3 Steps To Choosing the Best Gym Management Software
Let’s be entirely honest, nobody wants to spend tons of time looking for the best gym management software. There’s too many out there and too many episodes of Game Of Thrones left to watch.
There’s not a 12 Step Checklist needed to decide ‘Is this software right for me?’ It’s an important decision but it doesn’t need to be complicated. As always, we love being straight-forward so let’s get down to it. Let’s look at the 3 must-knows when choosing a fitness software.
1. Zoom Out, Then Assess Your Needs
Briefly analyze the goals of your business over the course of the next few months and then over the next two years. It could be a long list or short, it doesn’t matter. A good fitness business should have short term goals with a long term focus. Grow Overall Membership by 10% each quarter, hit yearly revenue milestone, open a second location, hire new staff and keep admin hours to less than 2 per week etc. Now simplify and pick the 3 most important things from that list. This is your ‘Why’. It should drive all your decision-making from here on out.
Now zoom in.
What are the functions you need in a system to get you to your ultimate goals? You may have a long list of ‘needs’ but really dig deep and find the core functionality you must have in a system. Why not include the whole list? Same reason as above, prioritizing your top 3–5 things helps clarify what matters most to you. More importantly, it clarifies where the software you’re choosing should be strongest and not just serviceable.
2. What Does The Software REALLY Do?
I call this ‘getting to the damn point’. Too much of the industry has become everyone saying they can do everything. That just isn’t true and it’s misleading. Oftentimes a system lists a functionality it has but it’s at the bare minimum. Some may say they have a ‘‘Social Platform’ because you can like a workout or custom reporting while missing key business metrics. This is hardly transparent to the customer. So do some brief researching, Facebook User Groups are most helpful, asking friends, looking at user reviews, all the things you already know. After you’ve completed this, you should have a handle on what companies are of interest.
You now have your ultimate goals, your key software requirements to achieve these goals, and a short list of companies to investigate further.
It’s time to request some demos. Due your due diligence and try to line up at least 2 or 3 of your potential partners. Don’t overwhelm yourself with 8 vendors. Make sure you have your goals and core functionality in front of you(or your significant other whispering questions in your ear instead of into the speaker themselves) during the call. Either way works. Ask detailed questions across the core functionality you need and make sure you fully understand what the software can and cannot due in these areas. If the software checks off other boxes outside the prioritized functions, great, that’s a bonus. The attention right now should be on grasping the key elements you need and will help avoid info overload when browsing areas of lesser interests.
3. Onboarding & Post-Sale Support
You’re getting close to make a decision based on your demos. The third, and often overlooked, step in this process is knowing what happens after you say ‘Yes’. What does the onboarding process look like? Is there import assistance or are you at the mercy of the database gods, untangling memberships and members and importing them one by one? What about performance data? Will your members lose all that? How long will this process take? What if you need help?
Many fitness and member management software companies put the responsibility on the gym owner to get their data collected, exported, imported and rearranged inside the new system properly. Some are completely hands off once you sign on. We’re completely the opposite and actually do all of the above for you but it’s important to understand what that process would look like for your gym and members,. Ensuring no gaps on the customer-side and a smooth, easy transition with dedicated staff is one of the best things a company can offer to any busy gym owner.
Finally, confirm what response times look like for customer support. If you have an issue, which is virtually inevitable with how busy many gyms are, will you have to wait days for a response and resolution? At TRIIB, we measure our response times minutes, not in hours or days. Other companies have also started to improve their customer support efforts and it’s something that should considered during the final decision. If you haven’t gotten a good feel for the customer support already, ask this. Clarify this. Ask this again. Then make your choice!
If you’re in the market for a software, we’d love you to take a look around our site and see what we’re about. Listen to our elite-level gym partners like Reebok CrossFit One or One EW and understand our straightforward and transparent approach with you during the entire sales process is no charade. It’s who we are. We’re not the perfect system for every gym but we’ve established a track record as one of the best gym management softwares because of this methodology along with our suite of tools, automation, member process flows, and user-friendly design. Explore more about TRIIB HERE.
We wish you the best on your fitness journey!
.
© Triib Inc. 2017
