Gym Management Software: Prices, Contracts and Hidden Costs.
Some Tips on Migration and Payment Processing
Have you ever felt overwhelmed or confused about the details and implications about software migration and pricing? Are you looking for a deeper understanding of all the potential expenses you may incur if you choose to switch to a different management software provider? If you agree with all the previous situations, you’re in the right place.
We are going to explore the often confusing world of software contracts, payment processing, and the hidden costs that can catch any business off-guard. Here, my objective is to provide you with complete transparency and profound insights into how the entire process operates.
By the time you finish reading, you’ll be equipped with a set of tools and information that is going to help you to make some decisions more confidently . You will be able to manage any potential pitfalls and stay one step ahead in the ever-evolving game of software management and migration!
Understanding Gym Management Software pricing and Small letters
If you’re currently using management software for your fitness club, there might be some important things that you might not be aware of… yet! Maybe there’s some small letters in there that most of the gym management software companies use as a strategy to keep you locked into their software.
From experience with migrating many customers from over different platforms, there are some common things that we’ve been noticing throughout the years. One of these trends are long term commitments, which are supposed to be renewed every two or three years. This strategy is very convenient for gym software providers because it “guarantees” them that you’ll be their client for a long time even if the software no longer fits your needs or you don’t quite like it.
In Buzops we believe in freedom and transparency, with us you’re always free to stay or leave if our product doesn’t satisfy your needs.
Unlike some other providers that may lock you into long-term contracts, we keep things simple with month-to-month agreements. After all, we’re in the business of building trust and long-lasting relationships with our gym partners, not trapping them!
Customers' Credit Data Possession
Another Not Cool issue commonly found with gym management providers is their possession of all your customers’ credit data! They have all the data of your clients attached to their system which is a huge barrier that makes you think twice before planning to leave… you’ll have to go through a complex process before they can give your new software provider the data of your clients; They kind of have you handcuffed and make it super difficult for you to go.
So when you look at this from a bigger perspective, there’s some questions you might want to ask when considering leaving your software platform:
- Are they going to let you out of the agreement?
- Are they going to give you all of the payment information of your customers that you’ve been putting into the system?
Some of the biggest gym management software providers in the industry such as Mind Body or ABC, they do a pretty good job with migrating your data and providing you the information of your clients, but the thing that they don’t tell you from the beginning is that these platforms will charge you around 400 to 500 USD in order to take that information and switch it over to your new software provider. Subsequently, your gym management software company will do the work to import that data into their system… and here’s when a new question begins to open:
How does the Gym Management Software migration process work and how long does it take?
Switching software providers is quite a big deal for gym owners because it literally involves ALL member data! From contact info to payment details, all the data must be transferred safely and accurately to keep everything running smoothly and avoid potential errors in your gym operations.
So, how do software providers normally handle this super important process? The first step is to gather and extract all the relevant data, which normally includes all member information, payment records, attendance logs, and other critical data.
Once the new gym software provider receives all that data, it needs to be mapped to the new software system’s data structure. For us on Buzops, when we onboard a new customer, first we’ll set up their entire platform and when we receive the information from your previous gym management software we start the transition; There’s a period where you’ll have to be working on both systems – this period is around 2 weeks.
This transition period is absolutely crucial – you need to be focused on what’s happening in your new software. Every new member signing up, every credit card being processed, it all has to go through the new system! Because if you accidentally put that info into your old platform during this changeover, it’s like it never even happened for your new setup.
Imagine this nightmare scenario: You sign up a new member, take their payment details, but enter it all into the old software you’re replacing. Then what? That data doesn’t magically transfer over. You just created a new profile that doesn’t actually exist in your shiny new system.
So that’s why this process is very important! You need to stay supervising during this transition. Double check, triple check – make sure every single new transaction gets properly logged into your new gym management platform. That’s the only way to keep things running smoothly without any data going missing into the ether.
Once everything is finally migrated over, we’ll run the new system through its paces – this includes validation checks, data audits, functionality testing – all the fun stuff to confirm not a single byte got lost along the way. We have to get this right for that optimized operational efficiency you deserve!
The way most gym management software companies do migrations is they send a USB drive with all the information… they send it over in the mail on a USB drive on a stick.
This is not the safest way to share such important information because if the USB get lost during transportation, sensitive member information could be exposed, leading to data breaches and identity theft. Also, physical transfer lacks a clear and auditable trail, making it difficult to prove compliance with data handling and transfer protocols.
In Buzops the way we do migrations is pretty simple, easy and risk-free; We send all the information from the beginning to a company called Authorized.net, that’s the gateway we use. It not only keeps your gym’s financial transactions secure and efficient but it also provides robust data encryption and fraud prevention, helping you comply with PCI DSS and other regulations, which means less worry about fines or legal issues!
And it’s your gateway, it’s not ours. We send it over to Authorize.net and that way, if you ever want to leave, you can. You come in, you work with us, we put it on there and it’s your data! Always yours with total control, if you ever want to leave you can plug that data into another software provider and that’s it!
Buzops team will be right there providing hands-on training and unlimited support. We want your staff to be experts, your members to be obsessed with the upgrade, and you? A zen, cloud-based, data-secure gym operator ready to rock.
Now, once all your client’s information is in place, there’s another important thing to consider: Payment processing… Let’s talk about this.
How does the payment processing actually work in gym management software companies?
I will explain how this process works so you have total clarity on it! So when you go into a gym management software company (Ours, Mind body, ABC fitness, Zen Planner, etc) and when you enter all the payment information of your customers each time they sign up, what happens is that the data gets encrypted and its sent over to a gateway that host all that credit information and actually keep it safe.
All that information is locked up with a key in that payment gateway – think of the gateway as a secure vault that safeguard your members’ sensitive payment details.
You also have the payment processor, who takes care of transactions between merchants and banks or credit card issuers. So when a customer decides to purchase something, the payment processor steps in and smoothly facilitates the transfer of funds from the customer’s account to the merchant’s account. Those companies such as PaySimple, Bluefin, Elavon, etc. process the payment that it’s being triggered through your software, and they actually move the money from your members’ accounts to your gym’s bank account.
Now, you might be thinking, “But wait, who’s paying who here?” That’s an excellent question! Payment processors typically charge a fee for their services, which can sometimes be bundled into a flat “blended rate.” It’s important to understand these rates to avoid any surprises down the line.
When you’re working with somebody like Square, what they do is they charge you an interchange rate plus that fee, and they may or may not tell you! they might just give you a document – you end up signing the document, and before you know it, you’re paying a blended rate of maybe 8 or 10%. So a lot of these companies charge your customers through that account, so for example let’s say that you charge $100 for your gym’s membership, but when it finally gets to your bank account, instead of giving you $100, they might give you $90.
In Buzops we do not charge anything! Remember that your information is yours from the first second that you start to work with us…and if you ever decide to part ways with BUZOPS? No worries! We’ll make sure you have a smooth transition, without holding your data hostage or demanding any unreasonable fees. Your business is YOUR business, and we respect that.
So there you have it: a friendly, behind-the-scenes look at how migration and payment processing works in the gym world.
At Buzops, we’re all about empowering you with knowledge, while keeping things as simple and straightforward as possible. If you ever have any other questions, our team is always here to make sure you have a top experience!
