2018
Tennell Elite Training is a sports performance academy based outside of Dallas, Texas. Its training programs are curated specifically for athletes to strengthen the physical and mental skills necessary to reach their greatest potential.
Private and small group instruction, clinics, training programs, and memberships.
As Tennell's client base grew, manually tracking bookings and payments had become ineffective, and poor client communication tools led to costly no-shows.
Tennell Elite Training switched to Upper Hand and optimized business operations, opening up time in his day to focus on scaling his business and client base.
In his first year on Upper Hand, Tennell experienced 152% growth in revenue. Despite the pandemic in 2020, Tennell Elite Training still saw an increase in revenue of 234% over 2019.
In today’s era of sports performance training, successful businesses know that client acquisition and retention is key to growth. It’s all about finding innovative ways to remain competitive with other businesses who are vying for the same clients, as well as giving those clients a competitive edge over other athletes in their sport.
Tennell Elite Training understands the importance of finding ways to remain competitive in a saturated market. Tennell Elite Training is a sports performance academy based outside of Dallas, Texas. Founded by Adron Tennell in 2018, its training programs are curated specifically for athletes to strengthen the physical and mental skills necessary to reach their greatest potential.
With an infectious energy and positive demeanor, Adron’s training style and unique workouts caught like wildfire. Athletes of all ages were attracted to Tennell Elite Training. Soon, Adron found himself cultivating a strong community of like-minded people throughout the Greater Dallas area.
Tennell Elite Training is constantly evolving to meet the needs of its clients and athletes.
Initially, when athletes would schedule a workout with Adron, they would not only keep coming back, but they would also bring their friends. Soon after launching Tennell Elite Training, Adron realized that keeping track of his athletes and availability in the Notes app on his iPhone wasn’t sustainable. On track to become the premier sports performance academy in the area, Adron knew he needed to find a streamlined software that could scale his business for the future.
Adron was looking for a streamlined way to keep track of his athletes and their sessions. As he began to take on new clients, it became more difficult to track which athlete’s had completed their sessions or how many sessions they had left.
“At first, I kept track of scheduling and payments in my Notes app on my phone, and would have to keep going through to look at it. That was way too much. I also had a hard time keeping up with people’s sessions. I wanted to make things easier on my end and everyone else’s.”
Adron’s popularity was leading him all over Dallas for training. So, when his clients would fail to show, Adron would be frustrated.
Adron was looking for a tool to streamline communication and alleviate the headache of missed sessions and lost revenue.
“I was driving 45 minutes around the metroplex to go train a few people, and only one person showed up. The next time, no one showed up. They would forget or get caught up with something else and not let me know.”
Upper Hand’s streamlined scheduling tools allow Adron to devote his time to developing new and exciting workouts for his clients instead of thinking about his availability.
Similarly, the payment management tools prevent lost revenue by simplifying the payment process. Adron no longer has to track down payments or worry about inconsistent streams of income. And, if a client does miss a payment, Adron can use Upper Hand to charge them, sending a reminder for an outstanding balance.
“Upper Hand just made it that much easier with scheduling. People will come up to me and ask if I have open dates or time for training sessions. Now I can tell them that they can go into Upper Hand, check availability, and schedule!"
Adron also relies on Upper Hand to communicate session information with his clients. He has the flexibility to set email reminders ahead of sessions. Currently, he has it set to send an email prior to when a session is set to begin.
“There’s no excuse for missing a session. It makes it easier on both sides because they get reminders and I get reminders. Now, they can’t forget, or if something pops up, they can cancel and let me know they’re not going to make it.”
Headed into 2020, Adron could tell that business was booming. But, little did he know, he would experience a new level of growth in response to COVID-19.
As a result of the pandemic, Adron experienced a large influx in clients. He discovered that many of his clients had cancelled their gym memberships in favor of working out outside with him. So, he again turned to Upper Hand.
Adron built out various customizable membership options, introducing a new form of recurring revenue that he could rely on, while also attracting even more clients to Tennell Elite Training.
Without his clients, Adron would not have experienced this level of growth and sense of community. Likewise, without Upper Hand, Adron would not have had the capacity to handle this exponential growth of clients at Tennell Elite Training.
“One good thing to come out of COVID is that I’ve been able to continue to build new relationships and grow my clientele. I have a community now.”
To this day, referrals continue to be the biggest source of new clients to Tennell Elite Training. Adron, who got his start by training a handful of athletes, soon found himself attracting young talent, and their parents, from all over town. Thanks to the flexibility of Upper Hand, Adron has been able to introduce various new elements to Tennell Elite Training that support this continued growth.
In his first year on Upper Hand, Adron experienced 152% growth in revenue. Despite the pandemic in 2020, Tennell Elite Training still saw an increase in revenue of 234% over 2019.
“Upper Hand has provided a simple gateway to our families and to the people around us. It’s helped us put some system structures in place, and it’s allowed us to plan and program some things for the future as well.”
The ease of use of Upper Hand allows Adron’s clients to schedule, manage, and pay for sessions, all within a single link or on the mobile app. For Adron, he is easily able to set his availability within the software, including the location of the training session, thus empowering his clients to keep track of their sessions and payments.
“My clients like how easy Upper Hand is–it’s just a couple of clicks. They go into Upper Hand and can pick a date and time. They also get email reminders about sessions and payments.”
In the last three and a half years, Adron’s workout style and personality has not only attracted the attention of his local athletes, but also parents and other adults in the area. Soon, he found himself training multiple members of a family. As a result, Adron expanded his core offerings to include adult boot camps and family fun workouts.
Using Upper Hand’s family profiles feature, Adron’s clients are to create separate client profiles that can be managed from one place. His clients can manage, schedule, and pay for a child and/ or significant other’s sessions all from their own profile, providing clients with a more organized and seamless experience.
Since switching to Upper Hand, Adron has been able to keep track of his business and track his athletes and their progress. As a result, he has uncovered incredibly high client retention.
“I have a handful of people that have been with me since I first started, so going on three and a half years. On average, I would say I train my clients consistently for a year.”
Community has been the driving force behind Tennell Elite Training. Especially during COVID, Adron saw an increase in both new clients opting to work out with him, and current clients deciding to “sticking around for awhile,” inspiring him to elevate to the next level.
“I’m almost at a point where I’m going to have to have help. Since the summer, I’ve had no downtime. I was training from 6:00am to 9:00pm, getting after it every single day. I love doing it, and I’ve been building up that foundation with new clients, but to keep growing, I need to hire staff.”
So, what’s on the horizon for Tennell Elite Training? In the next few months, Adron is eager to add additional coaches to his staff to open up even more availability. Luckily, Tennell Elite Training is well equipped with the tools needed to take this next step in his business development. He looks forward to utilizing Upper Hand’s staff and resource management tools to accommodate his growing community.
Tennell Elite Training is showing no signs of slowing down. With the continued client retention and acquisition, Adron is excited to continue to expand his reach to other communities. Upper Hand will continue to serve as a partner in growth for Tennell Elite Training, giving him the tools needed to get to the next level.
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