A modern gym’s digital footprint is almost as important as its physical footprint.

While a quality website is a non-negotiable, and social profiles are great for spreading the word about your business, there’s another digital asset that can be a true differentiator - the reason why a potential member chooses your gym over another: a customized app or booking software.

Modern gym management tools can offer incredible levels of customization. From adding your branding to a mobile app, to tweaking the features and functionality available to your members, a custom solution can deliver a unique, curated experience to users.

In this guide we’ll take a deep dive into the whats, whys and hows of gym app customization, to find out how your gym or fitness studio might benefit from such a bespoke solution.

What Customization Options Are Available in Gym Booking Software?

While options differ from solution to solution, some common examples of customization options in gym booking software include:

• Branding and personalization: ‘White label’ apps let you add your own logo and brand colors. You can also customize in-app messages, and add links to your website, social profiles and landing pages.
• User roles and permissions: Assign different levels of admin access for owners, managers, staff and trainers. Give members self-service options to book and cancel classes, manage their membership and tweak app notification settings.
• Scheduling and booking options: Tailor booking settings for group classes, one-on-one sessions, or equipment and facilities, then customize availability based on class durations or trainer schedules. You could even add class waitlists that are notified when a slot opens up.
• Payment and pricing: Set tier-based member pricing that users can change themselves. Create custom discount codes or special rates to encourage membership upgrades and referrals. Let people pay through the app using their preferred payment method.
• Reporting and analytics: Generate customized reports on things like attendance, revenue and membership trends.
• Member experience: Allow members to personalize their app profiles. Track and compare workouts to create a bit of friendly competition. Control individual member access 24/7 through the app, allowing all paid up members to work out whenever they want.

Why Branding Matters for Your Gym’s Booking Software

Why should you choose a booking tool that you can add your brand to? Loading in your name, logo, tagline and brand colors might not feel super important, but it can have an outsized effect on how customers - current or potential - perceive your fitness business.

• It’s a professional touch: Unsuccessful gyms don’t have their own apps. By offering your customers this tech, you’re telling them you’re a high quality option that invests in the member experience.
• It instills trust: When a member sees your branding on the app, they’ll naturally trust it more than they would a third-party app that looks like it’s from a random provider. That also means they’re more likely to use the app.
• It feels cohesive: A branded app is an organic addition to the online ecosystem you offer your members. As they bounce between your website, social profiles and app, it will feel like a seamless journey, which can lead to them spending more time and money with you.
• It drives repeat business: Memorable, holistic branding helps to keep your gym top-of-mind, and encourages members to return to both the app and your gym. This brand recall can also make your marketing materials more effective.

Investing in branded booking software makes your gym look good, helps you to build deeper connections with your members, and gets those members using the app more than they otherwise would.

If you’re going to invest in a gym app, a branded option is the obvious choice. While this might demand a slightly larger initial investment, it’s one that is very likely to pay itself back over time.

Setting Up User Roles and Permissions in Gym Software

There are three main types of user that you need to consider when implementing gym software:

• Leaders: Owners, managers and administrators.
• Workers: Full-time, part-time and casual staff. Contractors like trainers and cleaners.
• Members: People who pay to access your gym.

Each of these users require carefully customized access, which must strike a balance between functionality and security. While the specifics of setting up access and permissions will vary from software to software, there are a few general rules that you should keep in mind during this process:

• Define roles: Identify your user groups. Start with leaders, workers and members, then break these groups down further as required.
• Assign permissions: Determine the required permissions and levels of access for each user group, e.g. complete access for owners and administrators, limited back-end access for staff, access to the front end for members based on their membership tier.
• Use the principle of least privilege: Minimize security risks and unauthorized changes by limiting the access of each user to just the features and information that’s absolutely necessary to perform their duties.
• Track activity: Choose a tool that logs and monitors staff activity, as this lets you review any suspicious or unauthorized activity, and helps to hold users to account.

When done well, you’ll create a secure environment that helps you to more efficiently manage your gym.

Custom Reports: Tracking What Matters to Your Gym

Customizable reporting gives you the information you need to make better decisions as a gym owner:

• Attendance reports help you understand things like your peak hours and your most popular and unpopular classes and instructors. You can then tweak your classes, schedule and opening times to better align with attendance trends.
• Revenue reports provide insights into earnings from memberships, classes and retail sales, helping you to track financial growth and spot revenue issues and opportunities, like an underutilized membership tier or the growing popularity of a supplement.
• Member activity reports analyze how engaged individual members are, and gain insights on how often members visit your gym, which services they use, and those who might be at risk of cancelling.

The reports you generate, and the information captured within each, is entirely up to you. The first step is to choose a gym management platform with custom reporting functionality: GymMaster, for example, offers dozens of preset options and the ability to craft your own custom reports to suit your gym management style. In general terms, you can set these reports up by:

1. Defining key metrics: Decide which data points are most important for your gym.
2. Setting reporting intervals: Choose how often you’ll generate and review each of your reports (daily/weekly/monthly).
3. Filtering and organizing data: Filter and analyze reports by categorizing data by time periods, membership types, and classes, to make reports more insightful and actionable.
4. Automating the process: The best gym management systems generate reports and insights automatically, saving you serious time.

How to Choose the Right Gym Booking Software for Your Needs

The best gym booking solutions balance customization options with functionality and ease of use.

Look for a tool that allows you to tailor things like branding, member access, class schedules and user permissions.

Check that the software can directly connect to your existing tools, such as payment gateways, CRM systems and marketing platforms, as this will grant you the ability to create custom automations.

Prioritize the user experience of both staff and members, by choosing a tool that is simple and intuitive to use, and that works on both desktop and phone.

Finally, utilize a demo or free trial to test the software and ensure it does whatever you need it to, and will help you to achieve your business goals.

One ultra-customizable tool that ticks every one of these boxes? GymMaster.

If you’re ready to deliver a more customized experience to your members, we’re ready to help. Start with a demo today.