Seven benefits of a paperless membership system

Fitness clubs have to weigh up the benefits of changing familiar systems and procedures from those that have been around for years to those that embrace the latest technologies according to Ezypay Marketing Manager Simon Hall.
In moving to a paperless membership system, Hall (pictured below) outlines seven benefits.

1. Cost
"Ever wondered how much your files are costing you? You might be surprised at how much you can save by going paperless. In an average facility approximately 30% of receptionists/administrator time is spent retrieving, replacing or adding to members files, this equates to 30% of time spent away from face to face customer service."

2. Minimise lost and misfiled documents
"With paper records, each time a document is used, there is a risk that it may be misfiled making it substantially harder to find in the future. In a paperless system, various constraints can be imposed to help ensure documents find their way into the correct location. In the event that an electronic copy of a document is stored in the wrong spot, it is still possible to locate the misfiled document, usually quicker than a correctly filed paper based document. If for example, a letter was accidentally stored in the wrong members file, it would be possible to perform a search to locate the missing document quickly and efficiently."

3. Space
"As your business grows, space is often found to be at a premium. In an average fitness club the space occupied by members form and documents doubles every five years.

"What else could you be doing with the space you are using for filing cabinets? How much are you paying per square meter that you are paying to store these files? Once paperless, the areas previously used for document storage are free to start making you money."

4. Data Portability
"Once in electronic format, it becomes possible to securely access documents from remote locations. For example, a gym owner could view member's details without having to travel to the gym. You could even be in another country and check on club performance in another country.

"Electronic documents also make it easier to share documents between different physical locations if your business has multiple locations."

5. Data Security
"Paper based documents are susceptible to fire, water, theft and other damage. With robust offsite backup procedures your data will survive even if your office doesn't!"

6. Data error
"From the point a pen hits the application form mistakes are being made, a miss-spelt word, the miss-interpretation of someones hand writing and the list goes on.

"With an online form mandatory fields are possible and detailed formatting and automatic selection is made easy. Here is an example of how data error can escalate.

Data entry of bank account details could delay the payment of membership fees > Incorrect address means you can't contact the member to update their details > The failed payment cannot be followed up correctly and promptly > The club doesnt get paid and the member ends up with a bad debt."

7. Everything in the same place
"With a paperless signup system the membership agreement and direct debit agreement is all in one place and link directly with the member's information. If issues arise where the club needs to produce legal documentation linked with a specific member, everything is in the one place."

Ezypay's new iconnect360 system offers paperless membership signups.

To find out more call 1300 762 726, E: hello@iconnect360.com, www.iconnect360.com

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