Technology is a must for any gym.
Good technology can provide massive leverage and advantage over competitors. The biggest challenge with operating a successful gym is that you have to maintain relationships with hundreds and in most cases, thousands of members. Without technology, it is hard to maintain contact and relationships with all of your members. The right technology can help you engage members, maintain relationships and reduce staff costs.
Below is a list of technology or software systems that most gyms should consider
- CMS - Content management system (Your website platform such as word press)
- Sales CRM
- Marketing Automation
- Membership management system and POS
- Direct debit system
- Retention management system
- Workout program and tracking system
- Fitness equipment
- Virtual group fitness
- Access control (perhaps 24-hour access)
- CCTV
- Music System
- Accounting system
Although technology can be a massive competitive advantage, the reality is that many gyms waste a huge amount of time and energy by making some crucial mistakes when it comes to technology.
Let's explore some pitfalls to avoid and how to get the most out of your tech.
3 Mistakes gym managers should avoid maximising their use of technology
- Searching for the holy grail "all in one" solution
- A lot of gym managers make the mistake of trying to find one software solution to manage all aspects of their facility.
As is evident from the list above, there is a huge number of business systems within the gym. All of these systems can be enhanced by using the right technology within them.
The problem with an "all in one" solution is that it tends to do most things "OK" but nothing exceptional.
If you were going into battle would you want OK weapons and an OK army? When you are fighting your competition, you want to have excellent technology as this will maximise your chances of winning.
Adopting a "best of breed" approach allows you to have excellent solutions for all your key business systems.
Because your business is essentially a bunch of smaller subsystems its important that you are optimising each system with the best technology.
In our business, we have at least a dozen different software tools and platforms.
Here is just a quick list
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- Xero (accounting)
- Active Campaign (Email marketing and automation)
- WordPress (CRM)
- Lead pages (Website forms)
- Zoom meetings (online meetings/webinars)
- Freshdesk (customer support
- Asana (Project management)
- Slack (team communication)
- Buffer (Social media management)
- Ezypay (Direct debit payments)
- Vimeo (videos)
Most successful business these days will have at least half a dozen different systems and a bunch of other mini tools and plugins.
A lot of platforms can easily be integrated or have API's that allow you to integrate platforms together. This allows you to get a seamless technology stack that works together.
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- Employing a technology expert or manager
- So much technology is used in modern business that it can be worthwhile to employ a technology expert for your gym. Ideally, you want an expert that can help you set up new technology as well as integrate solutions together.
Your technology expert may have some coding skills so they can create customisations that can help your software sub platforms work best together.
A technology expert can help you get the most of of the systems you invest in.
In the modern environment, a technology expert is almost the most important role in the business!
It's how you use technology.
Many businesses make the mistake of implementing technology with amazing capabilities but fail to get the most out of the platform.
An amazing software will be only as good as what you put into it.
For example, if a gym has an amazing email marketing and automation system with capabilities to automate a bunch of communications with members but fails to get around to writing the content and email copy to set up in the system, then the system has no real value.
You need to invest the time and expertise into creating the content and "subprocesses" around your technology.
For example, we provide a technology platform to our gym clients that allow them to manage gym bookings, workout program management and retention management. The staff who operate the software need to perform 5-7 tasks when onboarding each new member. One of our clients found that their staff often missed one or two steps that were important to the member's onboarding journey. To solve this problem, they create a mini checklist that helped ensure staff would complete all the desired steps when using the software.
We also notice that our clients often implement our software solutions but do not have the content for the system ready to go. When this happens, they can often get bogged down in other work and waste 6 months or sometimes longer before they get around to it. This is where employing an expert such as a copywriter or marketing expert to develop your content can be a good investment.
- Don't lose human to human connection.
- My last point on technology is that nothing will ever take away human to human connection. Technology should be used to enhance our connection with members. There is a place for email automation, but we should always try to make it engaging and personal. You should always endeavour to include some human to human communication with your members. It can be a face to face appointment or a follow-up phone call.
The gyms that can get the balance right and maintain some human connection will be the ones that thrive most.
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