As a sports facility, you face unique challenges that differ from other sports businesses. You balance maximizing the profitability of your space with providing exceptional athlete experiences, all while managing retail and staff. Should you consider sports facility management software?
For operators of sports facilities, implementing a sports management software can be a game changer in the trajectory of their business. Great software enables them to reduce time juggling each task so they can focus on driving revenue and improving the client experience at their facility.
But how do you know what to look for in a sports facility scheduling software with so many options on the market? What are the key features that distinguish an average sports software from a great one? Here, we’ll outline exactly what to look for in a sports facility software.
Because of the many varied aspects of your facility, you’ll want to ensure that your sports facility scheduling software is built with flexibility in mind.
First and foremost, your software provider needs to be able to facilitate flexible pricing and billing options for your customers. Allowing them to pay securely with a card for a single-session, auto-renew their memberships and credit passes, or pay on a payment plan adds convenience and encourages higher dollar purchases.
Additionally, you’ll want to ensure flexibility is reflected in the membership component of your sports facility management software. Recurring revenue is critical to your business. That’s why it’s important to offer membership options that align with your athletes in order to keep the cash flow coming in. Customize memberships with automated discounts, monthly lesson/rental credits, retail perks, member-only benefits, and more in order to resonate with your clients.
Lastly, you’ll want to look at the various scheduling settings the software offers. Ask about how cancellations or reschedules work, and if you’re able to customize intervals between scheduled lessons. Determine whether you’ll allow clients to schedule with particular trainers, and consider if the software will allow you this flexibility.
There will always be small changes a business has to make when changing softwares. But the more flexibility the software has, the less you have to adapt your processes.
A main challenge for many sports facilities is a lack of operational efficiency. From a staff and resource perspective, many sports facility owners spend countless hours and dollars maintaining their disconnected systems. Powerful sports facility management software should give you this time and money back, and allow you to refocus those resources towards growth. Here’s how.
When your staff is more efficient with their time and energy, they can do more to grow the business. Great facility management software makes it easy for your front desk to convert walk-ins to members in a matter of seconds.
Upper Hand’s sports facility management software does this by centralizing your staff’s most important tools in one calendar, from which they can manage scheduling and availability, check in athletes, view upcoming session details, and transact.
Plus, individual logins allow your front desk staff to check schedules, manage availability, and configure their desktop views so that their most routine tasks are at their fingertips.
Another must-have in sports facility management software are tools to maximize the profitability of your space. You can segment your facility into usable spaces for lessons, events, and rentals. Ensure your software allows you to quickly create and market new events to fill unbooked and unused resources.
Additionally, make sure your software eliminates double-booking conflicts in your facility by automatically blocking out availability of those staff and resources after booking. Double-booking causes frustration across the board, not to mention lost revenue. With great sports facility software that features double-booking protection, you’ll never risk it again.
Maximize your facility’s profit potential with our free Resource Profit Margins Calculator
For sports academies, the overarching goal, in addition to providing first-class athlete training and resources, is growth. From improving athlete development to increasing revenue or locations, your sports facility software should have the tools to help you and your clients reach your goals.
Hitting goals often starts with understanding the analytics that will get your business where it needs to be. Ensure your facility management software visualizes sales performance over time, so you can spot impending blockers to growth.
You’ll also want to make sure that your retail management tools help you unlock new opportunities for growth in that area of your business. Real-time inventory reporting should save you time on manual tasks while reducing shrinkage.
Finally, you need a sports software that will support your growing business every step of the way. Verify that your software will take a hands-on approach to onboarding, and offer support to your staff AND clients. With ever changing technologies, great tech support is not just a want – but a need – in 2021.
Also, make sure that your provider has the deep market expertise needed to serve as a resource for your facility. As the industry becomes more saturated with training facilities, you’ll need to feel confident that your sports facility scheduling software is prepared to help you navigate the changes and challenges that are sure to come.
Whether you’re just exploring the possibility of opening a sports facility, or you have been established for years, sports facility management software can impact your business. Not only will it give you peace of mind, but it will also help you gain back time to invest in your athletes. If you are interested in seeing how Upper Hand can help you manage your sports facility, schedule a demo today!
At Upper Hand, we believe in the power of bringing in fresh perspectives that continue to improve our product and our brand, and we’re excited to see what each of these individuals can bring to our team. Let’s get to know Hannah Ismail, Tara Holder, Mary Claire Timberlake, and Rajesh Sharma!
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