Why is My Company Only Using 25 Percent of its Software Capability?

We constantly pay for products and services that if fully utilized, could dramatically increase revenue and decrease costs. Why do we do this? Perhaps we are too busy, perhaps it is easier to react as opposed to being proactive, perhaps it is the path of least resistance or perhaps we are unaware of the possibilities. Whatever the reason, there is a solution — utilizing 75 percent of a solid, user-friendly management software, which will result in tremendous improvement to your bottom line.

The health club industry is rapidly progressing. The following technologies are what very profitable businesses are using to be successful: online joining, member dashboards, new benchmarks in reporting, kiosks, enhanced data, prospecting, email blasts and website integration. These all are being used effectively. In addition, interfacing with social media and the integration of booking or scheduling are all making dramatic improvements in bottom line revenue.

First of all, make sure your management software company provides training and support as part of the package. A partner that works with you through coaching and identifying the pathway to enhancing your capabilities and information is essential. It is extremely rare for club operators to experiment with the software and stumble upon profit-making capabilities without being coached on solutions and methods. Here are a couple of areas in which management software can help you improve. Trust me — the clubs of tomorrow are using these strategies to gain more revenue and reduce costs.

Reports: Identify 12 reports that your business will be looking at on a regular basis to monitor your progress. Make sure they are formatted, organized and customized to best fit your club’s needs. A successful business must look at checks and balances of data to be sure your sales match the dollars received, and to be sure your staff is doing their job at the front desk. Key measurements are prospecting, close percentage, commission volume and activity in membership. In addition, don’t forget to keep an eye on personal training cancellations, bookings, reschedules, attainment of bonuses and up-sales.

Follow-Up: Management software that notifies members when personal training or small group sessions are getting low is essential. Providing an opportunity for a customer to re-sign will always result in greater sales, versus allowing the customer to initiate the buying decision. In addition, this helps take some of the load off of the trainer to remember to remind a client their sessions are almost up.

In addition, a huge sales opportunity is to follow-up with past members, prospects and inquiries. You must have a formal system that regularly contacts them and provides special offers. Many successful companies have special offers connected to their website, and their website address is connected to other social media outlets to provide a leap frog to sales.

Successful companies have a software system that incorporates these technological strategies into their business model, and as a result are more profitable.

Contact your management software company and discover how you can go from using 25 percent of your software’s capabilities to at least 75 percent. In addition to reports and follow-up, there are many areas in which management software can help your business succeed.

David Porter has been a sales consultant at Twin Oaks Software Development for many years. Previously he ran several businesses, including Suburban Athletic Club outside of Boston, which he co-owned and operated for 10 years. He can be reached at 860.829.6000 or dporter@tosd.com.