Bart Budyn, the sales and marketing manager at InTouch Technology, shares what club operators should be looking for when considering a CRM.
Ever wonder how a customer relationship management software (CRM) impacts a fitness club’s sales process and overall revenue? And what should club operators be looking for today when considering a CRM?
Danielle became a club owner in 2020 just before the pandemic. Prior to owning her club she worked in the fitness industry for two decades. First as a membership representative, then a sales manager and finally a district manager of a large corporate chain. During her experience she saw first hand the shift from manual processes to the implementation of technology to help with sales.
Danielle had the privilege to use several CRM solutions and noticed that not all systems are the same. Some were very easy to use, but limited in functionality. Some offered a lot of features, but were not user friendly. Others initially seemed like the perfect fit, but lacked reporting and key KPIs. So when Danielle had to develop her own sales process in the midst of a pandemic, she looked at four key components for a perfect CRM.
Simplicity
Keeping the process simple and easy to use will increase team buy-in and adaptability. She saw that when the CRM was plug-n-play there were minimal implementation challenges, less product training and usage was maximized.
Reporting
A sales process requires accountability for results to happen. Robust reporting with the right KPIs allows operators to maintain a health pulse of their club especially during the pandemic.
Dedicated Support Team
Most club operators don’t have a dedicated IT department and rely heavily on vendor support. Support has to be responsive to resolve incoming requests and available for calls to discuss technical issues in more detail. Support is responsible for handling errors, user issues and any other technical problems.
Integration Driven
The pandemic has driven clubs online and created more demand for online services and platforms. The CRM needs to be fully integrated with club management systems (CMS), marketing funnels, guest kiosks, websites, social media, apps and many others. The integration should be able to talk to each system seamlessly and feed data into the CRM for immediate follow up, marketing analysis and reporting. This capability has to be robust, real-time and accurate.
Danielle’s club is still open and has thrived amidst the pandemic. She can quantify the direct impact a CRM has on her bottom line. Danielle found that with the right CRM vendor, she was able to maintain high engagement with prospects and members. This activity helped to increase new membership acquisition up to 40% during the peak of the pandemic and helped maintain low member attrition.
The fitness industry will always remain a people and relationship-based business. A CRM should enhance that concept. It is a vital tool which combines people, relationships, and technology to support teams to maximize their brand exposure, capture and share vital data, and communicate easily with both members and prospects. Therefore, you could say the impact to change more lives through fitness is dramatically increased with a CRM.
