GymMaster is designed to be a comprehensive business solution for the owners of gyms and health clubs to manage their finances, manage and communicate with memberships, employees, and more. As promised, it does appear to be easy to use and easy to learn. The interfaces are self-explanatory and the different pages are visually pleasing and readily navigable.
Complaints about the app are few and far between, although- we ran into a few snags communicating with their team to get a demonstration. To complete this review, we were forced to look at tutorials online and try out the demonstration version, GymMaster Lite, which’s not ideal and could reflect poorly on their customer service.
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GymMaster Overview
The service is a web-based business solution which means that you don’t have to run the entire thing on your own computer or network. Best of all, GymMaster gives you a complete and paperless way to track all of your business processes in real-time 24 hours a day from any location.
Because it is web-based, you can use it from just about any device that is web capable and has a screen. Better still, it lets new members sign up online easily- taking all the hassle out of acquiring new members.
After experimenting with the program for a while, and attempting to get in touch with GymMaster trial staff, we concluded that businesses other than gyms could potentially use it. GymMaster might work with spas, tanning salons, hair and nail salons, barbershops, possibly restaurants, and more. It depends on your business model, your local area, and the way you do business.
We tried to reach out to GymMaster trial staff, set up an appointment for an over-the-phone trial- and they never got back to us. We got an email that said they tried to call, but we have our doubts. The phone number we gave them is a well-used business line- and there shouldn’t have been any problem with it.
This could indicate that customer service may be hard to come by with GymMaster. We hope that is not the case, but user reviews are overwhelmingly positive- so it could just be a one-off.
The Pros & Cons of GymMaster
As a specialized piece of software designed for gyms, fitness clubs, and the like- it’s only natural that it would do some things well, and some not so well. Here’s how we break it down.
Pros
Looking over the user reviews, one thing we saw over and over again was that people like being able to monitor member billing statuses with a click of the mouse. They mention that the email automation feature makes it very easy to engage with their members and potential members.
Another useful feature is the automatic lockout of members who have not paid their dues. Often, when members of a fitness club stop paying their dues, it can take a while to deny them service. GymMaster does this automatically, alerting front desk staff that the person who scanned themselves in is behind on their payments.
Cons
A few users complain that the program is hard to learn. But this is unavoidable. The one real downside to the app is the fact that it is tailored to a specialized sector of the business community- gyms. But that, at the same time is also its biggest strength.
That means if you run a gym that’s basically similar in form and process to other gyms- GymMaster is almost certain to work for you. If your business model is unusual, you might need to find some workarounds. And if your business model is one that GymMaster just isn’t designed for you might be trying to bang a square peg into a round hole.
When you complete your service demo, you should have a good idea of whether or not GymMaster is right for you.
Pricing & Support
To use GymMaster, you’ll need to sign up for an account. Pricing deals start at $85 per month, and there is a free trial version.
Pricing Plans:
- Studio: $85 per month & 150 member support
- Standard: $99 per month & 400 member support
- Professional: $189 per month & 1300 member support
- Enterprise: Custom monthly payments and unlimited member support
With your subscription you get, 24/7 live support, comprehensive business hours support, and online support.
Compatibility
GymMaster works on most of the major platforms, including:
- Mac
- Windows
- Mobile Android
- Cloud. SaaS, Web
- Mobile – iOS Native
GymMaster is not compatible with Linux systems, which is unfortunate since the Linux kernel is well known for its longevity and reliability for use in mission-critical business processes.
GymMaster Features
While the price might seem high at first, the GymMaster business software solution does offer a great deal of usability and capability. The fact that it is tailored to fitness centers and similar service models means it’s almost certain to be a good match for your business. You won’t have to worry that you’re wasting part of your monthly fees on unused features, because nothing goes to waste.
- Attendance Tracking: Track the attendance rates of your registered members automatically.
- Billing & Invoicing: Automated management of your accounts.
- Event Management: Create, manage, and monitor special events such as promotions and expositions.
- Inventory Management: View, track, and manage your inventory including fitness equipment, food, beverages, and supplements.
- Marketing Management: This feature helps you track and manage your marketing outreach efforts, an excellent way to help maintain brand consistency and track results.
- Member Portal: provides easy access for members to their account settings, lets them make purchases, and manages their memberships.
- Membership Management: Manage the accounts of your members as needed; good for customer service purposes and for dealing with the occasional problem.
- Mobile Access: Use your GymMaster account from your mobile phone, tablet, home computer any time, anywhere.
- Online Bookings: Let’s customers reserve special services such as massage, pool reservations, court reservations, or whatever you happen to have on offer.
- Payment Processing: Bypass many of the ordinary sticking points with payment processors with GymMaster’s convenient payment processing portal.
- Point of Sale (POS): Let any of your employees take payments and make sales with their own devices using the GymMaster POS feature.
- Team Management: Track and manage the status, activities, and authorizations of your team members.
- Visitor Management: Monitor the activities of visitors and members alike. This is a great tool for making follow-up contacts with one-time visitors and those who may desire further services from your business.
GymMaster User Experience
When you log into your GymMaster user account, you’ll see your account holder’s name with an overview of your account holder’s information. On the left, you’ll see a sidebar full of options including:
- Add member
- Visitors
- Schedule
- Task
- Point of Sale
- Stock
- Report & Till
- Membership list
- Member Portal
These correspond with the services and features mentioned above. That’s a nice touch because no matter what part of the application you’re on at any given time, you’ll have immediate access to all of the features and services that you signed up with GymMaster to receive.
You don’t have to go searching through esoteric menus, trying to figure out what everything means. Rather, you see what you want no matter where you are in the app. That makes it so much easier to get on with the business of running your company.
On the next tab over, entitled, “Membership,” you’ll be able to manage the members of your club, add bonuses, check them in and out, view their visit history, and so on.
This screen lets you manage the accounts of the people you serve. Pretty important stuff.
The third tab over from the left is the “accounts” tab. Think of this as your accounting page. Here, you’ll see graphs that show your performance levels month after month. There are six different graphs for you to view on this screen:
- Charges: A chart showing varying charges payable to you
- Payments: Payments made over time
- Billing: An overview of bills sent and paid
- Show Unbalanced: An overview of unpaid balances and lost payables
- Show Voided: A chart showing the numbers of voided accounts and services month after month
- Overview: An aggregate bar chart showing an overview of all the above information
The next tab over is your billing tab. Here, you’ll select your billing processing services provider and enter a member’s billing details. Once you’ve entered the member’s billing information, any dues will be automatically deducted from the member’s account. Handy.
The next tab is your communications page. Here, you’ll have the option to send and receive important information from your members. Far easier than managing email lists- this part of the app makes communicating with your members much easier!
In the middle column, you’ll notice the Sender/Assignee feature. This lets you assign specific staff members to specific clients. Sometimes some members will have a better rapport with certain staff. Short of assigning a specific staff member to a specific client, the system will designate the Sender/Assignee as “All Staff.”
On the “services” tab, you’ll be able to keep track of specific services scheduled, rendered, paid for, and so on.
It’s nice that GymMaster sets this apart from accounts and billing because these kinds of extras are not usually part of regular gym memberships. Rather, they tend to be purchased on an irregular basis when a member wants to splurge.
Installing GymMaster
In order to install GymMaster, you need to sign up for an account. If you’re lucky they will follow through with the over-the-phone demonstration. With us, as you know- they did not.
Short of that, you can install the demonstration version, GymMaster Lite.
To do that, you’ll need to download;
- GymMaster_Lite_Installer_4.3.1.exe
- GymMaster_setup.exe
- Miktex Installer * for generating printable reports
From there, initiate the GymMaster Lite installer and click “Next.”
After that, you’ll be instructed to select a number of features and settings.
Installing the Full Version
You cannot download the full version until you sign up for the service. But because it is a web-based SaaS product, installation is simple, and a GymMaster representative will walk you through the process.
GymMaster: Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How will the app improve the customer experience for my members?
A: The GymMaster member portal puts your members into direct communication with you and your team. There, they can manage their bookings, profile, and other features of membership. They can schedule classes and other services, make changes to billing and personal information, view and update their fitness progress.
The member portal also makes it easy for members to give feedback about the facility, staff, services, and products. And you can take our word for it- you WILL get feedback.
Q: How can this app help me engage with my customers better?
A: GymMaster lets you send targeted emails and SMS to members and also to potential members. This lets gym owners make certain that members are alerted to any important changes, unusual closings, openings, offerings, or new features.
Most people don’t like surprises mixed into their otherwise busy schedules- especially when they are trying to complete their daily workout before or after work. GymMaster makes sure that you can give them a heads up any time you need, or want to.
Alternatives to GymMaster
Obviously, GymMaster isn’t the only app of its kind. After looking around a bit, we feel it is the best app for traditional fitness clubs where there’s lots of weightlifting, treadmill use, and the like. But if your club has more of a zenned out vibe, or is more spa-like, one of the following might be better suited to your needs.
This app gives you marketing assistance that helps you focus your outreach efforts where they matter most. You also get management tools and a number of great customer service streamlining features. Read our MINDBODY software review here.
An all-inclusive business management software service, WellnessLiving is ideal for fitness centers with a more holistic view of health and fitness.
This app might be called the jack of all trades among fitness center apps. It tries to be a little bit of everything. It’s an approach that sometimes fails, but there’s always the chance that it offers something you won’t find anywhere else. Read our Zen Planner software review here.