Personal fitness instructors, whether they work on their own or as associates at a large health club or gym, rely on accurate scheduling of their clients’ sessions in order to plan their days. But as any trainer or owner of a service-based business can attest to, managing customer and client appointments is no easy task, especially when they do so the old-fashioned way: booking over the phone and manually recording them in a paper appointment book or spreadsheet on a desktop or laptop computer.
Fortunately for trainers, a solution is available that makes their appointment-scheduling process mobile: online personal trainers software for scheduling.
THE PAIN OF MANUALLY SCHEDULING APPOINTMENTS
- It can add hours to their weekly work schedule.
- There’s room for scheduling errors, as client session times and information are added and managed manually.
- Customers are unable to confirm a session time when they call; instead, they have to wait for their trainer to call them back to confirm.
- There’s no easy way to remind them of their appointments, unless the trainer has the time to personally reach out to them by phone or email.
All of these pain points can have a serious impact on how personal trainers, health clubs and gyms run their businesses and impede their ability to take on more clients and expand their services, which is key for business growth and increased profits.
WHY ONLINE SCHEDULING IS THE BEST OPTION
Mobile fitness trainers need “mobile” solutions to efficiently run their businesses and health club schedules. And being cloud-based technology that’s accessible from smart phones, tablets, laptops and other Internet-connected devices, online personal trainer software is the perfect avenue for managing the scheduling component of their daily processes.
Adding an online scheduling component to a personal training business or health club can have an instant and positive impact for both trainers and clients alike. By adding a “Book Now” button of scheduler link on Web page, social media site or even in an e-mail sent to clients, a fitness professional or business can completely automate scheduling tasks by allowing clients to book their sessions conveniently online, 24 hours a day. Instead of calling their trainer or gym, they simply access a scheduling page through their desktop computer, laptop or mobile device to view availability, specific trainers (if scheduling at a health club or gym), and sessions, activities and programs available for booking.
Once selected and booked, the personal trainers softwarescheduling system does the rest, without any additional action from the trainer. The client’s appointment is recorded in the system’s calendar for that specific day and time. In short: the system does the bulk of the work for the trainer, allowing him or her to spend less time listening to voice messages and returning phone calls into the evening hours!
In addition to providing a self-scheduling option for clients, some scheduling software systems also include functionality beyond the actual scheduling of appointments, such as automated e-mail and text message reminders, which can help reduce the “no-show” rate by almost 75 percent; record-keeping, reporting and analytics features to measure appointment activity; and e-marketing options to instantly connect with clients.
To effectively run a business or provide client services in today’s mobile-device-connected society, an online, “mobile” solution is a necessity. For personal fitness trainers and health clubs looking to improve their scheduling procedures, the clear solution is online personal trainer’s software.