The Perfect Booking System For Sports and Fitness Business – Look No Further

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The operating procedures have changed for gyms and fitness centres everywhere over the last year—the primary reason for the safety of staff and clients. However, while some clients have complained about new rules and regulations, the effect on gyms goers has generally been positive. Not all change is for the worse. Some capacity restrictions and new rules have been a blessing for the clientele. However, with change comes increased administration, scheduling and management. And that’s where SimplyBook.me comes in – the perfect booking system for managing a sports and fitness business, whether it’s a boutique gym or a vast fitness centre.

Check out the video for the highlights.

But keep reading for more. It’s all in the details.

SimplyBook.me With Sports and Fitness Businesses

We’re no strangers to the sports and fitness business. With many iterations of sports coaches, boutique gyms and fitness centres as clients, we pay attention to their feedback and try to incorporate as much as possible for their needs (along with all of our other industry clients).

Some of our features are more useful to fitness business owners than others. However, scheduling is still a vital part of running a gym or other kind of fitness centre.

So let’s see what benefits Simplybook.me brings to you, your staff and your clients.

Flexible Booking Anytime

Not such an important issue for you as a business owner, but your clientele will love the freedom of booking a coaching session or a class when it’s convenient for them. They will also love that they don’t have to play email/phone tag to ensure they have the right time and booking that suits their schedule. 

You might not know, but up to 48% of all online appointments are actually booked outside working hours because that’s when people have the time and access to do it. Think of all the bookings you might miss if your potential clients can’t call or email during working hours.

Let’s be fair when clients can book their own sessions or classes, it frees up time for people to do their actual jobs. Sure, you can have an admin person fielding phone calls and emails. However, it’s much better to invest in robust scheduling software and let the people deal with the more complex tasks that require attention.

Multichannel Booking

You might think it’s easy enough for people to find your website and book with you, but the general rule of thumb is to have the fewest clicks possible between discovery and conversion. So, if a new client finds your sports and fitness business on Facebook, Instagram or Google, allowing them to check out your reviews, find your opening hours and book directly from where they find you is perfect.

Once you have secured them as a returning client, you might also want to set up an app for easy access directly from their smartphone – Yes, you can create a client app from your SimplyBook.me booking website and invite your users to download it. 

For fitness businesses that often have long term clients, the app is a fabulous addition to our booking system.

Scheduling Classes, Coaching and More

While some gyms and fitness centres are entirely “self-service”, others offer classes, group sessions, sports coaching, nutritionists, and sports massage to their clients. You can’t see everyone all at once, and you can’t let everyone book into the same class. 

If your sports and fitness business only offers classes, you can create a class schedule using the “classes” timeline on your SimplyBook.me dashboard set up. However, if you provide a mixture of group sessions and individual coaching, it’s better to use an alternative timeline type.

You can schedule trainers and teachers for specific classes and allow clients to book individual sessions in “non-class” time. Provider calendars are flexible to enable switching between teaching a class and giving personal attention to an athlete.

Ticketed Entry & Validation 

No, you don’t need to issue physical tickets. When you have a large capacity building but you still need to restrict numbers, issuing digital tickets for those who have booked a slot at your gym is perfect. It’s a way to ensure those who have booked are allowed entry, while those who haven’t can’t overcrowd the facility. Limited numbers due to Covid regulation have actually provided a better experience for gym clients. No overcrowding and fighting for machines and clean equipment. Limiting numbers is an excellent thing at the busiest times of the day.

Tickets are also suitable for group classes because they ensure only those who have booked their class can attend. There is often nothing worse than an overcrowded Zumba class or yoga session.

With QR codes on the ticket, you can easily allow admittance for only those who have booked.

Memberships for Sports and Fitness Business

More than any other industry, sports and fitness businesses use memberships the most. Almost invariably, gyms demand membership subscriptions for regular use. Even smaller fitness centres and classes use membership to guarantee revenue, restrict access to premium services, and enable preferential prices for returning clients.

With the SimplyBook.me membership feature, it is possible to create different membership levels, durations, and accessibility. It is also possible for them to be purchased online by the client or assigned from the dashboard by staff members. 

There is also the option to make a subscription a one-time payment or rolling subscription, depending on how you wish to operate the business.

Alternately, some fitness centres that offer classes and coaching sessions primarily might want to use bundled packages for their clients. These packages enable sport and fitness trainers and coaches to provide significant discounts for the prepayment of fees while also guaranteeing revenue for an extended period.

Accept Payments Online & In-Person

Whether your sports and fitness business operates with online classes or at a physical centre, you can still accept payments online through several payment processors. If your preferred option isn’t listed, get in touch. We’re always adding new ones as new favourites crop up in different regions.

If you want, you can also request a deposit to confirm a booking, or use our PoS for in-person payments. The POS is fully integrated with the booking system, so walk-ins will still show on your reports. Moreover, incoming payments will all be collated in the same place irrespective of whether they are online or offline transactions.

Put Your Marketing Hat On

Marketing is a crucial component of any business, and the Sports and fitness industry is no different. SimplyBook.me has an integrated marketing suite to help you with your client retention, business awareness and incentives.

Part of marketing ensures that your name is out there. With native integrations with Facebook, Instagram, Google Business and our own Booking.page marketplace, you have several channels to get your name out in front of potential clients. 

For client retention, there is a book soon notification that prompts clients to book another appointment. There is also customised email marketing and coupons and gift cards to reward loyal clients or entice the lapsed ones.

As for coupons, you can also use them to entice new clients to your sports and fitness business.

Keep Track With Management Reporting

SimplyBook.me wouldn’t be much of a scheduling management software without the ability to manage staff, schedules, clients and revenues.

From the dashboard interface, you can access multiple reports to help manage your gym or fitness centre.

You can run comprehensive reports on clients, users and the company to collate information on booking details, tickets and QR codes, Membership payments, and sales and taxes. There are more…

Don’t Take Our Word For It…

It’s not just us that think SimplyBook.me is an excellent booking system for sports and fitness businesses. We have some fantastic reviews from our sports and fitness clients, some of which you can find on our website.

Although, we’re not biased. You can find many of our sport and fitness business clients on independent review sites like Capterra and Trustpilot. 

Recently, we’ve been named Category Leader for Dance Studios by GetApp. And that’s based on user reviews in the specific industry; we must be doing something right.