subject: Advantages Of Implementing Club Invoicing Software As Part Of A Broader Business Solution [print this page] Software vendors provide club invoicing software as a stand-alone installation or as a part of a broader solution, aimed at business customers that are interested in getting advanced functionality dealing with multiple business processes. Usually, such a solution is implemented within the framework of a customer relationship management (CRM) system, where various software modules cover different aspects of the overall business process, including billing and invoicing, marketing, sales, customer support, etc. Virtually all CRM systems also incorporate contact management software, providing functionality to manage contacts with both vendors and customers.
Many CRM systems are made of different modules, allowing customers to select functionally that best fits their requirements and reducing the overall cost of the solution through non-deployment of modules that are not needed. Furthermore, modularity offers advantages to both small gyms and large chains of fitness centres, providing high level of configurability of the system, while allowing enterprises to implement the software within hours. Nevertheless, by installing only the club invoicing module, an enterprise would deliberately limit its ability to take advantage of other functions of the software, which can further reduce overall costs of running a business.
Evidently, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform offers greater complexity compared to CRM systems, nonetheless modular CRM software provide a more affordable solution to small and medium enterprises like most of the fitness centres. Moreover, modern CRM platforms are extremely easy to use, allowing managers and personnel to familiarize with the software within days, while most such platforms can import and export data to and from other contact management software and communicate with third party applications.
Some contemporary CRM systems feature functionality to accept bankcard payments and conduct online payments, while tracking customer accounts in order to issue invoices in a timely fashion. A decent invoicing module would automatically send invoices to customers, allowing gym managers to customize the invoice or incorporate custom messages that are part of a targeted marketing campaign. Thus, invoicing would be used as a powerful tool within a broader strategy to target prospect customers and retain best current clients.
Usually, the invoicing software will communicate with a marketing module, which in turn allows for sales tracking and sales force automation of the entire sales process, from an initial contact with a prospect customer, to follow-up and continuous customer support. Additionally, complex CRM system could feature analytics software that collects data from accounting and invoicing module to keep track on customers, estimate market trends, and predict future customer behavior based on historical data obtained in the process. A gym centre system could also combine functionality to manage payroll and follow business taxes reports, facilitating day-to-day activities of gym managers and employees.
Implementation costs of a complex fitness club management system are relatively low, in the view of the fact that deployment of invoicing, marketing, sales and other modules results in significant cost reductions. Furthermore, many software vendors have shifted to monthly payment schemes, allowing gym owners to avoid one-time investment in new software, while getting 24/7 software support.
To sum up, club invoicing software is worth purchasing along with other software modules that make a fully functional CRM system, improving overall efficiency and securing higher level of customer satisfaction.
