Choosing how to manage leisure centres in your local area is no easy task. With tighter budgets, and endless other external challenges, you’re always looking for ways to support the success of your facilities and streamline your processes.

Insourcing is one option to explore. But whether you’re already insourcing your leisure centre ops or you’re thinking about moving them back in-house, one thing is certain. 

To do it effectively – and cost-efficiently – you need to make sure you have the right software. 

Software that:

Streamlines Processes

The right software should make management of your leisure centre easier, it’s as simple as that. 

When you’re insourcing all your operations, you’ll be responsible for every part of your centre, so you need to make sure every area, every function and every process works as simply and efficiently as possible. 

The right software should give you full oversight of every process so you can immediately identify any bottlenecks, any inefficiencies or anything that needs to change. And of course, it should help you streamline activities in every area of your leisure centre, including:

• Giving your full centralised control over all your payments, memberships, bookings with a single source of truth

• Facilitating online joining and booking to give members more control over their own experiences 

• Simplifying stock control, inventory and invoicing to improve concessions performance

Takes The Hassle And Stress Away From Your Team

By streamlining processes, the right leisure management software will also reduce the demand on your team. And when you’re insourcing, that gives them more time to spend in the operational areas that need their support, leaving other processes to function automatically. 

You should make sure that the software you choose doesn’t require extra training or specialist staff however, as that will eliminate any time savings you make with improved efficiencies. 

Ideally the right software will be intuitive to use for any member of your existing team, so you don’t need to worry about recruitment. You won’t need to hire tech specialists and might even be able to reduce other staffing costs, if your existing team has more free time to devote to other areas of the business.

Makes Sure You’re Paid On Time

The key to any successful insourced operations is efficient membership management. That cash flow is essential to your leisure centre and you’ll want to maximise it at every opportunity. 

When you’re exploring software options, look for those that can support every part of your membership management. The right software should streamline, sync and reduce. It should: 

• Streamline all payment processing, automatically collecting Direct Debits and chasing missed payments so your leisure centre teams don’t need to worry about any financial administration. It should also streamline how members manage their own membership, so they can make any changes themselves.

• Sync real-time membership data directly with entry points, so your team can easily control access to your leisure centres and prevent unauthorised use. 

• Reduce time spent handling routine payment queries with a trained, experienced team and technology acting as an extension of your business. 

Tracks And Reports On Leisure Centre Performance

Finally, the right software needs to accurately monitor all your leisure centre data and deliver easy-to-understand reports on all areas of performance. 

When you’re insourcing, you need to make sure that you’re running your leisure centre operations as effectively and efficiently as possible. You need to check you’re making the right decisions, you need to react quickly to problems, and you need to identify trends that you can take advantage of. 

The right software should give you complete oversight at the touch of a button. You don’t want any data to be siloed in multiple locations, you don’t want to waste time collecting reports together and you certainly don’t want two (or more) different sets of figures. 

You need a single, reliable source of truth. A real-time update on leisure centre performance that you can easily understand. One that delivers metrics that your team members can understand too, so they can work together to make improvements where needed. The right software will help you keep track of all those important KPIs that help you run your leisure centre effectively, including membership numbers, conversion rates and overall revenue.

The Right Software Helps You Deliver The Best Possible Experience For Your Members

Whether you’re thinking about moving to an insourced model or you’re already insourcing and looking for ways to improve your operations, the right software makes all the difference.  

The key is finding the right solution for your leisure centre’s needs. Take the time to trial different software to see which works best for you, bearing in mind all the goals above that you’d like to deliver on. 

Then don’t be afraid to invest in the most effective software, if you want your insourcing to be successful. It will save you a lot of money in the long run. 

Most importantly, the right leisure management software will make your team’s tasks a whole lot easier and ensure there’s smooth, efficient operations in your leisure centres, so that together, you can focus on providing a better experience for your members. 
Find out if Legend is the right software for your operations by requesting a demo here.