Can You Run a Fitness Business and Afford ClubReady Prices?

Running a fitness studio is not for the faint of heart. While keeping up with the latest and greatest workouts and equipment, there are also never-ending tasks, like bringing in new customers, keeping clients coming back, booking woes and more.

There’s no doubt fitness studio owners need a helping hand. Streamlining day-to-day processes can be challenging, especially if you’re not in the business of tinkering with software like many health and wellness-based practices.

Very few software platforms on the market are tailored to small business owners looking to improve customer communication, catch more online reviews and build more leads.

The real challenge is discovering which of the software platforms work best for your business. Which platforms allow you to communicate with your customers without the added stress, create customized offers, follow up on past bookings, schedule reminders, send estimates, invoices, receipts and the rest of the lot?

To aid in your hunt for the best software to spot your health or wellness practice, we’ve gathered details on two popular platforms: ClubReady vs. Thryv. While both platforms make communication and managing jobs easier, which one will be the clear choice for your business?

What is ClubReady

ClubReady is a fitness and gym management platform designed to help fitness club operators to manage all aspects of their business. The company’s club management platform provides a web-based client-facing club management software to manage the basic operations of a club including things like check-in, sales, billing, member management and payroll. This allows fitness facilities to increase their staff’s productivity levels without spending more on training by giving employees what they need to be efficient.

The app insists it can make your fitness studio stronger by connecting all of the key activities needed to engage studio members and manage your operations in one place. The app features online bookings and the ability to buy classes, which are ideal tools for those in the fitness industry, but far from all that’s needed to run a business.

This begs the question, can ClubReady build a stronger fitness studio for its users with such a limited app? By digging into ClubReady’s features we’ll uncover just how beneficial they are to fitness studios that are just starting.

ClubReady features and pricing

Communication. ClubReady offers its users the ability to connect with their customers via text. Users can utilize their existing business phone number to send and receive texts on their computer or mobile devices. It’s a hassle-free way to build member engagement, encourage members post-workout and reconnect with at-risk members in the most preferred method.

ClubReady’s advanced business functions, like mobile app push notifications, mean members get the heads up on upcoming events and promotions, and text and email alerts for past-due member check-ins. When it comes to past-due communication, ClubReady users get branded weekly contact attempts made to those members like 1 auto-dial call, 1 agent call, 1 email, 1 SMS text, live inbound call handling and payment profile updating.

Booking. Through a branded app, ClubReady users can allow their clients to book online. In doing so, they skip the calls and in-person booking process. Facility members can also see upcoming schedules and/or cancel or reschedule a current class. They also have the ability to view past purchases and session balances.

Check-In. ClubReady offers various methods for members to check-in — from PIN code and fingerprint to a touchless barcode. A check-in tablet can also be left out for unattended guest registration, signing waivers and agreements.

PerformanceIQ. ClubReady helps its users push their members. This feature delivers a visual guide on members’ in-studio performance to keep them on track and focused on their goals by monitoring their heart rate, calories burnt and level of intensity. Members have the option of sharing the results of their workout on social media.

Performance Tracking. ClubReady provides its users with reporting to allow them to reengage members and increase client retention. Users can obtain heart rate and calorie information on members and automatically send emails after each workout with performance results.

Payments + Invoicing. ClubReady manages and tracks all aspects of the payment cycle from invoicing and collection to refunds and returns. The ClubReady Royalty Engine provides franchise control with the ability to collect fees from franchises including royalty, technology, and advertising, all with streamlined reporting to keep business owners in the know on everything.

Reporting. ClubReady allows users to see the metrics they need to gauge profitability and track member and lead trends. This feature allows for reporting on a single and multi-club level. Users can build specific reports with the information and KPIs that matter to them.

ClubReady Pricing

When it comes to pricing, ClubReady comes at a high cost for the features offered. ClubReady prices four packages: Launch at $149, Velocity at $299, Eclipse at $399 and Orbit for $499, monthly.

Users looking for the bare minimum automation will need to purchase the Velocity package. And those who were hoping to cash in on performance tracking for their clients would need to upgrade to Orbit, the highest tier package.

ClubReady reviews

Pros: Does a good job at driving sales, finance and sales reporting is clear and easy to read.

Cons: Useless for daily operations, poor client-facing and business portal.

“It looks like it was made in 1999 and hasn’t been touched since. My main complaint is their check-in system. There is no way to prevent clients from checking in for a class if they have past dues … For staff, there are so many buttons you have to click, just to perform one single action. There really are no functions to help you keep track of follow-up with clients/leads. It’s honestly just there to charge clients’ money, allow them to book classes and keep their contracts/waivers on file … It has allowed us to lose money by not being able to keep track of clients in their follow-up and trial process and allowing clients with no memberships to check-in at the kiosk.”

– Arthur D, Small business owner; verified user; G2 review 6/9/2021

ClubReady customer service

When it comes to giving their users support, ClubReady seems to be available for their users solely through chat. ClubReady users say that the customer service chats are convenient and that the live chat assistance was available most of the time

What is Thryv

For fitness studios that want to manage and modernize their facility, including customer communication and generating online reviews, Thryv is the solution. Thryv is the end-to-end customer experience platform for growing small businesses. It’s fully integrated with nearly all business activities, from organizing the customer database to sending bulk email and text messages to managing all aspects of a job from initial outreach, ongoing, centralized communication, estimates, invoices, payments, receipts, follow-ups, reminders, online scheduling and more.

It’s also a powerful marketing tool that provides email and SMS text messaging templates, as well as a tremendous library of social media posts, paired with a post scheduling calendar. This way, users never have to leave their Thryv dashboard to deliver their marketing messages.

Thryv’s powerful follow-up tools also allow users to request and manage online reviews. This way, their online reputation is well cared for. Users also receive regular insight reporting on their website, social media and online reviews performance.

Not to mention, Thryv has an ever-evolving App Market that integrates seamlessly with several popular business-operating programs. Integrate your QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online, Jotform, Yext, Constant Contact, Indeed, Mailchimp and more.

Thryv pricing and features

As a full, end-to-end platform, Thryv helps fitness studios:

Get the Job by improving online presence, building and maintaining reviews, growing social media audiences, setting online appointments, creating and delivering estimates and allowing form fills.

Manage the Job by maintaining a real-time calendar for all staff members, bookings, collecting and storing records like waivers and allowing a variety of payment methods.

Get Credit with marketing automation such as social posting, text and email campaigns and requesting reviews. Plus, users can send promotions and other messaging that is customized to the right audience at the right time.

Enhanced CRM. A centralized customer relationship management system is at the foundation of Thryv’s software platform. The client is at the center of your practice. Full member information is available in each client “card,” and can be organized with identifiable information, such as classes history, upcoming classes, payments, conversations. You can also upload documents that include allergies, medications, emergency contact info and special care instructions. This makes every other action more seamless for those in charge as well as the client.

Thryv’s verticalized CRM means that when fitness-based businesses sign up, they see the proper terms for their specific industry. The enhancement also means users can now organize multiple classes, activities, sessions and more for their members.

Sales + Payments. Thryv users manage the entire sales process, not just payment collecting – from creating estimates and invoices to collecting payment and sending receipts from the dashboard. Thanks to that dashboard, which also provides a clear overview of outstanding invoices, physicians and trainers can send payment reminders to collect what’s due.

Because Thryv is all about giving control back to those over the operation, our users can take their pick from several payment methods; credit, debit, ThryvPay, PayPal, Braintree, Venmo, Square, Stripe, Apple Pay and Google Pay.

ThryvPay offers competitive flat-rate fees for credit cards, so there are no surprises. ThryvPay also offers low ACH fees that max out at $9. With ThryvPay, users can access the pay by text message option that allows patients and clients to pay from their mobile devices. This means they can pay you on time. Thryv users can also pass on convenience fees to their patients and clients (where allowable by law). They can also accept tips for a job well done.

Want to offer discounts to clients visiting your wellness center? Thryv allows users to offer packages to their clients, like 10 classes at a discounted rate. These packages make for an easier check out for your clients and a slightly cheaper route while helping you build customer loyalty.

Customer Communication. Thryv users manage every conversation in their centralized Thryv inbox. Those running fitness studios can deliver fast updates and reminders to your clients. Clients can reply and the studio can respond immediately, whether that is over email or text message. Staff members can even be assigned to manage specific correspondence.

With the last enhancement, users can get a text-enabled business number so clients can easily respond and interact with your business. Never forget to follow up again, with automated communications months in the future.

Online Scheduling. Does it break your heart when clients miss a class and fall further from their goals? Send automated reminders of upcoming classes, sessions and lessons. With Thryv, clients can schedule, reschedule or cancel without having to play phone tag with the office assistant. This gives time back to everyone on staff. They no longer have to stop working to answer scheduling phone calls and your schedule will stay up to date.

When it’s time for fitness studios to lay out the list of classes for clients, this can be done easily by creating an event and selecting the staff who will manage it. For example, Beginner Barre at 10 am with Judy. Seems simple enough. And for your regular drop-ins, packages can be used for these events.

Reputation Management & Online Presence. In addition to requesting and managing online reviews, Thryv users can tap into Thryv’s powerful online listings capabilities, which ensures that the facility’s information is current and accurate across more than 60 online listings sites.

This way potential patients and clients anywhere can find the business, no matter where they look. Regular reporting also allows Thryv users to stay on top of incoming reviews and get in-depth benchmarking against their competitors without gating it behind high tier plans, unlike ClubReady.

Marketing & Social Media. Thryv users can craft customized marketing campaigns and that they can automate to send after a milestone. For instance, using the enhanced CRM and its tagging capabilities, dance studios can automate an email or SMS text to go out whenever it’s time for a milestone class.

Trainers are able to send out offers and messages to a specific set of customers, like those dedicated CrossFit clients. Thryv also provides social media posting capabilities. This comes with a large library of customizable post templates to make an ongoing social presence and postings a walk (or run) through the park.

Thryv PRICING

Thryv’s policy is to customize pricing based on the needs of each facility. Therefore, the goal is to get our users what they need to run successfully, not limit features for the sake of upselling.

Thryv reviews

“Since I am a sole proprietor, I needed assistance in developing my CRM and especially with my social media presence. Thryv and the staff have been exceptional in helping me with both. It has also helped me stay in touch with my clients more. I like the fact that I have everything on one dashboard.”

– Neta W. Owner; verified user; G2 review; 10/18/2021

Pros: High quality 24/7 customer service, central location for everything, robust features, minimal learning curve, recurring payments tools allow users to compete with larger companies.

Cons: There’s a learning curve with the more complex side of website building, but there’s a team of specialists available to take on the task.

Thryv customer service

Simply put, Thryv’s customer service stands out against the competition, even ClubReady. Where ClubReady limits its customer service to 24/7 chats, Thryv is making it easy for our users to truly succeed. With extensive onboarding support, Thryv provides free, unlimited technical support 24-7. In Thryv’s online reviews, customers continuously point out this benefit as the key differentiator for Thryv.

Free online resources include educational guides and blogs, customer testimonials, how-to videos, and a knowledge center with step-by-step instructions and new feature updates.

Thryv provides video and one-on-one demos to understand each business’s individual needs. It’s a no-pressure informational session focused on discovering small business needs, rather than a hard sale.

ClubReady vs Thryv

While Thryv and ClubReady both offer facility management, the systems have their clear differences. While ClubReady claims to be designed to help fitness club operators to manage all aspects of their business, it fails to assist in every component of bringing in new clients, management of those clients and gathering those helpful reviews that bring in more business.

While ClubReady users are waiting on the chat line hoping to be matched with a live person, Thryv users are getting their questions answered. Plus, Thryv offers free 24/7 unlimited technical support. Thryv  users also have several resources to pull from, like the Knowledge Center and blog which are bursting with information.

Users even have the opportunity to connect with other Thryv users on the exclusive HighThryvers Facebook group as well to get tips and insight from their peers.

While Thryv holds pride in helping small businesses get the job, manage the job and get credit, ClubReady barely offers any of those three.

ClubReady’s ability to manage classes is great and scheduling is simple; however, its users will struggle with getting discovered. And keeping marketing efforts up with the platform is tough with minimal automation and no real marketing options, which can result in a decline in business.

Thryv aims to meet the demands of today’s small business owners. This is reflected in the well-thought-out and extensive features that continually allow trainers and instructors to get clients through the door, manage the workload and get the credit they deserve to bring in even more people to their centers.