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9 Ways Club Software can Generate Revenue for Your Facility

By: Larry King

As competition increases, owners of health clubs, fitness studios, gyms, yoga studios, pilates studios, dance studios, karate studios, personal training studios and training studios are always looking for new ways to generate additional revenue. They might hire another sales rep, add a new service such as tanning, or expand their training program. Yet, rarely will an owner look at their member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, fitness studio management software system as another way to generate revenue. This article will focus on the features that you should look for in your club management system to generate additional monthly revenue. Software packages that do not have these features will lose potential revenue for your club.

Following are nine ways in which club software can generate revenue for your facility:

1. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Prescribed workouts: For members who prefer to workout on their own, or who will be out of town, good software will allow you to record weekly workouts for them, for a fee, generating additional revenue.
2. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Retention tools: Members who have not checked-in for a week, or who have not used their training packages in a week, are at-risk of not staying with the club. Member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, fitness studio management software should identify these members, and then facilitate emailing them as a group about the importance of staying healthy and working out. This will boost the retention rate and save your club money.
3. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Fitness assessments: The ability to record assessments is another great revenue-producing feature. Simple measurements, such as body weight, body fat percentage, and resting heart rate, can be performed on a regular basis and tracked over time. Providing the ability for members to login and view this information will help to motivate them and to keep health and fitness as part of their life (and they will stay a part of your facility). Instead of the standard training package for $800, you could sell a "gold" training package of 10 sessions for $850 that includes two assessments. If one member a week uses this service, you would generate an additional $50 per week, or $2,600 each year.
4. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Gift cards: Offering gift cards and tracking balances in the software helps channel members' spending to your club.
5. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Pre-paid accounts: Make it easier for members to purchase the products you are selling with pre-paid accounts. Members can add credit to their account by prepaying an amount, such as $25. By not having to handle money, members will be more inclined to pick up products like waters and health bars.
6. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Online class registration: Providing online class registration has two financial benefits. From the convenience of their own homes, members are more likely to view and sign-up for classes, which will sell more class openings. Also, online class registration can contribute to lowering your staffing costs, since the staff will no longer need to spend time on this function.
7. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Online product sales: Increase your product sales volume by enabling members to log-in from their own homes; view items on your product catalog, and make purchases from your catalog. Your staff can be notified of purchases, which they can provide when the member checks-in, or which they can mail to the member.
8. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Online educational videos or classes: Providing the opportunity for your members to view online educational videos, such as "How-to Properly Execute a Bench Press," is a great feature. For example, a yoga class could be recorded; provided online, and offered for a nominal fee of $5. Videos can be easily created and applied to a system in minutes. In addition to generating revenue, these services will also make your facility unique.
9. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Member Web accounts: Providing Web accounts for your members to view their membership information along with other useful tools is a great service. One tool that would engage members would be the capability for them to track and analyze their own running, swimming and cycling workouts, or their own strength workouts. Good software would also package several functions mentioned earlier in this article, such as: online class registration, videos, ability to view prescribed workouts, fitness assessments, membership contracts, and upcoming training sessions. You could price the package at $5 per month. Add the fee to an existing membership type and call it "gold." If 10% of your 500 members agree to use this service, you will generate an additional $250 per month.

These functions provide many tremendous revenue-generating opportunities for your facility. If your current member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, fitness studio management software system does not offer all of these great features, you are missing out on many opportunities to add growth to your business. Look for software that combines all of these great features in one, complete software package.

Larry King is the Founder and CEO of Shape.Net Software. He can be contacted at 800.381.2082, or by email at sales@getshape.net, or visit www.getshape.net.

Complete Software Helps your Business Grow

By: Larry King

Health clubs, fitness studios, gyms, yoga studios, pilates studios, dance studios, karate studios, personal training studios and training studios that are not using member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, fitness studio management software, or are not using quality software, are missing out on tremendous opportunities to grow their business. In the health club industry, we all look for ways to manage and grow our companies. Yet, this challenge becomes more difficult if you are not utilizing all the tools needed for this task.

For example, complete member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software can help your club by:

1. Communicating with members who have not checked in to your facility in two weeks;
2. Communicating with members that have not trained in seven days;
3. Scheduling members with trainers, and tracking the sessions used;
4. Tracking inventory of products;
5. Analyzing buying habits of members.

And, those are just some of the ways in which complete member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, fitness studio management software can contribute collectively to the growth of your business.

In order to work most effectively and efficiently for your club, a complete software program should include the following functions, reports and tools:

1. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Membership Tracking: Track and record membership information. Easily find members that are expiring in current and future months. See new members, cancelled members, renews and reopens for any time period to analyze the growth of your business. Utilize digital contracts with signature capture.
2. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Check-In: Check members in using cutting-edge technologies, such as a laser scanner or biometric fingerprint reader. Screens provide your front desk with the ability to easily identify members that who owe money, or to remind them of services that are being offered.
3. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Member Web Accounts: Members can login to their own personal accounts where they can view: their membership information; fitness assessments, along with processed and upcoming training sessions; register for classes online, and workouts prescribed by trainers. Members can even track and analyze cardio and strength workouts, and view videos.
4. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Personal Training and Scheduling: Track training packages purchased; trainer payroll, and weekly sessions, processes by members or trainers. Schedule members with trainers and track sessions. Identify members who are not training or who have not trained in seven days and send an email blast to all.
5. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Fitness Assessments: Provide easy-to-use tools to measure a member’s progress by recording measurements over a period of time. Measurements can include blood pressure, body fat, various body measurements, push-ups, and before-and-after images.
6. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Point-of-Sale: Process product purchases, track inventory; employ a quick, laser-scan process; track member purchases. Review reports that detail product profit margins for selected time frames.
7. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Electronic Funds Transfer(EFT): Process monthly paying members electronically via credit cards and electronic checks to make your monthly billing process very easy.
8. Prospecting: Track and record prospects and log all prior communications and contacts with prospects.
9. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Retention Tools: Identify members who have not checked into your facility in over two weeks; those who have not trained in seven days; those who have not had a fitness assessment in two months; those who have upcoming birthdays, and email blast them all. Also, identify prior guests of your facility to communicate the benefits of joining to them.
10. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Analytical Reports: Calculate statistics for each member, such as average monthly check-in; average monthly training sessions; average monthly class attendance. Identify high-users and low-users of your facility and communicate with them accordingly. Track weekly employee hours, track the employee time clock, and track facility usage by day and hour.
11. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Methods of Payment: Process and track the following payment types: credit cards, eChecks (bank debits), pre-paid accounts, gift cards, gift certificates, cash and paper check.
12. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Videos: Provide videos, including: how-to videos on executing various workouts, and personalized videos for individual members.
13. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide several Miscellaneous Stuff: Track and record gift cards and keep track of card balances. Allow members to pre-pay their account so that counter purchases, for water and health bars, are easy.

Collectively, all of these functions, reports and tools will improve your club’s daily operations; provide ways to improve your retention, and offer additional, valuable services to your members. If you do not have member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, fitness studio management software that is complete and offers these types of abilities for your business, your daily operations will be time-consuming and error prone. Don’t miss out on your club’s opportunities to market to prospects; improve retention rates, and offer more revenue-generating services. Look for software that is complete so that your daily operations will be a smoother process in your quest to grow your business to the next level. Look for a software vendor that has a good track record of working with clients to provide customized solutions based on specific requests.

Larry King is the founder and CEO of Shape.Net Software. He can be contacted at 800.381.2082, or by email larryking@getshape.net, or visit www.getshape.net.

11 Must-Have Features for Personal Training Software

By: Larry King

Health clubs, fitness studios, gyms, yoga studios, pilates studios, dance studios, karate studios, personal training studios and training studios that are not using member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, fitness studio management software to manage their training program are missing out on opportunities to grow their business. Good personal training software will more effectively manage your club’s training program - saving you time with your daily operations. Good software will provide tools to involve more club members (or training studio clients) in the training program which will drive your member retention rates higher. And, good software will offer additional services to members to generate additional monthly revenue for your club.

The following are 11 must-have features to look for in personal training software:

1. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should be Web-based software: The benefits of web-based software include: accessing the system from any computer; offering members and trainers access to their own personal web accounts, and providing services that can be sold to members.
2. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Scheduling: Training software should make it easy to schedule appointments by the day, week, month and year, and apply session results such as a "Done", "No-show" or a "Late-cancel". Good software will track each member’s package session count and automatically email notifications to members when sessions are winding down. Additionally, look for the ability to log a prescribed workout for a given day while also viewing the details of the last workout.
3. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Trainer payroll: Save time and remove errors by letting the software calculate trainer payroll. Look for the ability to have graded pay tiers for each trainer based on the number of sessions trained, and the ability to pay by the session or by a percentage of the session value.
4. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Training analysis retention reports: Personal training software should easily identify those clients who have purchased a training package, and yet have not trained in over a week. The system should be able to send this group a re-engaging email, reminding them of the importance of working out with a trainer on a consistent basis. Another great feature is the ability to identify members that do not have a training package and collectively send them an email.
5. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Trainer activity reports: Growing the training program requires solid information on what the trainers are doing. Training software should completely track what each trainer does. For each trainer and for any timeframe, administrators should be able to see how many sessions a trainer did, and the number of no-shows or late-cancels there were (at a minimum). This can help administrators spot red flags - for example, it will reveal that a particular trainer has excessive no-shows. Reports like these provide administrators and owners with the ability to easily monitor weekly operations - saving time and minimizing administrative mistakes to make a training program better.
6. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Virtual workouts: Trainers should be able to post weekly workout prescriptions for members. Members should then be able to access those workout prescriptions from a computer at home or anywhere else. This is a great service to offer as reinforcement to the primary one-on-one personal training, or to offer to members who are not yet ready to work with a trainer, but would pay for a service that included professional guidance.
7. Videos: Software should make educational training videos viewable by members - preferably through each member’s own web account. Videos can provide invaluable reinforcement for primary learning with a personal trainer, and can help members learn the fundamentals needed for more advanced exercises. This would be a great service to sell to your members, generating additional revenue for the facility.
8. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Fitness assessments: Training software should track and record fitness assessments, providing comparison to prior measurements taken. Before-and-after pictures of members are also very useful. Another important software feature would be to easily identify members who have not been assessed, or those who are due for an assessment, and to email them reminders that also review the benefits.
9. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Trainer log-in: All trainers should have web access to the software to: view their personal schedule; log session results; track their payroll, and to have contact data for each of their clients.
10. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Member log-in: Members should be able to log-in to: track upcoming scheduled appointments; view fitness assessments; view videos; track workouts, and view prescribed workouts from trainers. This is a great service to sell to members for a nominal fee of $5 per month.
11. Your member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software should provide Segregate training revenue and expenses: All financial reports should be able to easily extract the financials associated with personal training, providing the ability to monitor the growth of the program.

Taken collectively, these features provide all the software tools needed to help your training program grow. The 11 must-have software features will:

1. Save you time by making the tracking of your daily operations easier.
2. Drive your member retention rates higher by making it easier to communicate and to engage your members.
3. Generate additional revenue for your facility by providing great additional services that your members can purchase. Look for the features described above to give you all the software tools you need to provide the best personal training program possible for your members and clients.

Larry King is the Founder and CEO of Shape.Net Software. He can be contacted at 800.381.2082, or by email at sales@getshape.net, or visit www.getshape.net.

The Future is Now With Internet-Based Software

By: Larry King

The benefits are overwhelming, yet the movement to the Web with member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, fitness studio management software in the health club industry has been painfully slow. The purpose of this article is to give the reader a better understanding of the Internet along with describing some benefits of Web-based member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, fitness studio management software. After reading this article, you will see why 2006 will be a breakout year for these types of systems.

Understanding the Internet

The Internet is basically a bunch of computers linked together through a network providing computer users in different locations access to the same information. All you need is an ISP (Internet Service Provider) and an Internet browser (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer).

The simple, yet powerful concept of Web-based software systems allows businesses to access their software systems from any computer connected to the Internet. A Web-based system is also securely accessible from home or any remote area. Plus, multiple computers can access the system without the complexities of networks and licensing issues which would be of issue with a PC-based system.

Safety and security should not hold you back in choosing a Web-based software system since most companies that host the systems will back-up data every night, and maintain the latest anti-virus software on their computers. Ironically, if you have a PC-based system storing data locally on your computer, the chances are higher that you will have some type of data problems or network issues. With a PC-based system, for your data to be safe and secure you need to back-up your data every night (to avoid loss from theft, fire or flood); move the back-up to another location, and keep your PC current with the latest networking, anti-virus and spyware software (if your computer is open to the Internet). The point is, your business needs are best met if you focus on your business - such as retaining and getting new members - and let another company take care of your system and data - preferably one that specializes in the process. Many businesses all over the world are seeing the benefits of taking this approach.

Benefits of Web-based Software

There are several benefits that Web-based software provides and the best way to clearly see them is to compare them directly to a PC-based system. A PC-based system would have software installed on a local computer at your facility while an Internet-based system would have software installed on a remote server that can be accessed through the Internet utilizing a browser and an assigned domain (such as www.TheGym.net). The following are the key benefits to an Internet-based club management system:

1. Easy, Secure Access: Internet based systems do not need costly and problematic network configurations for multiple computers to access the system that PC-based systems require. Any computer with an Internet connection can access the system securely with the proper user ID and password. This lets you easily add other computers to access the system without worrying about network configurations or additional licensee fees that can cost thousands of dollars.
2. Member Benefits: Internet-based systems can provide services that will let members connect to the system remotely to access their data securely. This will provide opportunities you can offer to new or existing members that are not available with a PC-based system. Examples would be: tracking cardio workouts, including total mileage; tracking strength workouts and muscles used; tracking fitness assessments, and registering for classes online. All of these examples collectively add value for a member at your facility. A PC-based system could not offer these services. Why would an owner not want to offer these services to a member?
3. Powerful Information: Internetbased systems are most effective with consolidating information for facilities that have more than one location. Suppose an owner had 10 facilities. With each system being Web-based, an owner can access each system from one location easily and securely. Analytical reports can be easily designed comparing each facility to each other which will ultimately provide powerful information that can be used to most effectively manage each location better.

To run your facility most effectively, look for member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, fitness studio management software that has all functions completely integrated and accessible via the Web, in other words, online, to maximize the enormous power and opportunities of the Internet. All types of businesses are moving toward the Internet as they are realizing the tremendous benefits of Web-based member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, fitness studio management software. At some point virtually all health clubs will have an online member management software, club management software, gym management software, business management software, and fitness studio management software. What are you waiting for?

Larry King is the Founder and CEO of Shape.Net Software. He can be contacted at 800.381.2082, or by email at sales@getshape.net, or visit www.getshape.net.

The Techno Club: Next Genereration Software

By: Larry King

Technology is moving fast. In order to be successful, you need to utilize effective Software features that are now emerging in the fitness industry. Every business owner is always looking for new ways to make their business more profitable and to manage it effectively. One of the most overlooked areas that owners should be looking at is management software.

Detailed below are 10 great features to look for in Next-Gen management software for the fitness industry.

1. Digital contracts: The old way to handle membership or service agreements at a gym is to have the client physically sign a paper contact. The gym will need to store the physical contract somewhere in the gym. A better way is to have the contract digitally signed in the system utilizing a digital signature pad. The contract will now be securely stored in the software system becoming easily accessible to your staff.
2. Door access: Secure access to your facility using access control from a door can reduce staffing costs while delivering 24/7 access to valid clients. The important point is that your management software integrates with your door access system so you are not managing multiple databases. Based on the types of memberships you offer, you can control access to locker rooms, swimming pools, tanning machines, daycare and other locations throughout your facility. This enables club owners to efficiently offer their members safe, round-the-clock access to your health facilities.
3. Fingerprint access: A great way to check members in is by way of fingerprint scan. This makes it easy for the member since it’s pretty hard to forget his fingers on the way to the gym. It also creates the impression that your facility is cutting edge and will make you stand out when compared to other gyms.
4. EFT - Electronic Funds Transfer: Consistent monthly revenue is what many successful companies look for. NextGen EFT software should provide two very important things for your business. First, provide the ability to process Credit cards and eChecks (bank debits) inexpensively. Very good rates to look for would be about 2.1% for credit cards and $.25 for an eCheck. Any rates substantially higher than that Are not cost effective for your business. Secondly, you should look for the ability to bill, on a monthly basis, memberships and services (such as training and massages). The software should provide the ability to handle this entire process in about 15 minutes every month. The important point to note is that you should have the ability to control this yourself each month with the option to run this as many times as you want without any additional charges.
5. Auto emails: Sending automated emails to your clients or prospects based on certain actions is one of the most effective ways to continue to grow your business. For example, having an email automatically sent when a member has 2 sessions remaining on a training package will increase the probability of them purchasing more sessions to continue their fitness program. If this task is left up to your staff, they will sometimes forget to do this. Having your management software automatically send this out for this scenario, or other types of scenarios, will generate more revenue for your business.
6. Collections: Spending time chasing clients who won’t pay you is costly and time-consuming. A great software feature to have is the ability to quickly find delinquent clients and electronically send this file to an effective collections company from your management software.
7. Member web access: Providing your members with web access to various services and personal account information is becoming very important to your members during this internet revolution that we are now living in. Your management software should be fully integrated with this feature. Great services that can be offered to your members would be videos on how to perform exercises, ability to prescribe weekly workouts, viewing fitness assessments, making purchases, registering for classes and registering for training appointment based on trainer availability. Many of the features described can be offered in a way to generate additional monthly revenue. For example, you can offer a Gold membership for an extra $10 per month. This will include access to instructional videos and weekly prescribed workouts that will help them achieve their goals. If you get 25 members to do this, you will generate an additional $250 per month. This concept will typically be able to pay for the software. In other words, the software used to run your business will not be an expense, it will be a profit center !!!
8. Videos: With the strong emergence of YouTube, videos are an easy and effective way to communicate with your members. NextGen software should provide the ability to easily create and link to a member’s account for easy access for a member. You can create personalized workouts and/or messages that a member would be willing to pay a service fee for to help them achieve their goals.
9. RSS feeds: RSS is a technology that dynamically creates updated content on particular subjects. For example, you can have RSS feeds that produce health and fitness articles for the member login Area. A member can login everyday and he or she will be able to view new articles about health and fitness. This will encourage them to login each day to see what is new in health and fitness.
10. Web-based system: The most important feature regarding NextGen software is that the system is web-based. This will provide many opportunities for your business to take advantage of the power of the internet. With an internet based system you can monitor your facility from anywhere in the world. You can offer services to your member s (see #7: Member Web Access) that will generate revenue. Your valuable business data will be secure and backed up daily by professionals that are in the technology business. If you have more than one facility, you will be able to view valuable information from one report that will enable you to see all the revenue produced from all facilities for any time period.

The greatest value of NextGen software is having ALL of the functions needed to run your business packaged together in one management system. Providing that along with making sure the system is web-based will provide an owner with a much better chance of operating their business most effectively. This will help the owner of a health facility achieve the goals of what most are looking for: making many and helping people achieve their fitness goals. What a great industry we are all in. Great NextGen software will help you to excel in this industry.