RELSON GRACIE JIU JITSU CASE STUDY
PROFILE
The tradition of Jiu Jitsu is steeped in honor and respect, and these characteristics typify Relson Gracie of Colorado. Opened in May 2010 with only one student, Professor Steve Hordinski and Chief Operations Officer Dylan Miller run this quickly growing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu School. Like all Jiu Jitsu practitioners, they love Jiu Jitsu and make sharing it their mission in life. They know it changes lives because they see it happen every day with their more than 300 active members.
CHALLENGE
The Colorado Gracie team knew they needed member management software to run their business, so they started out with a different company. After struggling with that system for a couple years, they realized it wasn’t a good fit for them. It was just too hard to use.
Dylan said, “The software was extremely difficult to use. Our team had to spend hours learning how to generate a simple report. Because there were so many buttons or features, simple tasks were incredibly hard to manage and hard to do.”
Finally, some friends recommended Zen Planner.
Throughout his years as a Jiu Jitsu student, school owner and COO of Gracie Colorado, Dylan used several other versions of fitness business software. This experience allowed him to thoughtfully evaluate Zen Planner. He knew which feature and options they needed, and he was sure of what he did and did not like.
SOLUTION
Colorado Gracie and the Zen Planner office are in the same city, so the Gracie team went to Zen Planner to see a software demonstration in person. Dylan and Steve were immediately impressed with what they saw. Dylan says, “The team was very polite, helpful and respectful. They answered every question we had.”
Steve and Dylan were thrilled to see Zen Planner’s customizable setup and reporting capabilities. “We were happy to see that there is extreme workability in the Zen Planner system. It’s easy to set up, and you can customize the software to work the way you want it to. You can make it synch with the way you run your business. It’s easy to use and easy to navigate.”
For any company, that sort of endorsement would be a win. But the product itself wasn’t the only piece that sold the Colorado Gracie team on Zen Planner. The culture did. Dylan said, “When we walked in we immediately noticed that the Zen Planner office space and culture completely puts people first. They support their team who then supports customers like us.”
For Dylan and Steve, this people-centric philosophy clearly put Zen Planner above the competition. Respect and honor are a foundation of Jiu Jitsu, and the Relson Gracie team found those same core values to be at the heart of Zen Planner. With such a connection it was clear that Zen Planner was the solution for Gracie Colorado.
“More important than just liking the software is that we found a terrific synchronicity with the company. You have to ask yourself as a business owner if you can work with the both the staff and the product, and with Zen Planner we absolutely said yes to both,” Dylan said.
When the Gracie team implemented the software, they saw immediate business gains. They embedded some of Zen Planner’s features on their website and used automated emails to turn prospects into clients. Dylan said that by simply doing these things, their lead generation “went through the roof.”
When asked to describe Zen Planner, Dylan simply said, “They are a world-class organization dedicated to people, with a product that is superior to all others on the market.”
