Sports complex for gymnasts, tumblers and cheerleaders reaches new heights of efficiency with gym management software

Background

Rick’s All American (Rick’s) is a privately-owned professional sports complex located in Fairfield, NJ. Rick’s is not your everyday mainstream sports complex. The All American athletes consist of tumblers, gymnasts, wrestlers, cheerleaders, dancers, mixed martial artists, Brazilian jiu-jitsu grapplers, and many more. Since its inception in 1997, Rick’s programs have expanded to include children as young as 18 months, school-aged kids, and adults of all skill levels. Currently, there are about 700 members who use Rick’s as their gladiatorial arena. With such a diverse program and so many athletes to manage, Rick’s depends on the gym management software from ActiveCommunities to stay in top form.

Challenge

Prior to teaming up with Active in early 2009, Rick’s was using a software solution that was user-UNfriendly and inefficient. “Everything took too long,” explained Heather Gough, Executive Director of Rick’s All American. “It was a long process to set up classes, register athletes and do any billing.” Heather is responsible for the lion’s share of the administrative work and couldn’t afford to spend her days mouse-clicking around in a software labyrinth. “I knew there had to be an easier solution out there because this was just taking up too much time.” Also, it could take days to resolve tech problems. Heather needed a company that offered a strong support network, not only to respond quickly but to evolve the software. “We were looking for something more than a program you download and install on your computer, and that was it.” Rick’s wanted technology that would cater to their changing needs and grow with them.

Solution

Heather researched quite a few gym software companies over several months. She struggled to find a vendor that could provide what Rick’s needed and began to consider building the technology internally. And then one day ActiveCommunities appeared in a simple Google search and caught Heather’s interest. She originally thought Active’s products were geared towards parks and recreation departments but quickly learned that the solutions were a great fit for sports complexes like Rick’s. “I spoke with the sales team and learned what the program was capable of,” notes Heather. “Not only that, but I learned what Active brought to the table as a company - over 30 years of experience, thousands of customers, and most importantly to me, a dedicated support team.” In May 2009, Rick’s implemented Active’s gym software system.

Implementation

As the sole administrator, Heather was entirely responsible for learning the new system inside and out. She received five days of intensive virtual training to accomplish this. “My software trainer was amazing. He took me through everything step-by-step and we set up the system together.” Active’s software offers the flexibility to tailor many of the features to fit the individual needs of the client, which Heather took full advantage of. Building this foundation correctly was important so Heather could “set it and forget it.” From here on out, the software would run like clockwork, automatically collecting, organizing and reporting on the information that Rick’s needed. Heather also appreciated that the training was based around her schedule, versus having set times, so she could easily fit it into her busy days.

Results

“Before, we had no organization or structure,” Heather says. “Now, with Active, we know the who, what, where, when and why’s!” With Active’s gym software, Rick’s day-to-day operations are now automated, centralized and efficient. Here are a few of Heather’s favorite features:

• All personal and activity data on members is stored in one central database. To pull up a customer profile with full details, it takes a single click of the mouse.
• Mass emailing is easy and keeps Rick’s in touch with the community. Select an individual, group or the entire database and send an email blast.
• Repeat customers (e.g. kids on teams) can be set up on auto-pay, saving Heather from tracking down money.
• The system is extremely flexible. It’s easy to make changes, edits, set up discounts, and adjust pricing. For example, Heather has kids pay as they go for camps and their fees are based on usage.
• Active’s eMarketing Center offers free graphic templates for download, as well as marketing tips and tricks. Heather used a template to create a cool poster to promote Rick’s.
• Great communication and customer support from Active. If there is an issue, Active will contact Heather within 24 hours and have a team working on it. “The support is HUGE. I can call anytime and have a resolution by the end of the day.”

After just one year of using Active, Heather says that “it’s like a cell phone—you have no idea how you ever lived without it!” Rick’s plans to expand the gym software even more next year by offering convenient online registration for customers, as well as digging into more of the reports and online management tools. “There is so much that the system can do, the capabilities are endless. The only limitation we have is my time!”

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