In the modern fitness industry, gym management software has become must-have for clubs looking to successfully grow, manage and retain their membership bases. Not only does gym software save time and increase revenue for gym owners and operators, members also benefit from increased convenience, control, and insight about their fitness journey and memberships.
The best gym management software isn’t just about features, however. You need to ensure that your software of choice is easy to use, can integrate into all areas of your club, and can be tailored to your specific business model and members. With so many platforms available, there’s a huge range of capabilities available. But which ones are the most essential?
In this article, we’ll break down what gym management software is, how it might benefit your club, and the most essential features to look out for when looking for the right system for your gym.
What Is Gym Management Software?
In simple terms, gym management software is a platform that offers tools and functionality to help gym owners manage their fitness businesses, engage their members, and increase their revenue. In many cases, the software is a key essential ingredient to unlock sustainable business growth and make informed decisions based on member behaviour and preferences.
It offers you control over many areas of managing your gym, including:
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Marketing
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Prospecting and sales enablement
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Billing, membership collection and finances
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Booking and scheduling staff and member management
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Access control
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Member engagement
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Member retention
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Loyalty programmes and member rewards
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Member onboarding
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A member app
The best gym membership software is easy to use, integrated, and intuitive. You should be able to do everything necessary to run your gym, from daily operations to long-term strategies. Your software should help you identify and address challenges and turn them into opportunities for major growth.
RELATED ARTICLE : 5 Challenges of Owning a Gym and How to Overcome Them
What Are the Benefits of Gym Management Software?
Can your business gain advantages by using gym management software? Absolutely. Here are just some of the ways that software can benefit your business:
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Simplify processes that are complex or require manual work. Member management, along with booking and scheduling, can be cumbersome without support from automation. If staffing shortages are slowing things down, this feature streamlines the process. As a result, you’ll save time and increase productivity.
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Boost member acquisition. Gaining new customers and keeping existing ones are equally important in keeping your business profitable. Gym management software can drive your marketing and promotional efforts in one centralised spot. This means you’ll be able to launch campaigns and measure them effectively. Importantly, it also means that you’ll be able to make tweaks to your campaigns based on accurate data to maximise your returns.
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Keep members engaged. Member engagement is key to long term loyalty and retention. One great feature within your software of choice would be one which includes a branded member app. A member app engages your customer base beyond the four walls of your club, offers increased convenience, and allows members more control over their fitness journey. With your own branded app, members will be more likely to stay engaged and make your gym part of their daily routine.
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Optimise onboarding of members. With a strategic onboarding plan you can create in your software, new members immediately get valuable information and an easy way to get started. Online joining options that allow members to sign up digitally make it easier and faster for them to onboard. They provide a stellar first impression of your club that will pay dividends in the long run.
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Retain your members Member retention is a big deal in the gym industry. According to one report, only one third of new members still regularly attend the gym after 6 months of their membership, so keeping your members paying customers could make a huge difference to your bottom line. Having a gym management software that can analyse how, when and why your members are churning out could be the difference between success and failure.
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Streamline financials. Invoicing and billing can be a headache for you and your members. Software with integrated billing and payments delivers flexible payment options for customers and transparent reporting for you. The best software platforms on the market also offer in-house direct debit collection, meaning you can focus on making your gym the hottest spot in town, instead of chasing your members for payments.
7 Essential Features of Gym Management Software
With insight into what you can gain from adopting the best gym management software, let’s review some of the top features to put on your list of essentials.1. A Member App A branded membership app empowers, motivates, and engages customers through every part of their journey with you. Getting people to download and use your app means they stay connected to your gym. UK residents are high app users, too. They downloaded 2.3 billion of them in 2023.
The best apps allow members to:
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Sign up for classes
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Pay membership fees
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Sign in (without having to queue at the front desk!)
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View incentives and rewards
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Make additional purchases
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Track their zone training
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Access Body Composition Analysis data
Additionally, you’ll be able to push notifications to them about what’s new and upsell promotions.
RELATED ARTICLE : 5 Gym Promotion Ideas for Upselling Current Members
2. Integrated Invoicing and Payments
The best gym management software takes care of all the financial aspects of running your gym. Find a payment partner that’s FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) accredited to ensure security and compliance.
Key capabilities for financial management include:
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The ability to collect direct debits from members via a credit or debit card
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Reporting that provides a 360-degree view into your financial performance
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Instant notifications when members fall into arrears
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Flexible payment options for customers
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Integrated payments across your website, app and secondary spend channels
3. Marketing and New Business Generation
The next set of features included in the best software for gym management is a collection of tools to propel growth. These capabilities can include:
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Referral incentive management: Start a member rewards programme that rewards current members for referring new ones.
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Campaign management: Launch marketing activities to current and potential members in many channels.
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Audience targeting by location: Locate where current members are in your city or local area. This can help you mark an area for outreach.
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CRM (customer relationship management): Manage prospects in one spot with a CRM that documents engagements with the prospect and notes of interest. A CRM system also enables automated, personalised messages, including onboarding, re-engagement, promotions, and more.
4. Member Attendance Monitoring
You can track member usage trends through your app or with check-in at the front desk. Monitoring this data can ensure you don’t see elevated churn. It could provide insights on why gym members quit.
If you can see signals that this may occur based on previous data, you can proactively prevent it.
Heavy user data can be insightful, too. It will tell you the most popular days, times, and classes. At the individual level, these attendance patterns could influence the app notifications you push to them.
For example, if a segment of users attends a certain type of class most often, you’d want to send them notifications if you expand your offerings.
5. Dashboard of Activity and Metrics
Gym management software would be incomplete without a dashboard. It should provide real-time information on everything related to members and operations. You can collect data about membership sales, attrition, staff activity, referrals, and more.
A dashboard is also great for viewing KPIs (key performance indicators) and your progress in achieving them. Overall, it should be a single, transparent view of your business.
6. Digital Agreements
When new members join your club, they’ll need to sign some paperwork. It will be much more convenient and faster if they can do this online.
Gym management solutions can provide this functionality. You’ll simply send the contract link via email or through your member app. Then, members will be able to read it through and sign digitally. These documents then go into secure storage should you need them.
7. Point of Sale
Gym membership software can also include POS (point of sale) functionality. When it’s part of this platform, you’ll be able to track food and beverage, merchandise, and other sales that are not part of member monthly dues.
All-in-one gym management software offers a particular advantage here because it lets you track, analyse, and make decisions based on revenue channels across your entire business. This enables you to immediately identify the most profitable areas of your business and invest your time and attention into maximising performance.
How You Can Find the Best Gym Management Software Right Now
Now that you know what features gym management software should have, you can start to investigate your options. Preparation is everything. Here are a few tips to get you started:
- Read reviews or testimonials of the top gym management software to hear directly from users.
- Schedule demos with a few of the companies that have a good reputation in the gym industry.
- Make a list of the most important features to you when selecting a solution for managing your business.
- Define your budget for purchasing new software.
- Gather feedback from your staff on software they’ve used before and what matters to them most in a technology tool.
