Don't waste your own or your clients' time trying to manage their accounts using paper forms and excel spreadsheets when software can do it all for you. From signing up for their own appointments and filling out their personal details online to automating payment collection, personal training software is just the thing you need to help you organise your personal training clients in a clear, simple, and easy to navigate way. Here's why.
Photo Credit: Colchester Fitness Centre
Why personal training software?
While with only a few clients, taking phone calls and text messages for bookings and collecting cash in hand before every session may not be very overwhelming at first. But the more your business grows, the harder it becomes to track each and every client. Management of a personal training business without software to help you keep every client in their own individual profile with each of their details clearly organised and labelled for you to easily find you put yourself and your business at risk of:
- Clients slipping through the cracks
- Payments getting lost or forgotten about
- Loss of essential income and revenue
- Clients feeling bored and underwhelmed by your service
- Not being able to properly track and share clients' progress
- Clients becoming unhappy with their progress and lack of results
- Losing important information that is essential to your clients' individual programs
- Documents with personal details and information go missing
- Not collecting all the fine details that help you personalise your service
- Not being able to deliver a professional and organised experience to your clients
The right personal training software gives you the power
However, with the right software on your side, not only can you keep your personal training clients organised but you can use several high-powered tools and features to streamline the tasks that improve this organisation. If you want to avoid the common issues you above, you need to invest in personal training software that includes:
- An easy signup and booking experience
- Customisable, online and automated waivers and forms
- A customer relationship management tool
- Online appointment and class bookings
- Online recurring payments
- Detailed reports
- A member app
- Automated pre and post-class notifications
When you find the personal trainer software that includes the tools and features that make it easy to run your business and build an unbeatable customer experience in one, you know you're on the right track. Here's how these tools and features can help you get the job of organising your PT clients in an efficient way:
Provide your clients with a professional member experience
Managing your clients via paper sheets and spreadsheets is just as much of a pain for them as it is for you. Clients don't want to have to fill out sheet after sheet when signing up and you don't want to waste time going over logistics during a first session when you could be getting right down to business. Providing your clients with easily navigable signup and membership onboarding experience shows them how professional your business is and helps you wow them before training even begins. They will appreciate that you cut out the nitty-gritty while still covering all of your bases by collecting their info and payments before their first appointment.
Easily collect important client info at sign up using forms and waivers
When a new client (or existing client) signs up for a new membership or one of your service's you can automatically prompt them to fill out the important details need to know about their person, fitness history, nutrition requirements, health history, and goals using forms and waivers. Sending your clients these personal training questionnaires provides you will valuable information that can help you tailor your service and business to each individual client, rather than lumping them all together.
Manage customer details with an intuitive CRM
No more having to worry about figuring out whether clients have filled out this information, which membership they belong to, or if the services you offer are included in what they are paying for. With a customer relationship management tool that gives every client their own individual profiles and sorts all of their payment, personal, and membership details you will know exactly where to go to find anything you need to know about your client. Your CRM will also allow you to auto-request updates for individual waivers and forms so that if you want your client to provide you with their most up to date details, you don't even have to ask. Working in unison with your entire dashboard, your CRM takes your fitness business to a whole new level of efficiency and synchronicity.
Give clients the ability to book themselves into appointments
One of the most common errors in managing a PT business is trying to bend your schedule to meet that of your clients. Playing telephone back and forth at all hours of the day and night only leads to frustration and mixing up appointment times and sessions. With an appointment booking tool that gives your clients the ability to view your availability on a clear calendar and select a time that works best for them to meet, you don't have to worry about your client chasing you down, and even better, you know it works for you because you set your schedule. Once the appointment is made it clearly shows up in your activity feed and registrations so that you can easily see what you have coming up, with which client, and where.
Eliminate chasing clients down with recurring online payments
No one will appreciate paying for classes online in advance more than your clients. Not only does paying for membership at the time of sign up or renewing membership plans automatically save you time, but it saves your clients time and builds your business into their monthly expenses rather than something they have to remember to pay every month or whenever a pack is running out. You don't have to worry about clients missing or skipping a payment one month and you can even forecast your revenue and income for months in advance when clients purchase recurring membership plans.
Track and monitor your most active PT clients with detailed reporting
Monitoring which of your clients are booking your appointments the most is easy when your reports can quickly show you at a glance. But client tracking doesn't end there. Not only does your PT software show you who are your best attendees, but they can show you which appointments they are booking most, with which instructor, and at which times. They can also show you which of your clients may be slipping away and need a check-in to see why they aren't booking. Knowing this type of information can help you make better-informed decisions for your business and provide your clients with even more opportunities to take advantage of their favourite services.
Let your clients manage and organise their memberships with a member app
Nothing will make it easier for your clients to manage their own classes and appointments than having an online member app. Clients can book an appointment or session, purchase memberships, send referral codes, and review upcoming and past registrations all from their mobile device with the help of a handy app. Keeping your clients organised not only becomes a breeze but is one less piece of work off your plate when your clients can contribute to your organisation by managing their own memberships.
Send your clients pre-class and post-class notifications
Keeping clients accountable for their memberships and appointments with you is easy when you're able to automate notifications to remind them of sessions before and after class. Give them the heads up that a session starts soon, and following the session, you can remind them of what's coming up and ask them to rate or review your session. Collecting that feedback in real-time can help you continue to improve your service and your clients will appreciate you had their backs with helpful and timely reminders.
Top tips for keeping clients organised
Once you know the steps on how to build an organised client experience, there are a few tips that will help you maintain this workflow no matter how large your business grows.
1. Don't overload your clients with the amount of information you require at signup
While sending your clients forms is easy with your software, that doesn't mean you need to collect every single piece of information you want to know right at the start. Collect what you need and what will help you personalise your service, and ask them questions and record the information once you start building your relationship. This will help you build organisation into your working relationship, not just the online processes of being a member.
2. Keep your notifications simple
Remember that notifications are meant to be quick and helpful, they are not the place to send loads of information that doesn't directly involve the upcoming or past class or appointment. Keep them short and sweet with the information they need to know for that specific event and leave any other information exchanges for in-person discussions, emails, or your newsletter.
3. Set a renewal period for your forms and waivers
Setting a specific time for your clients to re-fill certain forms or update the information they provided at the time of signup will help you collect the most relevant info without having to chase your client down and do it yourself. A good rule of thumb is it request this info at the end of every year or every long-term membership period.
4. Make sure clients know the differences between your membership plans and services
If you provide your clients with multiple different membership plan options or services they can take advantage of, make sure your clients know which is which. The best way to help your clients stay accountable for their own memberships is by making it easy for them to choose the right plans that include the right services for them, or choose based on your recommendations. Keeping names and descriptions clear and identifying which services belong to which plans will help them figure that out on their own.
To learn more about the tools and features that can help you organise your personal training clients, check out TeamUp's personal training software. Sign in to your dashboard or sign up for a free 30-day trial to get started.