MINDBODY has gone mobile with MINDBODY Express, an app available on iTunes and Google play, and Beverly Athletic Club in Beverly, Massachusetts, is along for the ride.
“We’ve been a MINDBODY client and it kind of evolved from that point,” said Andrew Gallant, the general manager of Beverly Athletic Club. “We’ve always been a very tech savvy, technology driven [club] — whatever we can do to kind of streamline our processes and make them easier.” As a result, when MINDBODY’s staff told Gallant about MINDBODY Express, he decided to experiment with it.
MINDBODY Express has allowed the club and its staff to be more mobile and flexible. Gallant said they use the CMS app for such things as managing trainer and massage therapist’s schedules and checking in members for personal training sessions. In addition, it has helped with the initial boarding process and profiling of members.
Overall, the app is able to fulfill various needs of a club. “MINDBODY Express will manage everything from scheduling, client management, reporting, payroll, marketing and analytics, all from the mobile device,” said Georgia Suter, the media relations program manager at MINDBODY. “It’s essentially business management to go – everything is at your fingertips.”
The mobility of the CMS app has allowed Beverly Athletic Club to get on a deeper level with its members. “It’s definitely making us more connected; we’re not drilled down to a desk anymore, so we can be out in the field, on the floor easier,” said Gallant. “Even out in the community we’re connected and able to sell memberships, whether at a community event [or a] block party, so it’s helping on that end.”
Plus, the app means trainers don’t have to run from the fitness floor to a computer. They can take care of members where they’re at. “With Express, staff members can sign clients in and process payments right from the mobile device … in what’s called the ‘customer comfort zone,’” said Suter. “This makes interactions more personal and increases the number of face-to-face exchanges.”
Gallant only sees the club getting more mobile as MINDBODY Express evolves. “Because it’s an app, our trainers have smartphones and tablets so they’re able to not have to be at a desk,” he said. “In all honesty probably going forward, we’ll trim the computers we physically have since the app is growing and they’re adding features.”
By using the app, Gallant said it not only streamlines the boarding process, but it also has allowed Beverly Athletic Club to become more environmentally friendly. “Basically, as a guest comes into our club, they fill out the waiver within the app, so it’s already in our system,” he said. “So it’s also made us greener.”
With all of the above in mind, Gallant said clubs need to look to the future when it comes to CMS. “Basically if your software isn’t mobile, it’s restrictive,” he said. “And I think that that’s where [MINDBODY] is taking their technology. You don’t want people just sitting in offices. You have to be out there and engaging.”
