A Look Back at 2021 + A Peek Into Our Plans for 2022

If your year has been anything like ours, it’s been full of twists and turns, unexpected setbacks, and well-earned triumphs.

As we all continue to adjust to new challenges in the fitness space — and increased demands in the digital space — we thought we’d take a look back at everything we’ve accomplished in 2021 and give you a taste of what’s yet to come in 2022.

What Zen Planner Brought You in 2021

Improved Member Experience

Our team has made several key software improvements to make sure your members have the best possible experience at your fitness business.

Smoother Sign-In 

We’ve enabled Face ID and Touch ID for a faster sign-in process for everyone involved. No more typing out lengthy passwords!

Time Zone Limitations

We heard through the grapevine that some members have been temporarily changing their phone’s time zone to reserve classes early (sneaky sneaky!). While we admire the creativity, anyone who tries this will now receive an error message so all your members have a fair shot at signing up for classes.

Late Cancellations

Maximized class space matters now more than ever as owners rebuild and grow their businesses. To alleviate the problem of half-empty classes due to no-shows, we’ve now enabled last-minute cancellations within a certain window with optional late fees for your members.

This feature allows members on your class waitlist to claim any spots that are cancelled close to class time. Fuller classes will foster a more engaged, supportive community.

Better Trial Memberships

Do you have potential members who want the full experience of your fitness business? Prospects are now automatically granted access to Zen Planner’s Member App and Member Connect. They’ll be able to view and reserve classes during their trial.

Calendar Widget Functionality

Zen Planner’s calendar widget has been updated both on the business owner and member side.

Owners can now customize the calendar widget with the correct branding and colors for their business. The improved widget has a more modern feel so it’ll fit nicely with the rest of your website once embedded.

Members can now interact with this new calendar widget to view class times, sign up as a new member, and reserve classes. 

Enhanced Batch Updates & Hold Reports

We’re proud to offer you some of the most robust reporting and billing in the boutique fitness industry. To further facilitate business management, we’ve made the following crucial updates:

• We’ve removed the option to batch delete to prevent our customers from accidentally losing important information
• We’ve eliminated the ability to add an end date that is before the begin date of a hold when doing a batch update
• Staff can no longer batch update and create overlapping holds
• It is now possible for staff to batch update bill dates and installment amounts

New Integrations

We understand you need the best tools to successfully operate your business. Our team is working hard to get you the integrations you need for more seamless gym management, marketing, and scheduling.

Phase 2 of Zen Planner x SugarWOD 

During the 2021 CrossFit® Games, we unveiled one of our biggest accomplishments this year: the class scheduling integration between Zen Planner and SugarWOD. Once you activate the integration, your members will be able to:

• View your class schedule
• Reserve and cancel classes
• Join class waitlists
• Check in to classes

… all in the SugarWOD app!

Meanwhile, you as the business owner will be able to set class parameters in Zen Planner. This integration allows you to provide a more interactive and aesthetically pleasing member experience.

Read our blog post to learn more about the integration.

Gympass Integration

This year, Zen Planner launched its first open API integration with a partner outside of the Daxko suite of products: Gympass!

If your business uses Gympass, your members can now sign up for classes directly within Gympass, bypassing Zen Planner scheduling completely.

This integration is a big deal, both for you and for us. It’s our first major step toward integrating with even more tools that our customers already love. Stay tuned for more integrations to come!

What Zen Planner Is Looking Forward to in 2022

New Look and Feel                      

User experience is a huge priority for us at Zen Planner. After all, if our software isn’t crystal clear, how will you know where to click or how to use all the tools at your disposal?

Zen Planner has been around since 2006. That means we’ve had plenty of time to become experts in the fitness space and pros at reporting. However, we also realize that we could use a fresh coat of paint, so to speak.

In 2022, we’ll be livening things up with:

• A new design style for our software
• Clearer navigation within the app
• A refreshed Zen Planner Marketplace

Our software will remain as robust as ever. But we feel it’s time to reevaluate and rejuvenate, just like so many of us have been lately.

Larger Customer Service Team

We understand how frustrating it can be to wait for a satisfactory answer to your question, especially with the added stresses of the past two years. That’s why we’re reinvesting in our customer service team in 2022.

Over the next year, we plan to:

• Increase our team size by 35% compared to the beginning of 2021
• Split our customer service team into two specialized groups:
  • Zen Planner
  • SugarWOD + UpLaunch
• Improve and accelerate team member training to provide a stronger, more consistent customer service experience

Our customer service specialists truly enjoy assisting business owners. Many of them are fitness fanatics themselves, and they want to see you succeed with our software.

By making these internal adjustments in the new year, we hope to better support you and the fitness community at large.

More Software Updates

Don’t worry — we haven’t forgotten the functionality either. We’ll be making regular software improvements throughout the year and keeping our eyes and ears open for your feedback.

As you can see, we’ve had a very busy year here at Zen Planner, and we’re sure your year has been eventful as well. We look forward to helping you succeed in 2022!