Summer is just around the corner and, before you know it, your aquatic centre or leisure centre will be full of members swimming laps in your pools, or jumping on your treadmills and spin bikes.
It’s the season for fitness and self-improvement with indulgent holiday feasts, newly realised health goals, and stifling heat driving members into your club – not to mention your superb facilities. Before you find yourself too swamped to cope, think ahead and prepare your centre, and your staff, for the influx of members this summer with your leisure or aquatic facility management software.
Keep an eye on your calendar
Your aquatic facility bookings calendar is one of your best tools to predict your busy times. The festive season in particular can mean that your members are operating on entirely different schedules. Where once before your centre was quiet at 10am on a Monday, it is now flooded with members who enjoyed a morning sleep in thanks to the summer holidays.
Your calendar will be able to identify trends in these busier times so you can prepare staff rosters to compensate. You can also use your Contacts feature to alert your members of upcoming public holidays and let them know if you will be closed at any time during the festive season.
Build your group fitness classes
Aquatic centres in particular can benefit from a shake-up in their swim classes at this time of year as potential members are lured in by thought of cooling off in one of your pools. It’s the perfect opportunity to make more classes available in your timetable, as well as testing the waters with some new offerings.
If you find some of your most popular classes are always booked out, like your aqua aerobics class, why not direct those disappointed members that missed out to try your new class, aqua Zumba? They might just end up loving it even more!
Make yourself available, always
Having your very own app to help with your aquatic facility bookings will save your staff and your members plenty of time in the long run. From the app, your members can book a class, and check-into that class – all from the palm of their hand.
Likewise, the ability to book online means your members can plan ahead, and book into their favourite class from the comfort of their own home. Ultimately this will help free up your front desk and ease the minds of your busy staff so they don’t become too overwhelmed.
Use self-service kiosks
A customer service kiosk is the perfect solution to streamlining your centre. Your members can do all the essentials themselves, without the help of your already overwhelmed staff. From signing into pre-booked classes with a swipe of their member card, to topping up their pass whenever they need to, the basics are super easy for your member to handle on their own.
Even non-members can enjoy some independence when entering your centre. They can book and pay for a class using the self-service kiosk, which will then print a receipt or an entry ticket for them to show to the class instructor.
Maintain crowd control
Making sure that you have control over crowd numbers and a safe orderly entry into your facility is crucial.
To help enforce a steady crowd flow to and from your centre, enlist the help of scan-and-go access gates. All members need to do is scan their cards and off they go! This will also prevent any non-members slipping through to use your centre without paying.
If you are interested in learning more about what Envibe can do for you, please feel free to contact us directly.
