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Read eSoft Planner’s expert blogs, articles and news about the ways that volleyball clubs management software can benefit your volleyball facility.

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Sports Scheduling Has Never Been Easier: eSoft Planner Offers Low Price and High Power

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Introduction

When it comes to sports scheduling, there are many problems and few solutions. If you’re in charge of scheduling everything from tournaments to practices and games, then you know about the headaches that come with managing all those moving parts. You also probably know that finding a sports scheduling app that offers affordable pricing, ease of use and powerful features is next to impossible.

Enter eSoft Planner: your low price solution for your sports scheduling needs! eSoft offers adaptable pricing based on how much power you need. So, if you have just one league or sport, we can help with some of the lowest rates and best user experiences in the sports scheduling industry. Even better, we don’t force anyone into signing unreasonably long contracts. We know the eSoft difference is something truly special! In addition, you don’t need to worry about customer service either – since we are consistently ranked #1 in this area among all sports software providers in the country. We’ve been helping organizations across America schedule their programs since 2007. There’s no problem we won’t be willing to assist you with. 

eSoft Planner offers affordability and adaptability. With a la carte pricing, you aren’t forced into high rates; pay for what you need and want.

eSoft Planner offers affordability and adaptability. With a la carte pricing, you aren’t forced into high rates; pay for what you need and want.

You can choose the features that work best for you and get the most bang for your buck. With multiple modules to choose from, you can tailor the software to your business no matter the sport, hobby, or layout of your space.

The software is easy to use and can be customized to fit the needs of any facility or sport. It’s designed around your business, not the other way around. Then, you don’t have to pay for features you won’t use or train staff on features they won’t need.

eSoft Planner is a favorite sports scheduling app among trainers, coaches, organizations, and academies across the country.

eSoft Planner is a favorite sports scheduling app among trainers, coaches, organizations, and academies across the country. After 15 years of leading the industry, eSoft boasts a growing list of satisfied clients. As the ultimate sport scheduler software, it helps optimize, streamline, and grow sports / training businesses across the country. There are eSoft Sports Software clients in every state in the country (and many more countries around the globe), and the number is growing every day!

The eSoft Sports Software is a powerful and easy-to-use tool that allows you to manage your entire sports business. It’s the only software in the market that offers both unlimited, consultative customer service from dedicated U.S.-based experts, as well as no pricing increase for growth or expansion. We’re here for you every step of the way. 

There are a number of benefits to using eSoft as your sports scheduling app. One of the most important is that it helps you save time, money, and resources. It streamlines your business processes and reduces admin time and report creation. Also, the eSoft Sports Software allows you to create custom reports that can be exported in any format (PDF, Excel, Word, etc.) for easy sharing with your clients or other stakeholders. It’s just another key example of the power and convenience of eSoft Planner.

availability sports planner with eSoft Planner

The system is flexible, powerful and so affordable you don’t have to think twice before buying – Whether it’s swimming pools, courts, fields, or something totally unique.

eSoft Planner is flexible, powerful and so affordable you don’t have to think twice before buying –  Whether it’s swimming pools, courts, fields, or something totally unique.

Whatever your needs are, eSoft Planner can help. It schedules leagues, tournaments, and practices. Further, it can track inventory, sales, revenue, etc…

Whether you are looking for a way to track your players and their progress or just need a simple way to schedule games and practices, eSoft Planner has the tools you need.

Clients love the service they receive from their account managers and other support staff at eSoft. eSoft Planner is consistently ranked #1 in customer service.

eSoft Planner has been trusted by thousands of sports organizations. Clients love the service they receive from their account managers and other support staff. In fact, eSoft Planner is consistently ranked #1 in customer service across the entire industry.

The executive team and employees at eSoft have a personal interest in the success of their clients. It makes relationships stronger and more meaningful than any other business in the sports planning space. Further, eSoft’s staff is comprised of former trainers, athletes, and facility owners, giving us unique insights into the industry and what it takes to help our clients succeed.

If you’re a coach or owner of a sports organization, you’ll find that eSoft Planner is the perfect solution for your needs. We offer flexible options to fit any size of business and budget. Also, our software is extremely easy-to-use, yet powerful enough to meet the demands of any coach or business owner. eSoft Planner is the industry standard for sports organizations and has been trusted by thousands of clients over the last decade. Clients love the service they receive from their account managers and other support staff, which is why eSoft is consistently ranked #1 in customer service across the entire industry. The executive team and employees at eSoft have a personal interest in the success of their clients. Therefore, relationships are stronger and more meaningful than any other business in the sports planning space.

The Problem With Sports Scheduling and Our Solution.

Sports scheduling and management require a lot of time and attention to detail. The problem with sports scheduling is that it can be hard to find an affordable solution that works for everyone. Our solution solves this problem by providing an affordable, flexible, and powerful software program. It has been trusted by thousands of sports organizations nationwide. Also, it aligns with the varied, diverse landscape of needs that confronts so many coaches, owners, and trainers.

With eSoft Planner, you can easily manage clients, classes, courts, guest passes, inventory, merch, and customers without spending hours on the phone or at a computer. Then, you’ll have more time for coaching, hiring, marketing, and growing your business!

You can even utilize the software’s marketing capabilities to send email updates, point to blogs and social media, and promote client achievements. 

esoft mobile

Affordable, Flexible, and Powerful

Sports scheduling has never been easier. eSoft Planner offers a low-price, high-power system that is customizable, user-friendly, and easy to use. It works with any sport or activity and can be used by organizations of any size. Due to that, sizes range from a single team up to the biggest leagues in professional sports. If you need an affordable solution for your sports scheduling needs, then look no further than eSoft Planner!

eSoft Planner is the simplest, easiest way for sports teams and organizations to schedule their games. It’s loaded with powerful features that let you easily manage your team schedules, player availability, game results, and more. To learn more, check out some of the capabilities below: 

  • Lessons

  • Rentals

  • Camps/Clinics

  • Packages

  • Memberships

  • Retail/POS/Web Store

  • Barcode Tracking & Integration

  • Teams

  • Upsells & Value-Adds

  • Leagues

  • Swim Club

    Another key aspect to consider is that as your program grows, your subscription rates will stay the same. Perhaps even better, our software is so robust, that we can actually personally tailor it to your exact needs. One sport, multiple sports, inventory management, marketing capabilities, and more! The sky is the limit, as we’ll never engage in practices that hinder your bottom line and/or your ability to grow.

Conclusion

Countless reviewers, clients, and coaches have found that eSoft Planner is the best option for sports scheduling. Given the unique variety of needs in the sports and training industry, we find that clients’ reasons for choosing the software are as robust and wide-reaching as the software itself. Whether it’s the ease of adding new trainers or clients, the powerful field/court reservation mapping options, seamless barcode-integrated guest passes, or one of the many other proprietary capabilities that have made eSoft the authority in the industry, there is almost a certainty that eSoft Planner will help you take your team, league, group, or academy to the next level. For more information, feel free to request a demo or give us a call and speak with a dedicated expert today. 

As the sports scheduling market grows, you’ll want to lean into software that is built with you in mind, operated by companies that prioritize you. From time and time again, eSoft earns clients from under-committed competitors for this very reason. Finally, now is the time to experience the most robust, client-focused, sports scheduling and planning software in the country.

Other Helpful Resources: Sports Facility Expert
  • Best Practices in Sports Scheduling

Best Practices in Sports Scheduling Software: How to Grow Your Business Effectively

esoft planner : #1 in sports planning and athletic businesses

Best Practices in Sports Scheduling Software: How to Grow Your Business Effectively

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Introduction

Sports agencies, teams and other organizations use sports scheduling software to manage their business. It helps them automate tasks like scheduling games on fields, sending text alerts and emails, tracking player statistics, and much more.

To grow your business effectively, use eSoft Planner to automate sports scheduling, streamline business processes, eliminate admin work, create reports automatically, organize maps and reservation programs, and send marketing emails for increased player retention.

The benefits of using a sports scheduling software are numerous. For example:

  • Sports Scheduling Software Automates Sports Scheduling

  • Business Processes Streamlined Automatically

  • Admin Work Eliminated

  • Reports Created Automatically

Sports Scheduling Software Can Help You Manage All Your Games And Practices Easily!

1. Automate your scheduling process with eSoft Planner

eSoft Planner is the best online sports management software of 2023, and it’s easy to see why. It’s the most advanced, easy-to-use, and affordable sports scheduling software on the market. Also, eSoft Planner is an app for sports and facility management. It allows you to allocate resources effectively while saving time in the process!

2. Avoid scheduling conflicts, double-bookings and overbooking

eSoft Planner helps you avoid scheduling conflicts by allowing you to set a maximum number of teams that can be hosted at any given time. For example, say your facility has 20 ice sheets available for use and it’s already booked up with 17 teams on different days (and no cancellations). Then, eSoft Planner won’t allow another team to schedule a game until one of those other 17 teams cancels their game or gets moved due to weather conditions. This feature prevents double-bookings and ensures everyone gets enough ice time at your facility!

Additionally, eSoft Planner allows users to set preferences based on specific criteria such as age level (youth vs adult), gender (male vs female), or skill level (beginner vs advanced). This helps ensure that leagues are matched appropriately. So, they won’t end up playing against each other when one team may not be ready for competition yet while another might have been waiting months just for an opportunity like this one!

3. Streamline paperwork and avoid errors with standardized reporting.

Sports scheduling software can help you to organize your team’s games, track attendance, and even generate revenue. However, if you’re not using a robust system for reporting on these activities, it’s possible that you may be missing out on important opportunities for growth.

The best sports scheduling software will allow you to create reports that provide insights into how many people attended each event or game during a given period of time (e.g., season). This type of data helps managers better understand what works–and what doesn’t–when it comes to marketing their organization’s events online or offline. Also, it determines whether there are any discrepancies between actual attendance figures versus those projected by the team owners/executives beforehand, based off previous years’ experiences at similar venues/venues nearby without taking into account current conditions like weather patterns affecting travel times, etcetera…

4. Optimize sports facility usage with text and email alerts.

Text and email alerts can be a great way to stay on top of your sports scheduling. When you set up text and email alerts, you’ll receive notifications when games are scheduled and when you have to make changes. You can also use these tools to remind yourself of upcoming events, registration deadlines, payments due. It also works for anything else that’s important for your business!

5. Increase player retention and loyalty with marketing emails.

Marketing emails are a great way to keep players coming back to your facility. You can use eSoft Planner to send marketing emails automatically. Also, send text notifications to players who have signed up for text alerts.

6. Eliminate admin work with the best online sports management software of 2023

Sports scheduling software is a powerful tool that can help you save time and money. It eliminates the need for manual tasks like entering scores, tracking players, and creating schedules. However, not all solutions are created equal. Some are better than others at helping you accomplish your goals as an organizer or manager. With these six tips in mind, you’ll be able to find a program that fits your needs perfectly!

Stay organized by setting up different schedules for each season, league or time of year (e.g., high school football in the fall).

To stay organized and avoid confusion, it’s important to set up different schedules for each season, league or time of year (e.g., high school football in the fall). eSoft Planner allows you to do this by creating multiple schedules at once. You can also use eSoft Planner by multiple teams and leagues at once if they have similar scheduling needs such as baseball teams playing against each other during spring training.

Use eSoft Planner’s unique mapping feature to show where teams are located and reserve times with automatic notifications sent to administrators.

eSoft Planner’s mapping feature is an innovative, time-saving feature that allows you to show where teams are located and reserve times with automatic notifications sent to administrators.

  • View all schedules on one map

  • Easily reserve times from anywhere on the schedule by dragging and dropping your mouse over the desired location on a map. You can also click on any location in order to see associated schedules or view details about that team’s schedule.

  • Get automatic notifications when someone else attempts reservations at your favorite sports field or gymnasium.

Conclusion

eSoft Planner is the best online sports management software that helps you grow your business effectively. It’s packed full of features like automated scheduling, streamlining business processes, eliminating admin work and creating reports automatically. If you want to get started with eSoft Planner today, then request a demo here!

A Lesson Scheduling App Aids in Revenue Streams

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: 

Increase in 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. 

Reduce 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.

Players Schedule through Sports Team Management

Sports Team Management Software Benefits Coaches and Players

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Managing sports teams is a full-time job. Sports team management software can help with all the coordination:

  • fields for practices, games, and tournaments,
  • collecting and tracking payments and paperwork, AND
  • sometimes handling rentals and lessons with team equipment or spaces (e.g., batting cages, nets, balls, etc).

That’s enough work to make your head spin. Not to mention, almost everyone responsible for all this has a full-time job and family to worry about. That’s why every organization, no matter how big or small, could benefit from management software. 

Here are all the things you should get to make the most out of an investment in this software: 

Custom Player Registration Forms

When a player signs up or accepts an offer after a tryout, a sports team management software does the heavy lifting. It handles setting up the player’s account and gathering all of their information through one online form (contact info, uniform sizing/number, etc). It’s also fully customizable based on the information you need. For example, for high school/recruitment-aged players, things like GPA, ACT/SAT scores, height, etc. would be important for a coach to have on file. But those things aren’t necessary, or even possible, for younger athletes. Through this form, all liability waivers, medical releases, physical forms, and team agreements can be submitted and signed. 

Team Agreement Signatures

No more file cabinets of paperwork and tracking who has and hasn’t signed. Your software will handle it all for you. It will notify each player of documents ready to sign, organize them into team folders, and let them e-sign from their devices – or straight from their registration form mentioned above. 

Payment Schedules 

Do you offer payment plans, one-time payments per season, or other options? Then sports team management software can keep track of it. Both parents and coaches can set recurring payments or even pay additional charges for lessons and clinics throughout the season, and more. 

Build a Budget

Operating a sports team is expensive. It’s essential that each team pays its dues to keep the organization up and running. Having a budget laid out that includes fundraising, player payments, and more can help organizations see which teams are paying their part, and which teams (or parents) need to do more. It is also a great option for transparency with the parents. They get to see exactly where the money is going, and the efforts they still need to make. Some software allows you to decide to show or hide the budget from the player’s accounts (or show just parts of the budget to the parents). A great software is fully customizable to your needs. 

Build a Team Schedule

A sports team management software makes the process of coordinating a team’s schedule and their player perks with all of the other teams in the organization a simple and on-the-go process. Coaches can see available times for courts, fields, cages, and more all from their phones (or PCs). They can then build out their team’s schedule without conflicting with other teams’ reservations or rentals. It can also allow players and their parents to go online and check the team schedule so that they can plan and coordinate with their day-to-day lives. 

Security

An online, protected software is the safest collection of information for the players, coaches, and parents. It offers secure payment as well as a safe storage platform for important papers such as birth certificates. 

Player Scheduling Capabilities 

A sports team management software can also open up your facilities and equipment for rental by the players for extra practice, lessons with coaches or other staff, and clinics you offer. 

If you are on the hunt for a sports team management software 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.

Court Reservation System Benefits

Court Reservation System Benefits and Usage

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Whether it’s basketball, volleyball, tennis, or even pickleball – courts are a hot commodity in the sports world. Many times teams and individuals booking courts in a facility pay either a membership or rental fee. But there are also park/city courts open to the general public. This is where cities can charge fees for guaranteed reservations. However, both facility courts and public courts fight the same battle, finding the proper court reservation system. 

Here are all of the features your court reservation system may need to include for you to maximize its full benefits. 

Mobile-Friendly Apps 

In today’s world, everyone is go, go, go. There is no time to sit down at a PC and book courts for their teams, children, etc. Mobile apps enhance the entire user experience. They make scheduling on the go an easier and more enjoyable process. 

Notifications from Court Reservation Systems

Whether it’s text, email, or both, your customers (and your staff) need software-automated notifications for reservations, rescheduling, and cancellations. It maintains communication between the facility/court and the user with less staffing expenses and minimal opportunity for error. It also helps customers track court info, times of their scheduled bookings, and more. 

Court Availability Tracker

Clients can coordinate their schedules with court availability and navigate other reservations at the same time. In most cases, the booked times and days either don’t show up or are marked so. Your staff no longer has to get involved or worry about two clients coming in at 2 PM for the same court. Court reservation systems make double-booking incidents a thing of the past! 

eCommerce Capabilities of Court Reservation Systems

This feature is more important than many facility managers or court staff know. The system let’s you require payment right as the reservation is made. This not only confirms the revenue from each booking, but it eliminates the responsibility of collecting payment from the staff’s plate. Don’t need payment in advance, but still want to guarantee a little revenue? You can set a smaller reservation fee, with the rest of the fee due at reservation time. It can also track memberships, pre-paid packages, refunds from cancellations, and more.  

Scheduling Restrictions

There are tons of restrictions and limitations you can set in a court reservation system. These are all based on the preferences you select. Set your facility hours to not allow reservations before or after close. Limit how far in advance or how late leading up to the reservation time that clients or patrons can book. For example, reservations are open a month in advance, or reservations must be made an hour before the reservation begins, etc.  It also allows you to set time restrictions or booking limits for specific courts. Have a busy court location in your park? You can restrict reservations to one hour so that everyone gets a chance. Have a location that needs in-person staff? Restrict the reservation times to staff hours. Your options are endless. 

Pricing Settings

Each reservation has so many different aspects that can impact its expenses on the facility or city. In that case, make the pricing change accordingly. In a court reservation system, you can set a pricing structure based on who books the court (e.g. an individual, an organization, a member, etc.). You can also set different pricing structures depending on the type or size of the court, or the time frame of the reservation. Again, this is all controlled based on your preferences.

If you are on the hunt for a court reservation system 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.

Card Reader and Payment Methods

Venmo/Cash App Are Changing – Here’s How to Approach Future Payment Methods and Credit Card Fees

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There’s some big news in the world of Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, and more peer-to-peer payment methods. Starting January 1, 2022, any seller of goods or services receiving more than $600 per year will receive a 1099-K and be required to report that income on their taxes. This is a game-changer for small businesses that use those platforms for all kinds of payments. 

Not only will the taxes increase on the business, according to an article covering the update, facility owner workload just increased. Owners/managers will need to print all transaction reports, sort through and distinguish each transaction from the peer-to-peer payment apps, and gather invoices and receipts as supporting documentation for the IRS. 

That is a lot of additional work, right in time for the busy season.

The Alternative – Credit Cards (But Without The Crazy Fees) 

With credit card companies forcing facility owners into 2-3 year contracts, constantly changing their rates, and requiring monthly minimums – all topped with horrible customer service that will keep you on the phone for hours – payment methods and processing seem like a hopeless case. 

But here’s our approach… 

CardConnect/CardPointe

eSoft Planner’s partner CardConnect/CardPointe is the fix that facility owners are looking for. 

Here are the benefits our team negotiated for facility owners in need of a new payment method: 

  • 2.75% Flat Rate for Visa, Mastercard, and Discover
  • No Monthly Minimums
  • No Contracts 
  • PCI Compliance Check Ins from eSoft Planner – yearly reminders for facility owners
  • Customer Support through eSoft Planner – no bouncing from person to person, we can answer your questions.

Learn more About eSoft Planner.

eSoft Planner is flexible, affordable, simple, and perfect for small business owners. Request your free demo today to see how we can help you consolidate effort, save time, increase revenue, and grow your business.

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

Employees Discuss Sports Facility Sales

How To Do Sports Facility Sales without Selling

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How to do Sports Facility Sales without Selling

Most people working in a sports facility don’t see themselves as salespeople. After all, many of them got into sports facility ownership because they were passionate about sports and seeing others achieve their athletic goals. Not to promote classes, memberships and lessons.

There are a few reasons that the word “sales” elicits this type of response. First, your staff probably have had some negative experiences with salespeople. We’re all familiar with the stereotype of the manipulative, pushy, slimy sales rep. So the word doesn’t exactly have a stellar reputation for people with no business background.

However, even if your staff has no problem with the idea of sales, they still might see it as a mysterious or innate skill that they just don’t have.

The True Meaning of Sports Facility Sales

Everyone at eSoft Planner enjoys helping athletes reach their peak potential. They are passionate about the games we play – baseball, football, softball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and other activities. But if they were asked to describe their strengths, the word “selling” would not be included in their response.

Now, here’s the funny thing about this situation. If you’re like us, you know very well that your staff can sell. Mainly, they have the most important characteristics of any sales rep:

  • they understand our clients’ needs
  • they’re passionate and knowledgeable about what they’re selling (athletic training)
  • they’re articulate about the benefits that our services provide

To remove the sense of intimidation that inevitably pops up whenever we speak of the concept of selling classes, memberships and lessons, we encourage our sports facility clients to use more easily digestible terms like branding and promotion.

If your staff is really invested in your programs and believes that they can help people live healthier lives, these efforts will be a lot more appealing to them.

Listen: Changing a few words around isn’t going to trick your staff into suddenly rushing out the door to hand out fliers on the street. Everyone wishes they could just skip the selling part of their work. Sales is difficult. It involves getting out of your comfort zone, making yourself vulnerable and risking rejection.

Yes, it would be nice if all your clients found you via word-of-mouth. However, that will never be the most consistent part of your business. If you want your business to be more than just a side income, you have to be proactive about getting new paying clients.

Conclusion

If you’re new to the idea of thinking of yourself as a salesperson, or if you just need help getting your facility staff and volunteers to understand how they can become better at branding and promotion, we would love to talk to you. Our staff at eSoft Planner come from a wide variety of backgrounds in multiple sports industries.

Click here and fill out the form to schedule a time to talk with us.

Team Management for Volleyball Team

Improve Team Management With Player Perks

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Make the Most of Your Team Relationships: Give Players Perks

A great way for sports facilities to generate business is by building relationships with local teams through team management. Whether the teams rent your facility space or are hosted by your facility directly, giving players special perks is part of developing those quality relationships.

Giving team members special benefits at your facility can increase team retention and provide a revenue stability for your facility. Particularly if the membership benefits extend throughout slower seasons.

Case Study: DNA Sports Center

DNA Sports Center is home to the Midwest Prospects, a nonprofit, elite baseball program whose goal is to expose players to college coaches. Midwest Prospects players get exclusive access to a specially tailored speed, agility, strength and hitting membership at DNA Sports Center.

Players are encouraged to take advantage of this membership to improve their skills. It’s simple for coaches to collect the cost of the membership along with monthly team payments. Also, players have year-round access to member benefits.

If your facility doesn’t directly sponsor sports teams, it’s still worth creating a membership named after each team that you offer these perks to. These package deals can be great marketing tools that advertise your special relationship with a team. It encourages other teams to develop a similar relationship with you. eSoft Planner makes it easy to set up these added perks. With flexible membership management tools to build the packages around your business.

You may also choose to keep a partnership and its details private. Limit the purchase of the membership to in-store only. This way, you can ensure that only the appropriate team members purchase the membership.

Regardless, you should meet with team coaches to discuss what offerings would benefit them the most before you create the membership. If the coaches feel that the perks will truly meet their team’s needs, they will encourage their players to get involved.

With eSoft Planner, you can automatically apply discounts on lessons, camps, classes and rentals. In particular, add to special client groups, such as teams. If you would like to discuss how eSoft Planner works, we would love to talk with you. Click here and fill out the form to request a free demo.

Employees Discuss Sports Academy Market

Understanding the Sports Academy Market

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Marketing Research Basics for Sports Academies

Every potential business starts with a great idea — or at least what seems like one. Getting market data for your sports academy is one way to test whether your idea will hold up. Business owners that are armed with detailed market research can instill buyer’s confidence — whether they’re working with investors to finance the academy or planning to purchase a big piece of physical property.

However, it’s also important if you’re starting small or operating on your own. This research could save you weeks (or months) of time and energy by keeping your business on the right path.

Plenty of market research companies will compile reports for you for a price. However, you can start by taking the steps below to research your market on your own.

Identify Target Market Segments

Begin by listing groups of customers based on which services they would be interested in.

You can get as specific as you want with the groups. You’ll probably find yourself re-working the list a few times. These groups might even overlap with the customer personas you created, but you might decide to segment differently for this exercise.

Here are some examples of market segments for a typical sports academy:

Primary Market Segment:

  • Kids in middle school and high school who want to improve in their chosen sport

Secondary Market Segments:

  • Adults who want athletic-type fitness classes or personal training
  • Families looking for a birthday party venue
  • Coaches who want indoor practice space
  • People who use batting cages or other similar equipment recreationally
  • High school students who want help with the college recruiting process

Find the Sports Academy Market Segments’ Size

After you’ve identified your segments, it’s time to get some numbers on the size and growth of each of these segments as it relates to your business. You can use U.S. Census data, knowledge about your community, and good old-fashioned internet sleuthing to get data from reputable industry groups and publications.

Here’s an example of the information you would collect for the primary market segment:

Primary Market Segment: Kids in middle school and high school who want to improve in their chosen sport.

  • There are more than 300 kids on high school sports teams and 400 on middle school sports teams (soccer, football, baseball, volleyball) at schools within a 20-minute drive of our facility. Within a 30-minute drive, there are an additional 100 high school athletes and 100 middle school athletes.

Figure Out Your Short-Term Obtainable Market

You won’t be able to sell to everyone in the market segment — at least not right away. To get a more realistic idea of how many will buy from you in the short-term, consider these factors.

Customers’ Ability to Pay

Your customers can only buy if they can afford your services. Use your demographic research to get an idea of how many people in the segment have the readiness and ability to pay for your services right away.

Example: The communities around our proposed location have a median household income of $75K, which is well over the threshold of the profile family who we expect to be interested in the memberships we’d like to offer. About half of the athletes’ families in our area will be able to easily afford our prices.

Competition

Consider how difficult it will be to sell your idea considering competitors in the area. Put yourself in the shoes of your customer and consider which other alternatives they could use to obtain their goals.

Example: Because there are few competitors within a 30-minute drive of our location, we don’t expect much competition for this market segment.

Interest Level

Not every athlete will be interested in spending extra time and money to get to the next level, and your program simply won’t be a good fit for everyone. Gather some evidence to estimate how many will have an immediate interest in your services.

Example: There are also 10 non-school club programs located within a 30-minute drive of our facility, including club soccer facilities, elite baseball programs, and volleyball clubs. This indicates that many families in this area are willing to invest in competitive programs that will give their kids an edge in sports. College-bound kids, more represented in the higher income levels, will be more interested in our services.

Other Obstacles and Summary

What will make your services difficult to sell? Is the idea of sports performance training completely new to your community? Have you made connections with local coaches and other organizations?

Consider any other obstacles that might further limit your ability to sell in the short-term. Then you can estimate how much of the original market segment you can realistically expect to obtain.

Example: Based on these factors and the fact that we primarily have inroads in the baseball community, we expect that we can reasonably obtain about 3-4% of this segment in the first year of opening. That works out to about 30 monthly members for sports performance training.

Note the Sports Academy Market Industry Trends

To finish up your market research, you can add some notes on industry trends and relevant economic forecasts. You should be as detailed as possible with this and include specific examples and links to actual studies.

Example: The sports performance industry continues to grow, evidenced by the emergence of speed school franchise locations that are adding new locations every few months nationwide in communities such as ours. Studies indicate that even during recessions, parents continue to prioritize activities that they believe will help their children’s future.

The team at eSoft Planner is ready to help you make the most of your sports facility. We want you to be successful, and we can provide you with expert advice, whether you’re looking to start a new facility or considering adjustments to your existing business. Talk to our team today about how eSoft Planner can support your business

Increase Revenue by Offering Volleyball Services

Increase Revenue by Offering Valuable Volleyball Services to your Clients

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Get Your Clients to Pay 3x More by Offering Valuable Volleyball Services

Dependable revenue is key to your business survival. Which is why you give your members and players special treatment and do your best to keep them coming back year after year with your volleyball services.

But when it comes to keeping members happy and attracting new ones, most sports facilities offer the services they feel comfortable with rather than the ones a client needs.

Let’s say you have a volleyball club with a fantastic roster of coaches. You might think you offer “elite youth volleyball training.” But they need so much more to make sure their kid gets the best chance to play volleyball in college.

When you focus on how your services meet your clients’ specific needs, they will be inclined to pay you more. And that’s exactly what Momentum Volleyball Club in Centennial, Colorado, has done.

MVC understands that most of their players are aiming for the collegiate level, and that sports-specific training is just the first step. MVC also understands that their clients are willing to pay more for a package that guarantees their athletes’ success.

When you join a team at Momentum Volleyball Club, you receive great volleyball training. But you also get additional benefits that any college-bound athlete needs:

  • Speed and Agility Training. Being a truly elite volleyball player requires high endurance, a strong core and a high vertical jump. MVC has developed a partnership with a local speed and agility training company that works with their athletes on such fundamentals. The trainers have an office in the MVC building and work with the same teams all year long, building relationships with them and tracking their progress.
  • Yoga. MVC leaders know that you need every athletic edge to play at the elite level, including flexibility and mental focus. They’ve developed a great relationship with a local yoga instructor. This instructor is familiar with the flexibility needs of volleyball players and is dedicated to working with them long-term.
  • Recruiting. Not all MVC players will want to go on to play in college. But the ones who are interested will receive help with creating an attractive online presence for recruiters which showcases their best video clips. They also get assistance in proactively reaching out to college coaches across the country.

Conclusion

Because of the value players receive, Momentum Volleyball Club can justify a higher cost than competing clubs. Parents understand that they’re getting a great value for their money. Additionally, that their player will have everything they needs to pursue volleyball at the college level.

Momentum Volleyball Club uses eSoft Planner — our complete SaaS for easy management of all your volleyball services and packages. Click here for a demo of how eSoft Planner can fit your volleyball club’s needs.

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