ClubReady
A solution that drives productivity can actually be fun to operate. Assessing the heartbeat of your club and measuring its current and long-term vitality is based on performance-based metrics. For instance — leads acquired via your website, widget snapshots on your CMS’ dashboard displaying colorful performance measures, staff targets and commission reports shown in an interactive, inspiring style — are all examples of this. The staff can be kept engaged and motivated from their ability to log in to their customized dashboard anytime, anywhere.
Most clubs are heavily tilted towards being “draft” based. I personally believe managing and running a “healthy draft” is elemental to a club’s success. Solid data entry from the staff and using reports that foreshadow the health of future draft payments is vital. When done, first draft attempts are highly successful. For those payments that do wind up declining (going past due) having an auto-system in place that flags these people in real time and sends auto-responders and blasts such as e-mails, while auto re-running declined charges, is powerful.
Creating a community that is based on some elements of fitness and wellness is helpful in engaging clients and/or adding a perceived value and enhanced user experience for the members. This can be done with some external integration in which your solution might tie in with another vendor to offer the clients a rich experience. Allowing the prospect or customer to log foods, track workouts, set goals, get rewarded for attending the club and redeem club points online are all examples of using software to enhance the user experience while helping with member growth and retention.
When looking to find a CMS, a club should focus on the basics that address the true core of their business, while making sure the provider they choose can handle those items 100 percent. If the solution has some new tools you have never employed involving (for example) online sales, adding prospects through an interactive kiosk, automated prospecting, etc., take a deep look into these items. There is a chance this can be applied to your business model in a way that benefits your club.
For more information from ClubReady, contact Chris Gallo, VP of Business Development at 1.800.405.4818 or chris@clubready.com.
EZFacility, Inc.
Club Management Software (CMS) can help with three main areas:
Streamlining operations: CMS streamlines the daily operations of health and fitness clubs by consolidating membership management, scheduling, billing, commission tracking, marketing and more, into one easy-to-use system. CMS increases employee productivity and benefits the overall success and profitability of a fitness business.
Centralizing member data: With all member information and statistics centralized, it is easy to develop reports that provide insight into club trends and assist in directing current marketing strategies. When all processes (memberships, scheduling, packages, billing, etc.) utilize the same database, there is a need to learn only one system instead of multiple ones. The learning curve for users is thereby reduced, making this vital source of revenue even more intuitive to manage.
Continuity and efficiency of staff: CMS ensures all staff members are in line with one process, lending stability to the club while increasing productivity. CMS increases staff efficiency by automating various functions in a club, thereby allowing staff to focus on member services. Additionally, it prevents loss of club knowledge in the case of staff turnover.
When looking for CMS, a club operator should look for a solution that will not just improve existing operations — it also should be capable of handling operational and business changes that the club may experience as its business grows. Club owners will also need to decide between a web-based (SaaS) system and a traditional in-house solution. Currently, web-based solutions are leading the way as they provide immediate business benefits with frequent updates, shorter deployment times and independence from IT. SaaS systems also come with affordable monthly pricing options and can be accessed from anywhere in the world.
Club operators should know that there is not just one “best” CMS solution for every business. They should take the time to evaluate their core business needs and define goals and objectives they expect to achieve with the software. Club operators should be prepared to be flexible, as some internal changes in process may need to occur to unlock the full potential of their new club management solution.
For more information from EZFacility, contact EZFacility, Inc. Emily Wilensky, Marketing Manager, at 1.866.498.3279 or info@ezfacility.com.
Stay ahead in the fitness industry with exclusive updates!
Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
