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Sports Facility Helpful Tips

Read more to learn some helpful tips on how to improve your sports facility, from lesson pricing models to access control programming. This advice comes from experts in sports facility scheduling software.

Refund Customers Using Instore Credit After A Purchase

Maximizing Revenue: The Benefits of Instore Credit for Sports Facilities

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Facilities are always looking to enhance customer loyalty and boost revenue. One popular (and effective) strategy is implementing in store credit systems.  This strategy encourages loyalty among your customers, as well as increases your cash flow. In this blog post, we discuss the different benefits and strategies for adding instore credit at your sports facility. 

Types of Instore Credit

Credit Via A Refund Policy

One of the ways that a facility can utilize instore credit is by building it into the refund policy. For many facilities, their biggest problem is their clients canceling at the last minute. It can be hard for some owners to say they can’t have a refund at all, especially when it’s for unavoidable situations. Instore credit allows the business to give a version of a refund. This can be beneficial for your business in many ways.

First, this will keep customers happy and able to come back in the future to book another service. 80% of customers redeem their store credit within 2 weeks of receiving it. Also, it lets facilities keep the revenue they would have otherwise lost. Think of it like cash – it can be used for anything within the system. Another benefit of this refund policy is that it lowers credit card processing fees. You’ll get charged for each transaction. If a client purchases a service, you refund them, and they rebook a service later on, each transaction will cost money. Keeping the credit instead only charges you for the first transaction. Our scheduling app utilizes this approach so that facilities can benefit. 

Credit Using Prepaid Accounts

Using prepaid accounts is a great way to work with point of sale, especially for swim clubs. Use your instore credit to fund your account to a certain amount and use it elsewhere in the facility. Most swim clubs use it for concession stands. A great example of this is a kid’s lunch at school. A parent will put in a certain amount and the kid will use that account to purchase their lunch. 

Prepaid accounts are really good for increasing your cash flow. That prepaid amount is in your account from the beginning. The credit can then be used at any time, by any member of the family within the account. One of the biggest benefits of this type of credit is that it can create a cashless system. Our software can utilize this type of system for your facility as well. 

Conclusion

Using instore credit can be incredibly beneficial for your business – that’s why our software implements it into our processes. It encourages repeat business and offers flexibility while streamlining your payment processes. To learn more about how else eSoft Planner can increase your cash flow, request a custom demo of our software. 

Check-In for Membership Tracking Program

Membership Tracking Programs Can Enhance Revenue With Little Administrative Work

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For sports facilities, a membership tracking program can be a critical tool. With so many different aspects of membership that make it difficult to track manually, eSoft Planner’s membership manager can be incredibly beneficial. 

Payment Plans

One essential component of memberships is payment plans. With our membership management features, we can give the customer the option to choose between annual or monthly dues. We can also track both successful and failed payments. Due to this, you will need to have an easy way to manage your membership payments. Through our membership tracking and reporting program, you can easily identify failed payments. When membership payments are not able to be processed, the discounts and service credits can also be suspended, ensuring that members are not able to utilize membership perks until payments are made. 

Membership Perks

Facilities will offer additional perks to their memberships, whether that is through discounted services or service credits. Without a membership tracking program, it becomes almost impossible to track membership credits used versus credits available. It also makes it difficult to ensure the customer receives the proper discounts. 

With eSoft Planner’s membership tracking, we can automatically apply discounts to members. Also, membership credits for different services can be issued on a monthly basis. Our system will automatically apply the assigned discounts to a customer’s profile, track when member credits are used, and how many credits a member has left. The membership management module also ensures that the credits and discounts are validated through payments. It will suspend the discounts and service credits when a member payment is not processed, ensuring members can not enjoy membership perks without paying for them. 

Access Control 

Some facilities choose to offer memberships that grant customers the ability to visit the facility at any time, similar to how a lot of gyms operate. To gain access to the facility, you must have an active membership. How would you be able to validate who has a membership without a membership tracking system? 

Through our manager, you can have members check in at the front – whether through a membership card or last name. Employees can easily check in customers and validate whether the customer has an active membership. Member check-in can also offer many benefits: identifying failed payments, tracking the number of visits customers make, and tracking the time of day customers come in. This benefits the facility by identifying the busy and slow hours based solely on member check-in.

Many facilities are also moving to a 24/7 open-access environment. With our access control program, customers are able to receive a code that allows them to access the building for their scheduled rentals, without requiring workers to be physically present each time. 

Conclusion

Membership tracking programs can be insightful for how to successfully manage your memberships. From tracking payments to offering perks with your membership, it will allow your facility to learn about their members’ interests and patterns, so they can improve their facility for those members. For more information on how our software can track memberships, request a demo with our experts. 

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Client Benefits: The Key to Customer Satisfaction

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Do you have clients that you want to give special benefits to? With our client benefits feature, your facility can offer discounts and altered rules between specific groups to customize their experience. 

Who Is This For? 

These benefits are perfect for different organizations that partner with your facility, where you can provide priority for their coaches or players to schedule. It may also offer benefits to instructors who might teach at your facility. Finally, you can use it to give your members or priority (VIP) clients different rules. 

What Benefits Can You Offer? 

There are several benefits you can offer to specific clients. The types of benefits you can offer are discounts, special rules, and priority. First, you can offer discounts on specific services. Next, you can allow specific clients the ability to schedule unpaid or paid services. Lastly, you can allow specific groups to schedule out further than other clients. These rules and priorities can be completely different between groups. 

Case Scenario 

Many of our facilities that partner with a sports organization give benefits to the players and coaches that are a part of their team. This not only encourages the players or teams to utilize the facility services, it also incentivizes more players to join the organization and can create a buzz in the community. 

Conclusion

Utilizing client benefits for specific groups at your facility can be very beneficial to your business. Not only will your members and organizations feel more connected with you, but it will also increase client satisfaction. With that support, clients will be more likely to continue training with your business. 

For a more in-depth explanation of how these client benefits can help your facility, request a demo with our experts. 

Use Room Scheduling Programs to Rent Rooms in Churches and Schools

Room Scheduling Program Features to Optimize Your Business

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Churches, schools, and libraries usually have rooms that they want to rent out. Businesses can have conference rooms left empty when their employees aren’t using them. Renting them out can increase their revenue. Organizing the rentals of all those rooms can be difficult, especially when it’s the responsibility of volunteers or employees with a lot of other work on their hands. One way to easily solve this issue is by taking advantage of room scheduling program software.

Room Scheduling Program Features 

Lots of locations still use paper or spreadsheets to track their rentals. With room scheduling software, it is far easier for clients to book – they just have to visit the page online! Organizers can track their rentals and view reports on pricing and scheduling much faster. Here are some amazing features that our room scheduling software offers: 

Pricing Features

  • Peak pricing for busy times 
  • Offer prepaid or unpaid options during scheduling
  • Send invoices with payment via the web

Customization Features

  • Custom durations and pricing 
  • Offer special rates per group or scheduling rights
  • Ability to offer add-ons (such as for projectors) 
  • Limit how far people can schedule or how much notice you need

Access and Booking Features

  • Access from desktop and custom mobile app
  • No double booking
  • Offer email or text reminders
  • Get signed waivers for liability and cancellation policies 

Conclusion

Room scheduling software can be valuable for all sorts of organizations, from churches to businesses. Empty rooms can be costly for an organization, with a single empty conference room costing your business $6789 per year. In addition, these empty rooms can be used for multiple reasons by people willing to rent them. Make the organization easier for your company and start using room scheduling software.

For more information on how eSoft Planner’s scheduling and management software, including our room scheduling program, can benefit you, schedule a demo with us today. 

Send Automated Communications through Email or Text Message

Sports Facility Operations: Automated Communications

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Did you know that you can reduce no-shows by 29% with automated reminders? Automated communications via text and email can benefit your facility in many ways, including reducing no-shows. Our software utilizes these to send a variety of messages for your customers and staff. 

Features For Automated Communications

Here are some features of our software that will make your facility more streamlined:

Client Communications

  • Confirm any order or scheduled event via email
  • Send reminders by text or email for scheduled events
  • Remind your client of your cancellation policy
  • Confirm all reschedules and cancellations

Staff Communications

  • Confirm lessons or camps booked
  • Send reminders (itinerary) of their day
  • Notify them of all reschedules and cancellations

Benefits For the Facility

  1. Improves customer services: Now, you don’t have to miss any communications. All reminders and confirmations will be sent easily. With personalized messages, it will improve the relationship between you and your customers. 
  2. Reduces administrative costs: The services can do all the automated text and email communications. You don’t have to pay someone just to send out messages to your customers. Also, no need to show someone how to send all those communications themselves – it will just send automatically! 
  3. Improves staff communication: Staff can easily check their schedules and plan for the day. They don’t have to worry about missing any appointments or messages.

Conclusion

Automated communications can be very beneficial for your facility. Not only will it save you time and money, but it will also improve your communication and your customers’ impressions. 

To take advantage of our software’s automated communications, request a demo. 

Mobile Lesson Booking Software

Top Questions About Lesson Booking Software

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Introduction

Instructors with strong followings and clientele often have issues with booking clients. eSoft’s individual instructor lesson booking software is designed to be affordable and customizable. For those wondering about how this system can fit into their lives, read more to get top questions about this software answered. 

1. What Should I Look For In Lesson Booking Software?

A good lesson scheduling app should make your life easier! First, it should automate processes like sending reminders and notifications to clients/instructors. Next, allow instructors to set their own schedule to book whenever they are available. It should be able to collect payments from clients ahead of time, reducing the risk of cancellation and driving business. Lastly, it should include any features that pertain specifically to your industry. 

2. Who Could Benefit From It?

This program is mainly for instructors who are looking for an affordable program to help with clients scheduling and tracking their lessons. Any type of instructor can use it – from sports to arts and photography! If you need help booking clients, it’s perfect for you. 

3. What Are The Benefits of Lesson Booking Software?

There are multiple benefits! First, it saves instructors time – they don’t have to worry about messaging back and forth with clients, as they can book online at any time. Clients will also get automated message reminders. Also, it saves instructors money. In fact, some businesses reached a 30% to 45% revenue increase with scheduling software. It reduces the risk of cancellations and requires upfront payment.

The software is completely customizable. It can be branded for each instructor’s own business. It has features that can’t be found anywhere else – like back-to-back availability and location priority. These will force clients to book lessons one after another to reduce the waste of time. Lastly, instructors can see detailed reporting on their lessons and revenue. 

4. Will This Help My Customers?

Yes! The software makes it easier for clients to schedule and reschedule appointments at any time or place they want. They can access their schedule on their phone. Also, they will get automated reminders so they don’t need to worry about remembering when/where their lessons are! They can store payment methods to make the check-out process quick and simple. Lastly, they should be able to view a detailed payment history.

5. How Do Clients Book Appointments?

Clients will be able to access your app via your website or any social media accounts. Then, they will create their own family profiles and sign off on liability/registration waivers. Once their account is fully created, they can book and pay for lessons on their own time 24/7. 

6. Can I Schedule Group Lessons With This Software?

Absolutely! Instructors can choose to offer group and/or individual appointments for clients to book. This allows your clients to do the booking themselves, reducing time spent booking clients yourself. 

7. What Do I Do If I Have Multiple Instructors, Locations, or Types of Appointments?

The software is customizable, making it easy for someone to put in all of the above! It includes categories that you can change for each type of appointment. Also, it’s easy to add instructors and locations. There are options for instructors to add location priority, so they don’t have to worry about going back and forth to different locations for multiple appointments. They can also choose to book appointments back-to-back, so there aren’t any long breaks between appointments. 

8. How Long Will It Take to Set Up Lesson Booking Software?

The set of processes is up to you. It can take as little as a week. Once set up, you will have hyper care/close support from an Implementation Specialist for the first six weeks of use. The Implementation Specialist will be the go-to person to train you and set up the software using video meetings. 

Conclusion

If you’re an instructor looking for a new and affordable way to book clients that you don’t have to do yourself, look no further than eSoft Planner’s customizable lesson booking software. 

If you are on the lookout for a web-based lesson scheduling app that fits all of your needs, learn more about eSoft Planner.

eSoft Planner is flexible, affordable, simple, and perfect for small businesses and instructors. Request your free demo today. See how we can help you consolidate effort, save time, and increase revenue.

Pickleball Courts Reserved with Pickleball Club Management Software

Start Growing with Pickleball Club Management Software

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Introduction

Pickleball is exploding both as a sport and as a business. Pickleball is currently the fastest growing sport in the United States, with participation nearly doubling just last year. Facilities with courts will miss out on large amounts of revenue if they haven’t considered running their own pickleball leagues. Take advantage of this growth and add pickleball to your facility today with pickleball club management software.

Improve Efficiency and Seasonal Revenue With Pickleball Club Management Software

Businesses centered around pickleball need to ensure they are efficiently scheduling their court time. With outdoor courts, that court time and demand will be seasonal. It is especially important to manage efficiency, as facilities geared towards specific sports are almost always seasonal. With eSoft Planner’s software, you can offer peak and non-peak pricing based on the time of day or year. That way, you can earn more money when filling spots with higher demand. 

Streamline Your Pickleball Facility with eSoft Planner’s Pickleball Club Management Software

With eSoft Planner’s management software, you can: 

  • Lower admin costs by allowing clients to book their own rentals and lessons
  • Offer 24/7 registration for summer camps/beginner classes and even leagues
  • Become more efficient while spending less time managing the facility’s schedule
  • Improve communication and reduce cancellations with automated email/text reminders 

Conclusion

With the massive growth of pickleball as a sport within the last few years, it would be a great benefit to your business to add it to your facility. It will help your facility grow, especially with the community pickleball currently has. Finally, with the help of eSoft Planner, it will lower admin costs and improve efficiency, even in the off-seasons. 

Want to learn more about how adding pickleball club management software can benefit your facility? Talk with eSoft experts today. Also, if you would like to consult with experts on how to improve your sports facility, visit Sports Facility Expert now. 

An individual is typing on a smartphone showing a hologram interface to a member login, a businessman is going to access the company's membership system, check the information of the parties.

Promotion for New Business – Start Preselling Your Memberships

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Introduction

Are you an existing facility looking to add new products or services? Are you a new facility wanting to add memberships? Do you need to add a promotion for new business? eSoft Planner’s new feature for preselling memberships is perfect for both types of facilities. 

A facility’s membership will have the option to be sold before the start date. The fees will be paid approximately a month before the membership’s start date. It provides opportunities for supportive customers to get it first, and at a discount. 

Promotion For New Business: The Features

A new feature in preselling memberships is that you can set a specific date for the membership to start. That way, you get to choose which day (usually the 1st or the 15th) works best for your facility. Also, staff will be able to buy these memberships for any customers, in case they run into any issues with purchasing the membership themselves. 

Promotion For New Business: The Benefits

One of the main benefits of memberships is that it brings in consistent revenue. With preselling memberships, we can improve cash flow before offering products or services. This extra cash flow allows you to potentially save or invest in expanding the product or service. It is also a good tool for improving customer awareness, especially for newer facilities. 

One of the powers of preselling memberships is the ability to offer special promotions. Oftentimes, facilities will discount a standard membership in order to create the fear of missing out in their new possible customers. This allows them to sell more memberships in advance, which, in return, increases cash flow and improves confidence in your business model. 

Conclusion

eSoft Planner’s new feature for preselling memberships is a great promotion for new businesses. Not only will it increase revenue, but it will also be easy and accessible for your staff and customers to utilize.  

Want to learn more about how preselling memberships can work as a good promotion for your business? Talk to eSoft experts today. If you’re looking for some other ideas on how to improve your business, learn more about our new access control features here or our event tickets options here. Finally, if you want to consult with experts on how to improve your sports facility, visit here. 

Person Scheduling Appointment using Lesson Scheduling Software

Lesson Scheduling Software Benefits

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Introduction

Instructors with strong followings and clientele often have issues with booking clients. By making use of a instructor lesson scheduling software, it can help with client scheduling and lesson tracking. Read more below to find out all the ways it can help you and your business!

1. Lesson Scheduling Software Saves You Time. 

Lesson scheduling software makes it easier for clients to schedule. They can go to a system to schedule or reschedule their own bookings, without having to text or call instructors to ask them to change it every time. It also allows you to automate texts and emails to clients to remind them about appointments. Overall, it saves instructors and business owners a lot of time previously spent organizing client appointments on their own. 

2. Lesson Scheduling Software Saves You Money.

Lesson scheduling software can reduce the risk of cancellations by requiring upfront payment. It also lets you offer different priorities and pricing to different clients based on their “Client Grouping.” Something else it takes off your workload is it allows clients to safely tokenize their payment method to be stored on their client account. This will streamline payments and will also make booking streamlined for your users. 

3. Lesson Scheduling Software Allows For More Customization. 

Anyone who uses lesson scheduling can use this software! Instructors who teach sports, arts, music, and more will find advantages in adding this software to their business. This software is also fully customizable! Each feature can be turned on or off. It has categories you can edit to the types of lessons you offer. You can also change pricing based on season or time of day. Also, you have detailed lesson and financial reports that you can look at and filter by several categories. 

4. Lesson Scheduling Software Helps Instructors. 

eSoft has special features that can be turned on to help instructors manage scheduling and notifications. You can use back-to-back availability, so instructors never have to wait hours between sessions. They can go straight from one lesson to another. It also lets you turn on location consistency, so instructors don’t have to change locations from session to session. They can stay in the same spot! 

Conclusion

Many robust software programs offer systems that are expensive and include extra features that you would never use that they charge you for. That is why we created an individual instructor program at eSoft Planner to be able to offer instructors an affordable scheduling app that can be branded to help launch their own businesses. 

If you are on the lookout for a lesson scheduling app with a web-based app that fits all of your needs, learn more about eSoft Planner.

eSoft Planner is flexible, affordable, simple, and perfect for small businesses and instructors. Request your free demo today. See how we can help you consolidate effort, save time, and increase revenue.

Plus, Follow us on Facebook or LinkedIn to stay current on industry news and the latest from eSoft Planner.

Use a lesson scheduling app to easily schedule your lessons online.

A Lesson Scheduling App Paves Way for Revenue Stream

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Lessons are a key player in a facility’s revenue stream. Whether it be baseball/softball, swimming, tennis, soccer, cheerleading, and even music and sewing – scheduling lessons is a huge presence in everyday operations. As a result, the more lessons you offer, the more revenue you bring in. But, with that revenue comes more opportunities for calendar confusion, double booking, and more. But here’s the solution – a lesson scheduling app. 

A lesson scheduling software with a web-based app included contains all of the benefits of the software, with the added bonuses of making scheduling even more on the go. Let’s get into some specifics: 

A Lesson Scheduling App Increases Cash Flow 

eCommerce Payment Options 

Within the lesson scheduling app, athletes and their parents can sign up and pay for lessons when booking. Learn more about Lesson Pricing Models here, if necessary. Your clients can even save their payment information in a secure account and pay with the push of a button.

24/7 Access

With more hours in the day, athletes and parents can book more lessons. Many times parents that are responsible for scheduling and paying for lessons have a lot on their plate. Having to call to schedule during business hours is nearly impossible for some, and easily forgotten by most. An app allows them to hop on their phone at any time of day, whether it be before they wake the kids up for school or before they turn the lights out to go to bed. This means less forgetting and more booking – resulting in more revenue for your facility. 

Cancellation and Refund Policies

Refunds and cancellations are a headache for every facility owner/manager out there. With an app requiring payment at booking, facilities are guaranteed revenue. However, some facilities do want to offer the ability to cancel or reschedule. Coupled with the app, facility managers can set restrictions and rules for these situations. These can include:

  • non-refundable booking fees (partial or all of the lesson fee),
  • time restrictions (cancel 48 hours in advance to receive a refund), and
  • lastly even special circumstances like doctor’s notes, team conflicts, etc. 

All of these rules can be adjusted based on your facility preferences. 

It Reduces Administrative Costs

eCommerce Payment Options

Additionally, giving athletes and parents the ability to pay online, means there is no need to pay staff to sit at the front desk. Even more, no one has to make phone calls to ensure the lessons are paid. So the instructor doesn’t need to chase after payments! This frees their time to focus on the lesson. 

24/7 Access 

Gone are the days of hiring someone to sit and wait for the phone to ring. The app lets you leave your phones unattended while the staff in the facility is running lessons or classes. 

Facility and Calendar Management

Above all, you get great facility management. You and your staff will no longer worry about:  

  • double bookings,
  • availability of space for lessons in the facility, or
  • time blocking and coordinating lessons with the instructors.

What’s more, just have the instructors put in their availability. Then you can set the hours each space is available on a given day. And finally. let the app do the day-to-day scheduling for you!

If you are on the lookout for a lesson scheduling app with a web-based app that fits all of your needs, learn more about eSoft Planner.

eSoft Planner is flexible, affordable, simple, and perfect for small businesses and organizations. Request your free demo today. See how we can help you consolidate effort, save time, and increase revenue.

Plus, Follow us on Facebook or LinkedIn to stay current on industry news and the latest from eSoft Planner.

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