Wednesday, July 7, 2010

How to effectively use the Check In Process

There are many benefits that the Check In process can provide for your business.
To begin with, you need to decide what method you want your members to check in.

You can provide your members key tags or use a biometric reader (fingerprint).

Key tags are a hard thin plastic that can fit on your key chain. One side has your gym logo, the other side has a unique bar code and your gym address. If you choose to use the biometric reader, the member will just place their fingerprint in the reader at the front desk to verify who they are.

After the member checks in, a check in screen will appear to provide immediate useful information about the member to the person at the front desk.
They will know if the member owes money, has a scheduled appointment, confirms who they are with an image, and alerts the front desk employee of any important notes about the member.

There are also reports that can be generated to determine what the peak check in activity periods there are to help in staffing your front desk properly. You can also track check in reasons for members to determine why people are coming to the gym (self workout, personal training, classes, group training, pool, etc.). You can also view check in history for each member to review their check in habits.

There are also advanced settings that can track and debit the service package usage for each member as they check in. For example, a member can purchase 10 training sessions or class sessions. The member can then be scheduled for a training session or class. All the member has to do is swipe their key tag and the system will record the check in AND debit the training session from the service package. This is also great if several people are coming in for a class. They just swipe and enter. The system does all the work.

You can now sell a membership at a discounted rate and only allow that member to use the gym during off-peak hours. The system will easily confirm that the member is using the gym at the appropriate time.

To utilize the check in screen, the front desk employee must bring up the check in screen before the member checks in. There is an advanced feature that can be set for the check in screen to process the check in even when the check in screen is not open. This provides the opportunity for the front desk employee to handle another process in the system without having to be interrupted.

In summary, the check in process can streamline your daily operations and capture valuable client information very easily. All in all, this will make your business better....

Hope this helps...

Larry