Going online is perhaps no longer an option but a necessity for businesses aiming to grow and expand their customer base at a faster pace. Whether your personal training studio is new in the area or has been operating for a while, you might like to enhance your outreach and manage your existing clientele better by opting for online bookings.Here are some key reasons why you should be taking online customer bookings for your personal training studio or gym.‍

1. It Saves Time

‍The most obvious reason for going online with your bookings is to save you, your staff and your clients’ time. Taking class or PT bookings over the phone or via email is unnecessary these days. You want your resources to be occupied with other important tasks, such as attending to customers who are working out in the studio or selling to potential clients.When you shift to online bookings, you eliminate the necessity to manually record, update and communicate your appointments freeing you up for other more valuable activities.

‍2. 24/7 Booking Service

‍I'll let you in on a little secret, your customers are busy and booking into your classes or PT sessions is not necessarily at the front of their mind.  Giving them the freedom to book when they think about your business saves them the time to make a phone call or a special visit.If you only provide one option for your clients to book in (over the phone for example) and they forget to do this during your operating hours, you can see a drop-off in attendance.  And, we all know a drop in attendance is a precursor to a client canceling your service. So, to free your clients from your business hours and allow them to book into your services at their convenience, implementing an online booking system is a simple and inexpensive solution.

‍3. Maintain a single living schedule of bookings and appointments

‍You are working too hard if you are trying to manage your scheduling and bookings in multiple places.  There is simply too much mental legwork to manage changes in those schedules and communicate those changes to your trainers and customers.  The great thing with an online booking management system is that the schedule you are presenting to your customers is the same one that you are using within your studio.  One place for all resources and bookings... it just makes sense.

‍4. Online bookings are an excellent marketing tool on your website or social media pages

‍Displaying class and PT times on your website is a very effective marketing tool.  Having your potential clients imagining the times and sessions they will be attending your studio is very powerful, especially when they are in the research stage of selecting a gym or studio. Attaching benefit focused descriptions to these classes can also help match potential client needs with your studio's offerings and subsequently generate an inquiry.So, as well as helping to streamline your operation, online bookings can also be an excellent way to assist in generating leads for your studio.

‍6. Seamless Communication

‍Timely customer communication is an important element of any successful personal training business. Online bookings help you to standardize and automate the communications with your clients. Sending booking reminders and follow-ups is a great way to strengthen your customer relationships and also reduce the number of no-shows to your classes.

‍7. Booking and attendance insights through reporting

‍One of the most overlooked benefits of an online booking system is the reporting it generates.  Yes, using an online calendar like Google or Outlook can get you through, but the pros like to understand their businesses at a deeper level.  The reporting capabilities of online booking systems, in general, can provide you with great insights into the attendance trends of your classes and customers.  These insights can help you implement effective cancellation policies or assist in your retention of non-attending members.

‍So what's the takeaway for your gym or studio?

‍A great booking and scheduling system should be at the core of your business, after all, there is a reason why other successful fitness businesses have implemented the strategies we've outlined in this post.  If you want to take your business to the next level, online bookings should be a key consideration in your planning.

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