ClubReady Is the Ultimate Companion for Fitness Brands Looking To Expand

ClubReady’s “All in One” solution works with fitness brands as they scale, making it the perfect solution for big-name franchises as well as single studios eyeing growth

There’s no “must be this tall to ride” sign outside ClubReady’s doors. The web-based fitness management platform, founded in 2009, helps grow all gyms of the future, whether that’s as an already established franchise or a boutique studio looking to take off. 

For ClubReady, helping fitness brands of all sizes scale is the name of the game. 

“At ClubReady, we come equipped with solid experience, knowledge, and know-how with regards to operations, franchising, CRM playbook design, data migration and a variety of other key variables,” said Chris Gallo, ClubReady VP of Sales. “We have learned a lot from incredibly sharp clients over the past 15-plus years. At the end of the day, we are best at helping with centralized brand control and scaling. That is our forte and always will be.”

Understand Activity at a Deeper Level

ClubReady’s “All in One” solution is the brand’s most integral tool in assisting clients of all shapes and sizes. With a born-in CRM, all key metrics are captured without having to toggle between different solutions. This allows for key and critical KPI’s like LASER (Leads Appointments Shows Enrollments Referrals) to be tracked and assessed daily.

“LASER allows for the C-level team to drill down to the store level operators with visuals and easy-to-surmise stats that measure the entire customer pipeline from ‘interested’ to ‘show rates’ to conversion metrics,” explained Gallo. “This goes full circle to assess exactly what ‘referral types’ are driving numbers.”

The report essentially breaks down who’s coming into facilities and how they got there, whether from digital marketing, organic website draws, referrals from the mobile app or just plain word of mouth. 

“Assessing your marketing performance is something every operator is hyper-focused on, and our (business intelligence) tools continue to improve and evolve to allow this to happen,”said Gallo. “This is the perfect example of using ClubReady to effectively assist in decision-making from the HQ to the store level. Everyone is engaged and has a vested interest in these numbers.”

Share the Vision from Start

ClubReady also features an enterprise-level corporate portal that dictates small-to-large brand operations from the top down. This control makes expansions simple and swift, as it ensures consistency across entire studio networks.

“I sincerely believe ClubReady’s hands-on consultative approach to setup and onboarding allows each brand the ability to productize our All-In-One Solution suite for their exact HQ to store level business model; no matter what vertical or business type, corporation or franchise,” said Gallo.

Keeping all aspects of the business on the same page is vital to success and consequently represents a common trap fitness brands without ClubReady often fall into when looking to expand. 

“If businesses try to scale before these factors are considered and mastered, it can lead to a murky future that sometimes leads to a wild-west-type environment and the brand may be sacrificed,” said Gallo. You have to have insights into all of the activities and consistency across the board.” 

Scaling the Right Way in 2024 – With the End in Mind

Organic growth is a complicated process that rarely occurs on a straight, upward path. Bumps in the road are inevitable for any business, but ClubReady helps clients avoid potholes and major accidents. Gallo listed “in-store programming and experience” as his top priority in that regard.

“Bottom line is, get the best instructors, train them on your processes and make them feel a part of your core philosophy. The members will feel this and will keep coming back,” said Gallo. “To do that at scale you need to document each step and expectation, and you need a platform that supports your playbook. Great marketing cannot fix poorly trained or non-passionate staff. The coaches drive the business more than anyone.”

Keeping a keen eye on successful businesses helped Gallo come to this realization.

“I look at Club Pilates as a fine example of this,” Gallo continued. “Their best-in-class, consistent, professional in-store coaching experience has driven their incredible expansion maybe more than any other factor in my opinion. I personally admire that type of model. They know what works, they’ve documented it, and they can replicate it anywhere. So I guess I am saying to focus on the inside-out first.”

With the business processes locked down and critical automations in place, studio operators and staff are free for other activities directly engaging members — establishing a greater sense of community alongside members. 

“This is a trait all great brands execute on,” said Gallo. “Events, workshops, speaking engagements, using organic outreach in social media to become the local fitness experts are all examples of this. That’s tough to do if you’re buried in the day-to-day operations and constantly trying to figure out what’s next ”

As 2024 progresses, ClubReady plans to deploy an in-app Badges and Milestones feature for members.This will add an element of gamification to the workout experience for members and a reward system that promises to enhance customer engagement. 

ClubReady also looks forward to continuing its partnership with Innovatise, which created the platform’s custom-designed mobile app via MyFitApp.

“I have fallen in love with our partnership with Innovatise and their MyFitApp product,” said Gallo. “It is truly your app. The total app design flexibility combined with all of the communication tools that come with the app, helps make brands using it so much more sticky. The brand controls the back-end of their mobile world and can efficiently communicate with their members utilizing tools like marketing automation and push notifications while also having access to all of the key mobile KPI metrics as it relates to member usage and referrals. Nothing is more an extension of a brand than a company’s mobile app.”