When you start a business it’s normal to ignore the amount of time spent on admin. Everything is still new so you take ownership to get it right. Every client payment, and every class booking, feel important to hold onto for fear of making a mistake that could slow your progress, and you aren’t as busy so you don’t find it hard to keep in control.
Once you have become established, you start to see more patterns. Tough clients, late payers, no-shows to classes. Things become repetitive and this gives you insight into what can be improved.
What if you could save hours on admin every week? Would that create more opportunity to promote your business? Would you value more free time?
Here are five things that you can address, based on our experiences of working with thousands of fitness business owners, that will help you take greater control of your business:
1. No shows
Empty spaces in your classes equals lost revenue and potential. Many businesses still allow drop-in sessions, and this is the number one reason for lost revenue on drop-ins.
How to improve
Sell class packs that are automatically tracked against attendance. Restrict membership usage so ‘unlimited’ still means accountable. Only allow pre-payment, meaning that you still get paid for a class that a client doesn’t show up to.
2. Chasing payments
In 2016 we surveyed hundreds of business owners and found that one of things that they disliked the most was chasing payments.
The main problems are around clients missing payments, and then not following up. The key is how you enforce your rules. A big barrier is the personal pressure of asking people for money – both you and your client end up feeling embarrassed by the situation.
How to improve
The easiest way to improve this in your business is to utilise software and online payments. This takes the personal chasing out of the process, and allows you to save huge amounts of admin time by enabling clients to manage their own accounts.
You could also consider recurring payments. This removes even more admin, although quality software will be able to automatically track usage on class packs, so it’s not the only solution. Recurring payments will help you build a consistent turnover that will help cashflow.
3. Scheduling and tracking
Keeping track of which client is due in which class can be a big headache for a growing business.
When you add the complexity of keeping track of different membership options and clients messaging with cancellations or changes to classes, it can be a very challenging part of a business.
How to improve
Track everything using an online system. Manage payments, memberships and attendance seamlessly. Use reporting to track your customers, and to highlight any people that should be watched. Use automations to reach out to people who have stopped attending to encourage them back.
4. Empty spaces in classes
Along with no-shows, there are other reasons that classes have empty spaces. Once you have people booking in and managing their class spaces, there are opportunities to make sure that you keep your busiest classes full.
How to improve
Implement an automated waiting list system. This means that when class spaces become available, you already have clients ready to fill them.
Teamup also has several integrations with class aggregators, like MoveGB. This can be a good way to fill other empty spaces in your less busy classes.
5. Is it easy for your clients to book?
When businesses start out, it’s easy to keep on top of communications. It’s easy to remember names and details about clients. As things grow, then this becomes harder to do with consistency.
Some categories of clients appreciate being able to manage their own accounts, and not have to wait for responses for simple requests like re-arranging a class, or changing their payment details.
How to improve
Use an online system on your website to allow clients to manage every aspect of their account. This allows them the freedom to make changes at any time of day, and to have a more professional relationship with your business.
Who are we?
We make software that’s easy to use and makes it simple to manage any size of fitness business – studios, gyms, boxes.
We focus on customer success and are dedicated to helping you achieve your business goals.
“I recommend teamup to anyone who’ll listen! You guys have pretty much thought of everything. Even a year on I’m still impressed by the features of the system, it has probably automated 90% of my class and finance admin”
Melanie Christou, Melanie Christou Pilates
Why?
If you’re like most people we meet in the industry, you are running your business because you like helping people. Money isn’t the primary motivation, but you would like to earn more.
Here are some things that we encounter when we speak to hundreds of business owners every week:
1. High stress levels. Not enough time to make changes. Late nights sorting out admin and messaging with clients.
2. No clear knowledge of income or client segments. Know that missed payments are a problem, but have sometimes let go of older ones because things move on.
3. Difficulty keeping track of who is supposed to be in which class, and clients lost without realising it due to admin overload.
Teamup’s software and interactive widget allows you to achieve this on any website. Clients can book and pay, as well as manage their accounts. When class starts, you are free to focus on delivering an excellent experience, rather than dealing with admin like chasing payments.
We hope these points are helpful in the next steps of designing your business. To find out more about teamup, and to schedule a demo, and a 30 day free trial, please visit: https://goteamup.com/pfw/
*by using the special link from Pro-Fitness Web Design in this article, you qualify for a £50 credit against your new account.