The reporting function of your club management software can unlock a plethora of vital information that can (among other things) substantially increase revenues, dramatically reduce customer attrition, and help you design an effective strategy for the future success of your club. And, all it usually takes is just a few clicks of the mouse.
IMPROVE ANALYSIS
Good reporting functionality can give you perspective. For example, you can compare EFTs, market reports, or revenue reports from different months, and gain valuable insight into trends and how your efforts are affecting those trends.
• Membership Profile Reports: A membership profile report will give you the detailed information you need to help target your marketing efforts. Membership profile reports may also give you a better understanding of your members (ages, genders, home locations) and how they use your club (member types, areas of interest, frequency of visits). In addition, you can use filtering tools to focus on specific information in even greater detail.
IMPROVE REVENUES
• Sales Analysis Reports: These reports show the amount of sales per line item weekly, monthly, and yearto- date. Knowing what and how much your members are buying is crucial in targeting your marketing efforts. Use this information to gauge the effectiveness of your department managers and to target areas that need more attention.
• Package and Renewal Reports: By tracking memberships and which packages (tanning, personal training, etc.) members have purchased, you can be proactive in your renewal efforts.
• Status Reports: Status reports can help resolve membership issues quickly. For example, you can discover members that need to have medical questionnaires completed, billing problems fixed, contracts signed, or balances paid. You can then flag member check-in screens so front desk personnel can alert those members to the issues.
IMPROVE DUES LINES
• Monthly EFT Reports: One of the main factors in a profitable fitness center is building and maintaining a strong dues line. EFT reports can alert you to expiring credit cards or incomplete entries. Make sure your software has account updater functionality, which automatically checks then updates credit card information from your bank. Using this process, it will be much less likely for credit cards to decline, manually track down this information.
• Collections Reports: If your software company is doing your collections for you (which is usually more effective and efficient), you should be able to easily download payments and any changes in billing information to update your files and avoid future billing problems.
IMPROVE SALES AND RETENTION
There are a wide variety of reports that can help you effectively manage a sales team. Reports that track appointments or show prospecting efforts and closing percentages will help you maximize your sales.
• Log Reports: From a retention standpoint, log reports indicate which member issues have been resolved and which need more attention. From a sales perspective, you can track the reason people are not joining and create effective strategies to overcome these objections.
• Referral Reports: By tracking member referrals, you can create more effective member appreciation campaigns, and ask those members to refer more friends.
• Prospect Reports: Prospect reports help you target your marketing efforts and create effective sales strategies.
• Low Usage Reports: Statistics show that low-use members are vulnerable to cancellation. Usage reports can help target those users. An email blast or mailmerge letter timed just right can easily and proactively get these members more involved in your club.
• Cancellation Reports: By tracking why people cancel their memberships, you’ll be able to discover where your club needs to improve and also create effective retention strategies.
REDUCE EXPENSES
• Time Clock Reports: By having the ability to run timesheets by individuals and by department, you can discover which departments are within their payroll budget. You can then give additional hours, if necessary, and make cuts where needed.
• Club Utilization Reports: By knowing the busiest times at your club, you can easily staff your club appropriately.
• Inventory Reports: Carrying unsold inventory represents an expense. By running inventory reports you can see what products are selling and which need to be dropped.
• Billing Provider Reports: By running a billing provider report you can clearly see what monthly charges you are paying and therefore, you will be able to compare those charges to other vendors offering the same services. This way, you can ensure you are using the most costeffective provider.
If your current club software does not have these reporting capabilities, then check with your provider for new upgrades or functionality. Be aware, however, that some companies charge for upgrades. Keeping your software up-todate is critical. Ask your provider if they have an automatic Web update service so that you will never be without the latest features.
Len Bell is a Sales Associate with Twin Oaks Software. He can be contacted at 866.278.6750, or by email at lbell@tosd.com, or visit www.tosd.com.
