Checklist: Make this September your best yet

Make Autumn your best season yet by using TeamUp to its full potential. Come September your workload is bound to feel heavier as members return from their summers and new member inquiries increase. Which is why it’s more important than ever to leave tasks that can be automated to your software, so you have time to focus on your new and returning customers.

Using the checklist below refresh on all of the items you can prepare and automate to get your business into the best shape before the start of the September rush. From analyzing data to scheduling communication to tightening your security and safety measures you have plenty of time to ensure your business is ready to go for a new season, new customers, and new opportunities. Get started now.

September Checklist:

⬜ 1. Review your reports from previous months

⬜ 2. Update your forms to collect recent information

⬜ 3. Include time-sensitive updates in your post-class notifications

⬜ 4. Review your new member communication and onboarding

⬜ 5. Freshen up your timetable to increase registrations

⬜ 6. Offer check-in appointments 

⬜ 7. Remind your members about your customer referral program

⬜ 8. Install a chatbot on your website to manage new inquiries

⬜ 9. Enable access control at your facility

⬜ 10. Refresh your marketplace listings

1. Review your reports from previous months

Reviewing data is an incredibly helpful way for fitness businesses to make informed observations about your business that can lead to better business decisions. Without reviewing your previous months it’ll be hard to fully grasp what’s working well and what could use a refresh.

In TeamUp your dashboard and reports give you all the insight you need to fully understand your business. The new dashboard gives quick insights into more recent and current periods of time while your reports will give you a wider look at where your fitness business was at months to years prior.

Using the following reports you’ll be able to better understand the current pulse of your customers, attendances, memberships, and referrals, and use that data to determine if any updates or adjustments are required in those areas.

Number of active memberships in previous months

Use the customer memberships report to see how many active memberships you had in the previous quarter. You can use the status filter in the report to search for the number of active memberships in June, July, and August and use that statistic as a benchmark for September and the coming months. You can also change the dates to September 2021 and 2020 to see if there are any trends in your business during this month.

Recent revenue and revenue by purchase

Review your revenue reports in your dashboard to see what your biggest revenue streams are and what’s contributing the most to your business. This will help you identify if an item from your store is selling quickly, if a membership is purchased more than any other, or if your on-demand is being used more or less now that members are returning from their holidays. You can use this data to make informed decisions on what your best revenue generators are and if you need to focus on those or make updates to your others so they’re as successful and prosperous.

Most popular classes

In the most popular classes report, you can see which of your classes were most attended in your previous months and make forecasts on which will be most popular in September. If you see a big difference between the attendances of your most popular classes versus the rest of your classes, you can decide whether it makes sense to keep those classes or replace them with more of your most popular classes.

Reviewing the times they’re at, the instructors who lead them, and the customers that attend can also give you useful intel to better understand why those classes are your most popular and if they will continue to be going forward.

New membership reports

In your customer membership report, you can see which of your memberships started within the last 30 days and use September as an opportunity to nurture those new members. Using the upgraded filter you can see if any of the memberships that started in the last 30 days upgraded from a different membership and define patterns and trends that can help you upgrade even more in the fall.

Customer leaderboard

You can also review which of your customers are your biggest attendees in the customer leaderboard report and see if there is a consistent pattern between their attendances in previous months. You can also review which classes they’re attending and the type of membership they have to see if there is a possibility to encourage them to upgrade. If you run a referral program make sure your best attendees know about it because they can be some of your biggest supporters in growing your business by sharing their experiences with their friends.

Customer referral reports

To take it a step further, use the customer referral report to see how many referrals your customers brought in in the last few months. This information is particularly helpful in building campaigns focused on referrals in September. Perhaps you ran a special or spiced up your offering, if you had a big month of referrals using this data can help you determine what has the potential to increase your referrals in September.

2. Update your forms to collect recent information

If there is any information you’d like to receive from your members or new members after the summertime, collect it automatically via your forms and waivers. Include new fields in your forms or create a new form and prompt your members to fill it out before making their first registration in September.

This information will be automatically stored in their customer profile where you can find it at any time. It’s a much faster way to get valuable and necessary information all at once. It will also help you personalise their September routine and see if their previous nutritional information or goals have changed.

3. Include time-sensitive updates in your post-class notifications

Your members know that come September it’s game time whether you send out emails or not. Which is great on the one hand but a challenge if you’re including information you need them to know for the month in your newsletter. Thus a useful place to share your updates and information and ensure your members see it is in your post-class notifications.

Automatically sent right after class, your members are most likely to check their emails when it’s timely and relevant to them in that moment. It also helps when you mention, “don’t forget to check your inbox for updates and information for the month of September”.

4. Review your new member communication and onboarding

September is a popular time for new members to sign up and you want to make sure that alongside your booking experience, your new member onboarding experience is smooth. The TeamUp Zapier integration automatically adds new customers to your marketing platforms so that they can start receiving your communication.

By setting up Zaps for specific actions such as signing up as a new member or purchasing a new membership you can segment those members into new member lists to ensure they receive content curated specifically for their new member journey in your business. Set it up once and forget about it all the while knowing your new members are hearing from you without having to send individual emails and texts manually. Check out the Zap templates already available to start using now.

5. Freshen up your timetable to increase registrations

A great way to get your members to check out the classes on your timetable is to rename them with a September theme and encourage them to come and try something fresh and new. If you ran any summer classes that you won’t be running in the fall, double-check your timetable and make sure they’re no longer showing, and archived. You can also draw attention to your new classes by adding “NEW” into the title so members give them a peak while they’re making their regular registrations.

6. Offer check-in appointments

If you have members who want to check in with you about their fitness goals now that they’re back over the holidays, simplify the meeting process by opening your appointment schedule. You and your team can offer appointment availability and your members can book as a part of their membership or an additional service to kickstart their September routine. Give your appointment a related name such as “September check-in” so that members know exactly what to book and you can prep in advance.

Offering your appointments in advance will allow you to see who is booking and give you extra time to personalise your chat and go into every meeting prepared. You should also take this time to review your and your staff's availability schedules and update them to reflect your current availability.

7. Remind members about your customer referral program

By now you’ve heard us mention customer referral programs a few times, so for those of you who aren’t familiar, in TeamUp, you can set up your own program and incentivise your members to refer their communities to your business.

You can customise your reward and the membership new members will receive, for example, a free trial class or free trial week and reward your members for every referral they contribute. If you want to encourage your members to increase referrals in September you can create a special offer that can only be taken advantage of this month.

8. Install a chatbot on your website to manage new inquiries

Installing a chatbot on your website will help you manage all new inquiries. You can automate answers to common questions such as "What is your pricing" "What are your membership options" or "How can I sign up and book" so that you don't have to manually answer every single question. You can also create a section that gives people the option to schedule a call or to book a consultation thus adding an extra qualification layer to ensure the inquirer is a good fit for your business and you for them. 

9. Enable access control at your facility

If you have a physical facility, now’s the perfect time to enable access control. With new members joining, more foot traffic, and larger numbers to manage, you can make your facility safer and cut down your check-ins improving your customer experience through smart security with the TeamUp Kisi integration. Manage your access by memberships and upcoming registrations and ensure the people entering your facility have the access permissions to do so.

You can customise your access however you’d like and give staff management permissions to help monitor access and safety too. Members will love how easy entering and exiting with their approved Kisi device or mobile app is and you’ll love the ability to start class on time, minimize the amount of personnel you have to have on staff at all times, and how secure your facility is.

10. Refresh your marketplace listings

A helpful way to fill class spots and attract new members is by listing your classes through TeamUp onto Move, OpenActive, and Classpass. Using those TeamUp integrations you can market your available classes and widen your business’s reach and exposure. If your class schedule and timetable differ between the summer and the fall, review your listings and see if there is any additional information you can update or add to attract new members and sign-ups.

That’s all there is to it! If you need any help automating your business with TeamUp, reach out to our team and check out our tips and guides. We’d love to help.