A good leisure or fitness centre management system simplifies bookings, memberships, sales and other key operational tasks. But some systems aren’t the easiest to understand, and the training offered by some software providers sometimes leaves a lot to be desired.
“The onboarding process and availability of ongoing support is absolutely critical when you are introducing a new system at your facility, and it’s something we really pride ourselves on,” says Jonas Leisure Professional Services Consultant Hannah Donohoe.
Existing Jonas Leisure customers have access to 24/7 support, and the company has a comprehensive onboarding process for new clients to make sure they have a thorough understanding of the system and it is configured for their specific needs before they go live.
Ms Donohoe says the onboarding process has been refined for 2021 based on customer feedback, and Jonas Leisure is now doing more up-front, to make configuring their new leisure management system quick and painless.
For example, the typical on-boarding process for users of Envibe involves an initial meeting, followed by a “shell build”, whereby the Jonas Leisure team configures basic settings based on their understanding of the facilities the new client operates in. Once this is done, a meet the trainer session is held with key staff, followed by training on how the system works and then business consulting sessions to ensure the system is configured in exactly the right way to meet the needs of the client and their leisure facility users.
“We really focus on ensuring people have a strong understanding of the fundamentals of Envibe before we dive into configuring the system for their needs. This process ensures they understand the system and can harness its full capability, making life much easier for their staff.”
The final step in the onboarding process is end user training. During this stage, training is provided to reception staff and others at a facility who will be using the system to manage bookings, memberships and other details.
Federation Council in New South Wales is currently stepping through the improved training process as it prepares to introduce Envibe at its brand new Corowa Aquatic Centre.
Construction of the $10.3 million centre will be completed shortly, and Federation Council plans to go live with Envibe on 1 March, to ensure all systems are in place and bookings can be made in the lead-up to a soon-to-be-confirmed opening day.
“The training process has been engaging and has helped us refine our thinking about some of the key business processes we will need to have set up at the new centre”, says Angela Reidy, Manager Environment, Facilities and Regulations at the Council.
“We have been very focused on the construction of the centre but the training provided by Jonas Leisure has really helped us work though the detail of how the centre will operate – things like booking terms and conditions and what the booking needs of our various user groups will be.”
Ms Reidy says the initial working group that has undergone training for the system has included herself, the council’s finance and IT managers, and a council representative with experience using booking systems. She is looking forward to completing configuration of the system and getting the ball rolling on the end-user training for facility staff.
“Hannah’s Envibe sessions have been really engaging and fun. The training for some of the systems we use at council can be a bit dry and boring but that hasn’t been the case with these ones.”
Ms Donohoe says Jonas Leisure is committed to maintaining its reputation as having the best onboarding process and of any leisure industry software provider in Australasia.
The year ahead will see further tweaks to the training process, based on customer feedback, along with the introduction of a new e-learning platform that will be available to new and existing customers. The new e-learning platform – due to be launched this year – will include help videos, how to guides, the recently updated user manuals in one easy place.
“It’s going to be another exciting development and we can’t wait to have it live. It will provide an even more structured approach to training for our customers, still with full access to our consultants.”
