The 6 Tech Must-Haves for New Fitness Studios

When you launch your new boutique fitness studio, you’ve got a lot of decisions to make. 

Picking the right tech is an important one. 

The right platform can make all the difference in the smooth operation of your studio and foster long-term customer satisfaction. 

Your customers expect to be able to research options, buy memberships, and share their experiences, all from their mobile phones. And you need tech that enables you to… well, do everything. You’ve got to manage your instructors, run your marketing, keep an eye on financials and member trends… It’s a long list of requirements to consider.

If you’re a new studio owner scoping out the right tool to launch and manage your studio, use this list of “must-haves” to choose the best option for you.

Six Tech Must-Haves for New Boutique Studio Owners 

1. A Fully Digital Customer Experience

Think about the customer experience from start to finish, and note which touchpoints you would like to be digitally supported. For example – can a customer explore class options from any device? Can they book online instantly? When they arrive at your studio, will they check-in digitally? When they’ve completed their workout, can they leave a review? This list will turn into a requirements list for the technology you’re evaluating. Finding a tool that can manage ALL these touchpoints in one place can streamline operations and help you maintain accurate metrics.

2. Able to Scale as You Grow

It can be hard to plan ahead beyond all the details of launch day. But selecting a platform that can support you as you scale is critical. You don’t want to find yourself having to upgrade your tech as you start to open new locations. Choose tools that are flexible, easy to use, and built for growth. When you decide to add classes next month or franchise in a few years from now, you can keep your operations running on the same platform.

3. Integrated Marketing and Communication Tools

Building a truly engaged fitness community means empowering your employees and customers to stay connected and support each other. Marketing and communications functionality in your studio operations platform can make this engagement really easy. You can keep everyone up-to-date via email or SMS on any activities, events or membership specials. It can also encourage members become advocates of your studio, through social media posts and reviews. 

4. Access to Helpful and Knowledgeable Customer Support

You’re busy supporting your customers, who is supporting you?  Choosing a tech platform that has robust customer support will make a huge difference in launching and running your business successfully. You can trust experts who have done this before, and know how to handle any changes or unexpected bumps in the road. 

5. Easy For Staff to Use

For your business to run smoothly, everyone on staff needs to know their way around your software. Your end consumers often ask for account help at the studio, simply because it’s top of mind. Whether they want to change their subscription or do something as simple as reset their password, you want to empower your whole staff with the ability to help them right then and there.

6. Custom Branding Opportunities

In a crowded market, there are going to be unique aspects of your brand that loyal clients connect with. When clients interact with your brand online you want to create the same experience they get in the studio. That means the ability to customize the app to a unique tone of voice, look, and feel. 

New eBook – The Ultimate Guide to Launching a New Fitness Studio

Choosing the technology to run your business is a big decision but it’s certainly not the only one. In our latest guide, we unpack all the important facets of opening a new boutique fitness studio. We gathered tips from the Mariana Tek team of experienced operators and talked with four successful founders for their top advice. 

In this eBook you’ll learn the difference a customer-first mindset can make, how to drive revenue from day one, and get an essential ‘checklist’ for your upcoming launch.

About Mariana Tek

At Mariana Tek, we provide boutique fitness studios, multi-location operators, and franchises with innovative, user-friendly software solutions that enhance their brand and simplify their marketing and operations.

Our clients range from single-studio owners seeking a trusted partner for a personalized, seamless experience to multi-studio and franchise operators needing robust, scalable systems to support their growth objectives.

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