Innovation Issue: Upper Hand Fall 2020 Product Update

Upper Hand Fall 2020 Innovation Issue

As the fourth quarter of 2020 comes to a close, our product team has taken a look back at the new features, updates, and fixes that we welcomed to our platform over the past 3 months. We prioritized releases of new features to our reports and classes capabilities, in order to expand upon our truly robust experiences in both of those areas of our software. Additionally, we welcomed updates to the UP Financial Suite that make accepting payments even more flexible for clients and members. While time seems to be flying by as we enter Q1 of 2021, our team continues to focus on delivering new product innovations, squashing bugs, and creating resources to help businesses come out of COVID closures stronger than ever before.

As always, while our team at Upper Hand remains laser-focused on delivering new solutions that simplify how business is done in the sports and fitness, one thing remains constant; the same passion for innovation we were founded upon.

PRODUCT INNOVATIONS: REPORTS

TOOL TIPS IN REPORTS

Within each report, we now include small “info” icons that provide customers with descriptions of each report as well as tips throughout the report.

These tool tips help our customers get the most robust usage out of Upper Hand’s reporting capabilities.

ADDITION OF DATE OF BIRTH IN CONTACTS REPORT

After hearing feedback from our customers, we added “date of birth” as a field in our Contacts Report, allowing business admins to now see their clients’ date of birth right from the report.

Ways to use this feature addition:

• Wish your clients a Happy Birthday!
• Market special birthday discounts
• Advertise specific camps, classes, events, or activities to certain age groups

PRODUCT INNOVATIONS: PLATFORM

ALL-NEW IMAGE UPLOADER

A brand new image uploader modal has been implemented across the software, anywhere a user can upload an image. With this new product innovation, users can upload large image files (up to 5MB) and crop the image from right within the platform! This eliminates any work admins may have to do manually to prepare images or graphics for use. Additionally, when the user attempts to upload an image that does not fit the correct specs, they will immediately be notified about what went wrong so that they can fix it without spending time troubleshooting.

PRODUCT INNOVATIONS: CLASSES

CLASSES: CANCELLATION DEADLINE

When creating a new class, customers will now be able to set a deadline determining how long before a class begins a client is permitted to cancel. Once the deadline has passed, clients will have to contact the admin to be removed from the class, as they have the ability to override the deadline. When a client cancels before the deadline, they will be able to get that credit back on their account to be used at a later time. This new feature is in line with what we offer for open booking events, now applied to classes.

CLASSES: SCHEDULING DEADLINE

Similarly to the cancellation deadline, when creating a new class, customers will now be able to set a deadline determining how long before a class begins a client is allowed to book themselves in that class. Once the deadline has passed, the client will have to contact the admin to be added to the class, as they have the ability to override the deadline. This new feature is in line with what we offer for open booking events, now applied to classes.

ALLOW CLIENTS TO REMOVE THEMSELVES FROM CLASSES

In this new update to our classes functionality, clients can remove themselves from open booking sessions or classes right from the “My Schedule” view online or on the app. This saves front desk staff and admins time and provides a more robust online experience for clients.

PRODUCT INNOVATIONS: FINANCIAL

WAIVE A FUTURE PAYMENT

This is a new feature that our team has added to the UP Financial Suite. It allows admins to waive an upcoming payment that a client will have due. This was a highly requested feature as many businesses wanted a way to preemptively forgive payments that would be missed, especially due to COVID. Using this feature, admins can either waive the whole payment or just a portion, lending businesses even more flexibility when it comes to payments. This has been particularly impactful with businesses who use Payment Plans.

RECEIPT UPDATE FOR PAY LATER

This quarter, our team made a small change to receipts that made a big difference to customers! We updated the language on the receipts that clients receive after booking a class or lesson with the “pay later” option. Previously, these receipts said “Purchase Receipt”, but we changed this language to now say “Purchase Invoice”. Because the pay later option allows clients the flexibility to pay for their booking at the gym or studio rather than online, this language update communicates that clients have not yet paid for their session.

ITEM SPECIFIC COUPON CODES

We’ve re-designed and re-defined how customers can organize promotional discounts. This feature allows them to offer coupons for specific items (including retail items, credit passes, initial membership fees, etc.), as well as for recurring items (like memberships). This enables admins to control the exact item or items customers will receive discounts on, and allows them to offer promotions on specific products or event types.