When Matt O’Neill, the co-founder and president of Zivel Performance and Recovery, started looking for a new club management software, he wasn’t just looking for features — he was looking for a partnership that shares his company’s values. He found that in ClubReady.
“I was looking for a family, a company that has the ideals that we have,” said O’Neill. “Do they have all the stuff that’s going to allow us to be better at what we do, but at the same time have compassion?”
Below, O’Neill shares what drew his company to ClubReady six months ago, advice for other operators thinking about making the switch and more.
What problem did ClubReady help to fix or what solution did they provide?
The main one from a functionality standpoint was the pre-sale capabilities. We were very limited on what other programs could do. They all said they could do a lot of things. What I’ve learned is that when a programmer says they can do something, what they mean is they have the ability to do it, but maybe in the fourth quarter of next year. What we were truly looking for was how to do our pre-sales the way we had in mind. We opened up with them in January 2025 and by February the first locations that were getting rolled in started pre-sales immediately. We’ve just been rocking and rolling since then. It put all of our locations ahead of the curve, so that was number one.
The next one was proper reporting. When you look at money, data transfers and information being sent over to bank accounts, nothing matched. Nothing was accurate across the board, but that’s what we get with ClubReady. With them we have a lot of different versions and variations of reporting but it’s all accurate. Looking at every location and how it’s divided out is really important for me as a franchisor so they can plan on marketing spend.
The next one hasn’t come to fruition yet because we’re working on it, but another thing I was looking for was a company developed enough to expand to where we’re heading. Everybody treats us like a gym, and we’re not a gym. We’re doing cryotherapy, infrared saunas and red light — every room is its own thing as opposed to a gym where you have 40 or 50 people in one room. What ClubReady is doing is they’re actually going through and building out a robust system that’s designed for us and our needs to be able to grow with us in the future. They even see recovery as the next wave of what’s coming across the country in health and wellness, so we’re just proud to be a part of that. That family, partnership and close-knit interaction is what we’re shooting for.
How would you describe ClubReady’s customer service?
Top notch. It’s No. 1. I have cell phone numbers of basically everybody and they actually pick up when I call which is really awesome. Again, that’s that family type of thing. From the moment we got engaged, they’re getting their stuff done very well-organized, well-structured, streamlined and extremely helpful. When we’re calling and asking questions and they’re dealing with so many different personalities and everybody has their own ideas, we never get this pushback of they can’t do it or don’t want to do it. There’s nothing like that. It’s always this willingness and desire to help, and that’s super refreshing. Then once we actually open, customer service continues, we have local owners going in and putting in support tickets and within that day they’re getting answers. People are helping them, directing them to watch this video or do this thing. It’s very robust and poignant. They respond very quickly and effectively to everything we need.
What would you tell other operators in the health and wellness space about working with ClubReady or why they should go with them over others?
I guess I just go back to the main things that I’m looking for in my definition of family. They pick up the phone, they help you out, they’re always willing to give you the shirt off their back, if you will. That’s the approach. It’s not a gimmick with this company, it’s actually their approach. It’s who they hire, it’s who they bring into the company from top down. I’ve met everybody from the owners on down, and every single person has the same attitude. It’s really astonishing to me that other companies can’t do that. It seems like other companies get riled and kind of backed up in bureaucracy, and programmers and people start carving out their own little niches. Everybody wants to do what they can to help because they understand that if they can help solve this one pain point for us, at least with our interaction, they know that’s probably going to help us operate more efficiently, and if we do, we’re going to help more people.
It’s not about a program, it’s about the end game, which is Zivel running well so we can help more people decrease pain, stress and anxiety. That’s really the approach that we take with it and I’ve never heard them say that’s a bad idea or they can’t do that. I have heard them say let’s figure out how we can get them into the next iteration. That type of attitude is really what I’m looking for as well. And for me, just a side caveat to all of that is the consistency of who we’re talking to. Again, I’ve worked with so many companies, and every two months I’m getting a brand new account manager. I haven’t heard that one time in six months with ClubReady. Everybody is stable, and they’re bringing more people in but that just adds to the team versus replacing people, and so I think they built a culture that breeds longevity because the focus is in the right area.
