ActivTrax - Business

Deleting Open Engagements

ATX Blogger — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 19:43:41 +0000

Consider this feature a Member Engagement mulligan. If your staff have fallen behind in their engagement activities, this new feature will provide them a fresh start. This feature is available to all users with Managerial rights.

Choose Member Engagement from the Engagements Menu item in the yellow menu bar. You can filter the page to include all coaches or just the open engagements for a particular user. Then, at the bottom right corner of the screen, click the 'Remove All Open Actions'. That's it! Your staff are now ready to start over and begin re-building their member relationships.

Categories:

Business

View Employees - Centralized Control

ATX Blogger — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 19:22:16 +0000

If some of your staff work at multiple branches or locations, you'll really appreciate this new feature. The update to our View Employees screen makes it easier than ever to enable or disable login rights at individual location(s).

An important note: Only managers with Organization-Wide access have the ability to enable or disable multi-location access. If you have Organization-Wide access, you can control employee access by doing the folllowing:

Go to the View Employees Page
Select the employee you wish to enable/disable multi-branch acess
From the Action column, choose the 'Roles' option from the drop-down menu
From here, you can assign rights to the user for each individual location within your association/organization.

The new feature also provides the abilty to terminate access at all branches. Using the steps above, simply choose the 'Terminate' option from the Action column. Please note: When terminating a 'Coach', his/her members will be automatically re-assigned to other 'Coaches'.

Categories:

Business

Group Scheduling

ATX Blogger — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 18:13:59 +0000

Our newest enhancement to our online scheduler allows you to assign multiple members to the same appointment. This feature is particularly handy when scheduling group personal training, bootcamps or any other type of one-to-many appointment type. To begin using this feature, simply follow the steps below:

Go to the Scheduler page and click on the Appointments link in the left hand column. Note: Only users with Managerial rights will have access to the Appointment link.
From the Enabled Appointment Types table, create your new appointment by clicking the Add button and set the maximum number of members you're able to serve during the appointment.

That's it!. Now, when users select the appointment, they'll be able to add more than one member.

A few quick tips:

When viewing appointments from the day view, you can easily tell if an appointment has an open availability by the color of the verticle bar. Red signifies the appointment is full. A green bar indicates availability.
Clicking the 'Added Members' text will provide you to override the maximum number of members who can attend an appointment. This feature is available to all users. It is inteded for special exceptions.

Quick Tip a. Quick Tip b.

Categories:

Business

Record Your Every Move

galbert — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 16:40:04 +0000

Whether it’s getting your car washed, someone bringing your lunch or having someone do your laundry, it's nice when others help you get your work done. Fitness is no different. Wearable fitness trackers provide an easy and effective way to track and monitor your daily progress.

By automatically recording and tracking your movement, wearable trackers eliminate the need to manually journal your activities...they do all the heavy lifting for you (well, not really but they do make things easier). Wearable devices not only save you time and effort but also provide deeper insight to help ensure you reach your long-term goal(s).

We’re proud to announce that ActivTrax now seamlessly integrates with some of the most popular fitness trackers. Linking and syncing your wearable account is easy and doing so provides you with one place to view, monitor and track your progress - it's all in your ActivTrax dashboard.

To link your wearable device to your ActivTrax account, simply follow these instructions:

1. Log in to your ActivTrax account at www.activtrax.com

2. Click the ‘My Account’ option from the yellow menu bar

3. Choose the ‘My Devices’ option from the drop down menu

4. Select your device and follow the onscreen directions

If your device is not on the list, let us know by emailing us at info@activtrax.com and we’ll do our best to add it.

-The ActivTrax Team

Categories:

Business

Individual

Updated Staff Menus

ATX Blogger — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 18:50:51 +0000

The appearance of the ActivTrax Menu bar will be updated for all users with a staff privileges. Aside from an aesthetic improvement, the change is designed to make navigation a bit easier and more intuitive for new users. Most of the menu items have remained the same. However, it’s important to note two key changes.

The first change is the relocation of the My ActivTrax menu item. This menu item will appear only for those staff profiles that are set to 'Can Workout'. Only users with Manager rights can toggle this feature on or off. Managers can enable the 'Can Workout' feature for individual users by navigating to the employee's profile and placing a check mark in the Can Workout field.

A more significant change to the new look is that the member search function is no longer located within the yellow menu bar. The feature is still available however, it’s just been moved. To reveal the Member Name or Activity ID search fields, simply click on the Toggle Quick Search text located at the top of the page and the search fields will appear. Their function has not changed so you can search for members in the same way to which you’ve become accustom.

Categories:

Business

Long-term Retention Begins With An Initial Appointment

ATX Blogger — Tue, 24 Jun 2014 17:18:29 +0000

One of the most important steps to creating an effective on-boarding process is to ensure that just about every new member gets scheduled for an inital appointment. The traditional pencil and paper system is not only cumbersome but also leaves voids in communication amongst staff. Even the use of some higher tech solutions like Google Calendar lack some of the specific features necessary to effectively manage a wellness center’s needs.

The right scheduling tool will help close the communication gap between membership and wellness staff and should also help to foster engagement between staff and members. Web-based solutions are always preferable as they provide the most accessibilty to staff and allow for real-time updates as schedules and appointments change.

Key features to consider when implementing a scheduler should include:

the ability for staff to create their availability
the ability for front desk and other staff to view availabilities and book appointments
the ability to close or complete appointments with specific result codes.
the ability to for staff to confirm appointments
the ability for tracking and reporting
the ability to tie into the company CRM or other tracking system so that appointment information can be shared among staff.

To often, wellness centers try to use off the shelf scheduling software or generic online schedulers in an effort to save a few dollars. While the basic objective of scheduling appointments may be met, the costs in failing to tie the the results and other information into the bigger picture is overlooked. Schedulers which have are specifically designed with a wellness centers needs in mind can play an instrumental part in successfully on-boarding new members and ultimately their long-term retention.

Categories:

Business

Improved on boarding process increases member retention

ATX Blogger — Thu, 08 May 2014 21:07:08 +0000

Improved on boarding process Posted on: 8 May 2014

Remember the first day you stepped inside a new classroom on the first day of school? A new member's first day at the gym can be just as intimidating as the first day of school for a second-grader. Greeting a new environment and facing new personal challenges to improve health can be daunting. A strong on boarding process can quickly put a new member at ease and create a positive experience beginning the first day at the front desk through continued workouts with a personal trainer.

On boarding provides an opportunity to create a positive first impression. Beginning with the first greeting at the gym, a new member must have a positive experience as they are oriented and socialized to the gym's culture and their new environment. A new member who feels welcome and comfortable will be optimistic about attending the gym.

During the on boarding process, new members also learn about their current level of wellness, and the steps they will need to take to achieve wellness goals. On boarding aims to help new members gain clear expectations through the knowledge, skills, and behaviors they will need to be successful.

A clearly defined on boarding process significantly impacts whether or not your new members will continue attending your gym. By combining positive first experiences with a clear understanding of workouts and fitness goals, the member is more likely to remain motivated and reach wellness goals, and less likely to quit.

On boarding provides many benefits as new members:

Become familiar with the gym, equipment, and processes
Gain a clear understanding of their current fitness level
Develop rapport with trainers, employees, and other members
Set goals for attainable fitness and wellness
Learn which routines and workouts will be most helpful for them to reach goals
Learn who to ask for questions
Increase their motivation

On boarding also provides an opportunity to check in with new members. Arranging a time to meet with new members to see how they're doing in their first week and month helps ensure things are going well and shows an interest in their continued success. Members have the opportunity to re-visit goals, talk about successes, and discuss any areas in which they find challenging.

Through an improved on boarding process, members should feel they have made the best decision in joining your gym, and that they have the support needed to help them reach their wellness goals. The initial investment in an on boarding program will be well worth the results as members' success is realized through continued attendance.

Categories:

Business

Why Do You Need Challenges? Here are Four Reasons

ATX Blogger — Tue, 06 May 2014 18:01:52 +0000

Challenges Posted on: 6 May 2014

Why do you need Challenges? That's an excellent question. Luckily, we have four fantastic answers.

Hearing About Challenges: People are always hearing about challenges in work, play, and on social media. Not a day goes by without another challenge to work harder, become more efficient, and become healthier. Using a challenge to motivate members is something they are used to hearing about, and can become a routine.

Customizing Their Challenges: Members love to customize their own challenges to make them harder or easier to do each day or week. They like to be in control of their own destinies and this way they can create their individual challenges and goals.

Rewarding Their Work: Members love getting rewards for completing parts of challenges. They can accumulate points and redeem them for prizes or hold onto them for even larger prizes. Even as children, we wanted prizes, so why change as an adult? They do not have to be large prizes, just something to show that they are keeping on track.

Congratulating or Encouraging by Staff: Using software to track members’ progress allows the wellness staff the ability to congratulate or encourage a member to stay on the challenges. They can help the members get closer to their goals and pose new challenges once they have completed previous ones.

By providing challenges for member participation and interaction, you can encourage members to communicate with the staff, stay on top of their goals, feel confident, and create positive feedback about their wellness clubs. The members will be happier and healthier clients who enjoy going to their wellness centers.

To talk more about this, or anything else, please Contact Us. Thanks.

Categories:

Business

Why A Web-App?

ATX Blogger — Fri, 02 May 2014 14:05:15 +0000

Technology Posted on: 2 May 2014

From time to time, we’re asked about our decision to have implemented a Web-app instead of a native app for our mobile solution. First, it’s important to understand the differences between the two platforms:

A Native App is an app developed essentially for one particular mobile device and is installed directly onto the device itself. Users of native apps usually download them via app stores online such as the Apple App Store, the Google Play store and so on.

Web Apps, on the other hand, are basically Internet-enabled apps that are accessible via the mobile device’s Web browser. They do not need to be dowloaded onto the user’s mobile device in order to be accessed.

From the mobile user’s perspective, native and Web apps look and work much the same way, with very little difference between them. That said, one disadvantage of Web-apps is their inability to take full advantage of smartphone hardware, which often results in a smaller feature set.

While a limited feature set is certainly something to consider, Web-apps are not without substantial benefits:

Web-apps allow our developers to remain in control. Native apps are constantly being pulled from the App Store without explanation. Apple is in full control of the App Store. Since Web-apps don’t need to be downloaded, we avoid third-party restrictions, rules or decisions that may impact our users.

Every mobile platform uses a different native programming language. While iOS uses Objective-C, Android uses Java, Windows Mobile uses C++ and so on. Web apps, on the other hand, use languages such as JavaScript, HTML 5, CSS3 or other Web application frameworks as per the developer’s preferences. This allows us to keep our development costs down by not having to develop a solution for each particular platform.

With a native app, the user has to download updates. A Web app, on the other hand updates itself without the need for user intervention.

Today, Web-apps provide more flexibility, control and lower developmental costs. While it may not be the right solution for every application, we believe providing a Web-app solution is in the best interest of ActivTrax, its customers and users.

To talk more about this, or anything else, please Contact Us.

Categories:

Business

When You Eat is an Important Aspect of Nutrition

ATX Blogger — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 20:05:47 +0000

Nutrition

Posted on: 29 Apr 2014

Most wellness plans include a program of nutrition and exercise to reduce or maintain weight. One aspect of nutrition warrants a closer look. Recent studies have shown that the timing of your member's meals can have a significant effect on the results of their weight management program.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Tufts University and the University of Murcia in Spain conducted a study of 420 overweight people in a weight loss program. The group was divided into two groups: early eaters and late-eaters with late-eaters eating their largest meal of the day after 3 p.m.

Because lunch is thought of as the big meal of the day in Spain, the early-eaters consumed just less than half a day’s calories in their mid-day meal before 3 p.m. while the others ate after 3 p.m. Late-eaters reported consuming a larger portion of their daily calorie intake during their last meal of the day. They also ate smaller breakfasts, sometimes skipping the first meal of the day entirely.

In the first five weeks of the twenty-week study, weight loss for each group was about the same. After week five, the late-eating groups saw their rate of weight loss level off and remain static for the remainder of the study. All told the early-eaters lost 22% more than their late night eating counterparts. Late-eaters also showed insulin sensitivity, a risk factor for diabetes.

The study took into consideration total calorie intake, energy expenditure; sleep habits and the effects of appetite hormones - similiar conditions all found in both groups. All this leads to the conclusion that the timing of when you eat has a pronounced effect on weight loss.

While the study indicates that far better fitness results come to those who dine early, it also underscores the importance of nutrition on a total wellness plan. That being said, calorie counting, parsing out fat calories from carb calories is mind numbing for most fitness buffs. The ATX Nutrition app, one of many interacting fitness and nutrition apps offered by ActivTrax can be a key component in your members’ battle to shed those extra pounds. ATX Nutrition helps with meal planning and calorie counting and can even make out a grocery list of healthy choices to help make your members weight management program a success.

Ultimately the measure of success of a wellness center is the success of its members. ActivTrax provides a platform and personalizes nutrition and exercise programs to help your members reach their fitness goals.

Categories:

Business