How to Automate a Gym Business

Do you own a gym? If so, it’s important to know how to automate a gym business. Not knowing about business automation might not have been a problem back in ancient Persia when gyms were first introduced. But, since then, technology has marched forward, and not automating your gym business means getting completely overshadowed by competitors that have embraced automation.

This article is going to give you the steps you need to automate as much of your gym business, so you can offer your clients the best service possible. 

Get a demo to see how Operandio can automate your gym operations! 

What is automation?

Automation is when you use technology such as integrated hardware and dedicated software, to perform tasks that would otherwise use up human resources. If there is a task that can be completed without human intervention, it is best to use technology, that way employees can use their efforts on other, more important tasks.

How does automation benefit gyms?

While there is a school of thought that suggests automation makes human workers obsolete, this could not be further from the truth. Gyms are like many businesses, in that they benefit from a human touch. Automation enhances that human touch by allowing employees to improve their customer service, as they don’t have to expend that effort on unnecessary tasks.

How do I incorporate automation into my gym?

It’s easier than you think! Too many people think that automation means spending endless time and money into expensive machines that take forever to calibrate, but that’s not the case. You don’t need to prep your gym for the year 3000, you just need to do the following;

Step One – Use gym management software

Software is the best place to start. Finding the right software will give your gym business a robust backbone that’ll keep it moving through whatever the market can throw at you.

Operandio is a prime example of the right software. It allows you to perform all kinds of functions; such as creating checklists to delegate tasks and then observe their completion, craft and update a knowledge base that any employee can access if they need information on your procedures, communicate with staff both in and outside of the gym, etc.

Other examples of gym management software include Glofox, PushPress, Mindbody, Virtuagym and WellnessLiving.

Step Two – Set up automatic billing and payment systems

When you sign up for a gym membership, the last thing you want to worry about is making regular payments. If you can’t do your customers the courtesy of setting up an automatic billing and payment system to take care of their recurring membership payments, then they’ll go to one of your competitors that can.

Not only is this a matter of convenience for your customers, it’s one of financial security. Automatic billing and payment systems create and store invoices that you and your customers can reference at any time, particularly in the event of any discrepancies (i.e. a payment hasn’t occurred or a client has been billed twice).

Automatic billing and payment systems are important, and examples of them include Chargebee, Wave, Zuora, Chargify, Zoho and Recurly.

Step Three – Use social media and email marketing

How do you reach new members? Communication is key, and technology has made reaching potential customers a lot easier. From social media posts that catch the attention of a wide audience and help them get directly in contact with you for real time conversations, to email marketing campaigns that let you offer special discounts and personalised messages to your regular customers – there are many different ways to use social media and email marketing to get new members for your gym. 

Automation makes this process even easier. With the help of automated services, you can create entire social media campaigns and have each post be made at specific times, you can create personalised emails without having to type out every individual message, you can observe trends in your posts and emails to see which ones are attracting an audience and which ones aren’t – the possibilities are endless.

If you’re looking for social media and email marketing platforms; examples include Ziff Davis MarTech, Sendinblue, Omnisend, SMTP.com, EmailOctopus and Convertkit.

Step Four – Invest in self service kiosks

Optimisation doesn’t just exist for your clients outside of the gym. What about when they are inside, too? Self service kiosks offer your members a convenient solution for interacting with your gym, particularly after hours when your gym is unstaffed.

With a self service kiosk, members are able to;

• Sign in upon arriving to the gym
• View their membership and make renewals or changes
• Redeem any special offers or discounts
• Report problems such as lost items or a missing card

Not only do self service kiosks make your gym more convenient for your clients, they also allow members to perform tasks that would otherwise require effort from your employees. This gives your workers the freedom to work on their customer service in other areas where it’s required, resulting in an improved customer experience overall.

There are many different suppliers of self-serve kiosks for gyms, including Aila, Soft-Logic, eFitness and PerfectGym.

Step Five – Use automation for scheduling and task management

This is a big one. In order to keep your gym running smoothly from day-to-day, you need to be able to delegate tasks to your employees efficiently, and then make sure that those tasks are being completed.

With software such as Operandio, you can create checklists for all of your staff that contain all the tasks that need to be completed on a daily basis. It is then easy to send those checklists to employees and then track what tasks are being done and when. If there are tasks that aren’t being completed, you can see who was assigned to those tasks and hold them accountable.

Thanks to automation, there’s no need for pen and paper and there’s no need for guesswork. You have a scheduling and task management solution that is both effective and reliable. 

How can I incorporate automation into my gym business?

Operandio is a sophisticated software solution that automates several of your business’ procedures to optimise how it operates every day. It offers tools such as checklists, a knowledge base and simple communication, so that your employees are always connected and they have everything they need to offer the best work for your business.

If you like what you’ve read, and you’d like to use Operandio to help automate your gym business, the sign up process is incredibly easy. Request a demo for Operandio for your gym today.