexperience, It didn't take long for classes at EFW to sell out. They had to put students on waitlists as their classes filled up quickly.

In the last year, membership at EFW has grown 51 percent and their client retention rate averages 80 percent!

This year, EFW opened a new, larger facility to accommodate its explosive growth. All of this is happening in a small town of 4,000 residents with several other gyms in competition for the same clients.

Dan believes that having the right studio management software made all the difference in launching EFW and supporting the team as the business rapidly evolved.

He credits Punchpass with providing EFW with a professional, easy-to-implement system that keeps his team organized and efficient in operations, which allows them to focus on growing their business and taking care of their clients.

“Punchpass is just so easy for people,” said Kanney. “The way we can craft emails that automatically send when our clients make a reservation, cancel a reservation or buy a pass, makes us look incredibly professional - that is nothing that we did, that’s everything that Punchpass did.” 

When EFW opened its doors in Coldwater, Ohio in August 2017, all four partners knew a little about the fitness industry and nothing about starting a business, he said.

"The way we can craft emails that automatically send when our clients make a reservation, cancel a reservation or buy a pass makes us look incredibly professional. That is nothing that we did, that’s everything that Punchpass did.”

The EFW team wanted a place where people could get strong, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. The boutique fitness facility offers classes in classes in yoga, cardio and strength, along with individualized personal training. The owners capitalized on each other’s unique strengths, and divided up the what-to-do-to-get-in-business list to bring their dream into reality.

Kanney was given the responsibility of finding software that would manage customer accounts and provide reporting, as well as accurately and easily take attendance, account for classes purchased, canceled, used and remaining. After a Google search for “fitness studio scheduling software,” he landed on Punchpass, signed up for a free trial, and tested out the platform on some friends.

The admittedly tech-challenged Kanney found the initial set-up a snap: “Punchpass required a few customizations, but it was more-or-less plug and play,” he remembers.

“Once we started using Punchpass, we knew it was perfect it was for our needs and we were sold right away.”

Dan was impressed right away with:‍

• How user-friendly the program was, from the user interface to the back-end, the easy integration with Stripe.
• The very affordable pricing and the comprehensive reporting package.
• And, ultimately, that Punchpass did what EFW needed it to do without being bulked up with frivolous functionality. 

“The software generates auto-response emails branded with our company logo and everything looks professional and works seamlessly, Kanney said. “We don’t have to think a lot about reporting because we know it is all taken care of. Punchpass made everything so easy for a bunch of people who don’t know anything about software.”