3 Gym Case Studies and Success Stories from Booking and Management Software

The most successful modern fitness businesses are powered by smart gym management software. The right solution can streamline your operations, improve the member experience, and ultimately make you more money.

But which solution is the right tool for your gym, fitness studio or health club?

It can be a hard question to answer, particularly if you haven’t used these tools before. Thankfully, plenty of other businesses have. By learning from their experiences, you can identify the sort of solution that will help you take your company to the next level.

Why booking software is key for modern fitness businesses

Before we dive into the real-world successes, we should first understand why your fitness business needs booking software in the first place:

• Maximize operational efficiency: Reduce admin and opportunities for human error by automating your booking and scheduling processes, and getting customers to enter their own information.
• Optimize revenue: By minimizing admin, avoiding cancellations, automating upselling and maximizing class capacities, a smart solution can help you earn more than ever before.
• Crunch the numbers: Gym booking systems generate a huge amount of data that can be used to generate all sorts of insights regarding attendance, fitness trends, popular classes and membership tiers, so you can better align your offerings to what members want.

The best tools also enhance the member experience through customized experiences, greater convenience and easy access to your gym with a digital pass (allowing you to become a 24/7 gym if you so choose). Trainers and instructors benefit too, as quality solutions will help you to control class sizes and reduce no-shows.

But what do these solutions look like in real life? Let’s review some case studies to find out.

Success Story #1: How Lincoln University Gym reduced admin and controlled member access

For the 14 years until 2021, Lincoln University Gym had used the same manual processes to sign up and manage its members.

“They had to fill out a paper form, then we had to manually input it into the system,” Gym Membership and Administration Manager Mark Smith explained. “I set up direct debits manually and it took me at least an hour a day processing each new member one by one.”

The university’s IT team did some research and gave the gym a list of options. GymMaster instantly stood out. Before committing, the team visited a nearby gym that was already using GymMaster. They were impressed by what they saw. After a trial demo, they signed up.

While it took some time to migrate all the data from their (very manual) legacy system to GymMaster, the pay-off has been incredible. They’ve gone from taking an hour a day to manually sign up new members, to automating the entire process.

“When members join up, they get a welcome email and they download the app and manage their own account using that. Before GymMaster, booking classes was all manual. Most members use the app for bookings now. It has also streamlined admin and communicating with members. We can email members with updates, and I get a weekly revenue report showing any payment dishonors, so we can follow those up.”

The gym has been particularly pleased with the member access control feature.

“If you only have squash membership, your key fob just opens the gate to the squash courts and not the gate to the gym. You can set limits for how many people you want in each class and how many people are allowed in the gym at any one time. We can put a stop on member key fobs, so if anyone owes money, they can’t get through the gate.”

It’s a far cry from the labor-intensive pre-2021 days, and as a result the gym has spent the last few years going from strength to strength.

So how does Mark summarize the GymMaster experience? In short, glowingly:

“If you’re thinking of upgrading your gym management software, I can’t recommend GymMaster highly enough. It’s not till you start using GymMaster that you appreciate how much it can do for you. It’s exceeded our expectations: it has everything we need plus more, and the support’s been amazing from day one.”

Read more about how GymMaster digitized and modernized Lincoln University Gym.

Success Story #2: How Fitness Factory went from pen and paper to full automation

A couple of years ago Ryan Troutman acquired Fitness Factory, a gym in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He also stepped into a bit of a time machine - a business that hadn’t really digitized at all.

“This is a gym that holds close to 900 members - all the memberships were done through a paper system, then manually entered onto a computer. The check-in system was done by a piece of paper and a pencil. We obviously wanted to make that way more efficient.”

Having spent what he describes as ‘tons of hours’ comparing different options, Ryan and his business partner Michaela Henne settled on GymMaster, as it was one of the only options that offered everything they wanted, and at the best value. Once implemented, the results were immediate.

The business had an issue with unpaid members using the facilities. But the member access feature, which lets paid-up members in using contactless technology, soon put a stop to that, by denying entry to unpaid members. “It’s literally saving us thousands of dollars,” says Ryan.

Michaela agrees. “There’s more accountability and control for members. Through GymMaster they can sign up, pay, and come right through the door using the Bluetooth function in the GymMaster app and start working out.”

Then there’s the switch from analog to digital, which has saved the Fitness Factory team endless hours.

“We’ve gone paperless, so it really saves time for the staff as well. GymMaster has been such a lifesaver that some days we don’t even remember how things used to be, just because it’s so functional.”

All in all, the gym Ryan owns today couldn’t function more differently than the one he took over. And that’s a very good thing.

“GymMaster is definitely our top choice, and will continue to be our top choice. We highly recommend it.”

Hear more about how GymMaster streamlined Fitness Factory’s internal operations.

Success Story 3: How 2Fore Golf Studio made member access a breeze

As Goulburn’s first virtual golf simulator, 2Fore Golf Studio was taking a risk in a new market - but it soon began to pay off.

“We’ve been open for just over a month. We started off with casual drop in sessions, which have been going really well,” says owner Bec Grove.

This early success inspired 2Fore to expand their offering, to memberships that allowed keen golfers to book a bay at any time of the day or night, and access the site 24/7 using a key fob.

2Fore just needed to secure the necessary systems and tech. And the company found exactly that in GymMaster.

“The amount of detailed features were really helpful. There were things I didn’t know we needed, like the ability to include waivers and terms and conditions in the booking process. When GymMaster pointed them out, I thought, that’s a good idea.”

GymMaster has made a huge difference to Bec’s workload. To some degree she says that her new business now runs itself.

“2Fore is my second job, and GymMaster is essentially replacing me so I don’t have to be so hands on. Once you’ve got GymMaster set up, you’re saving time and saving money on wages. Its biggest strength is allowing us to fully automate bookings. It’s set and forget, which almost makes the golf simulators passive income.

“I definitely recommend GymMaster - it really does pay for itself. When you work out how many hours a week it saves you once it’s set up, you definitely get value for money.”

Read more about how GymMaster enhanced 2Fore Golf Studio’s operations.

Ready to write your own success story?

From enhanced customer service, to higher member engagement, to better sales and business growth, GymMaster is a gym booking system with a proven track record for building revenue and lowering costs in fitness, health and wellness businesses.

If you’re looking to transform your gym operations, we’re ready to help.

Get started with a GymMaster demo and free trial today.