3 Must-Have Features In Your Gym Management Software

Most gym rats don't really think about what goes into running a gym.

They're just there to make gains and improve their bodies.

But if they knew what went into running a gym, they'd pay some mondo respect to the gym owner or manager.

If you're a little overwhelmed by managing your gym, gym management software can help. With the myriad of features a software suite includes, you might not know what's essential and what's fluff.

After you read this article, you'll be confident in what you should look for.

1. Gym Management Software Features: Inventory and POS

Is your gym a store as well as a gym?

Even if you feel you can't call your gym a store, a lot of places sell shake mixes, t-shirts, and other equipment behind the staff desk.

You'll want an inventory and Point of Sale system to keep track of your supplies and the money you make.

A great gym management software solution will alert you before you run out of stock. This way you can call an employee up and send them to the store before a cranky weight trainer is missing his protein shake mix.

Why should you care about having an inventory and POS feature in your management software?

Because you'll no longer need to manually organize your stock each time you bring in new inventory.

You'll always know exactly what you have on hand and you'll be able to keep your employees accountable for the money.

2. Membership Managment

Your members are the heart and soul of your gym. Without them, you'd be nowhere.

If you aren't managing your members correctly, you'll lose money, you'll incorrectly charge people, and you might lose customers.

Instead, outsource member management to your computer.

Gym membership software can handle all member data as well.

Personal details, payment methods, debit details, check-in history, class activities, inventory bought, personal trainer sessions; you can keep track of it all.

With a current list of all member data, you can get on a first name basis with your customers. You can know better how to market to them and better how to cater to them.

Some management software will even allow members to opt-in to text messaging campaigns.

You can directly market to your members and remind them of specials, deals, and new classes.

3. Access Control

24-hour gyms are taking over the traditional gym model.

And to keep up with your local Anytime: Fitness, you might want to consider longer hours.

But longer hours means hiring more employees...or does it?

If you find a gym management software package that allows access control, you can keep your gym open longer and not hire more employees.

The ability to ban people is another nice perk of access control features. If someone is being a complete and utter jerk to the rest of your members, they don't have to be there for a while.

Implement a ban policy and a three strike rule and you won't even need a bouncer.

Conclusion: Many Other Features

While these are the main pillars of great management software, you should look at other features as well.

What are your concerns over buying gym management software? Let us know in the comments below.