This may be a venture you’ve dreamed about for years. You’re finally doing it! And, the pressure is on. You’re making a big investment. You must find students as you take care of a million details you want to get right.

Choosing the right martial arts school software can feel like another pressure task, but if you select the right software, like Zen Planner Engage, you will likely start to see a lot of stressors fade away. This article explores why software is essential for realizing your school’s business goals and identifies key selection factors that will help you make the right software choice for your school.

There is no such thing as the best martial arts software Rather, the best software product is one that enables you to achieve your unique business goals. These goals might include:

• Cost effectively recruiting a profitably large group of students
• Building a sustainable brand
• Fostering a customer experience that leads to a high rate of student retention
• Minimizing paperwork/busywork that distracts from building a great business
• Keeping operating costs to a level that ensures profitability

You have to accomplish these goals in parallel, ideally avoiding early problems that get in the way of success. Some of these goals are also interdependent, e.g., fostering a great customer experience and minimizing paperwork are two sides of the same issue. Customers should have as frictionless an experience of dealing with your school as possible. This is largely a matter of software.

Martial arts business software is the tool you use to achieve your business goals. A good software package will, for example, facilitate and automate many of the marketing and sales processes you need to grow your student body. It will handle the billing and payments processes along with scheduling and attendance so customers have a good experience.

Key selection factors for martial arts studio management software fall into two categories. One has to do with the software’s features, i.e., what it does. The other relates to how the software works.

1. Custom branding —Your website should reflect your school’s distinctive look and message. The software needs to support this capability.
2. Check in management — When students check in for classes, the software should show their rank, progress toward the next belt, and number of days since last attendance. These data points will enable staff members to engage with customers or address any potential problems that could suggest that the student is losing interest or having other issues that might lead them to leave the school. Check in is also a good time for alerts about unpaid balances, and the like.
3. Attendance tracking — A good martial school management software package will track students’ attendance. This is necessary for reconciling payments with classes, but also to flag situations where the student is missing classes and losing out on opportunities to learn and advance in rank.
4. Class scheduling — Customers today expect to view online schedules and interact with them on mobile devices. The software should support this functionality, with online bookings and cancellations. Staff members need to be able to set up and manage class schedules using the software.
5. Belt tracking/promotions — Streamlined tracking of belts and promotions is good for business. When software can handle this task, that’s less time that staff members have to spend tracking belts and promotions manually.
6. Membership billing and management — Membership management can be a time-consuming, error-prone chore without the right tools. Software can automate billing cycles, enable multiple payment methods, and process membership cancellations.
7. Family management — It’s common for multiple family members to be taking classes at the same school, but at different times. Handling scheduling conflicts and changes that affect families can be a major distraction and a driver of poor customer experience. Software can take over this process and make things go better for everyone.
8. Digital marketing/Member engagement — Today, it is imperative that you market to prospective students and engage with current customers online, especially on social media. This can take a lot of time, along with a skillset you may not possess. Software can help by providing pre-built marketing and social media content templates, along with automated engagement process and more.
9. Reporting and analytics — Effective martial arts school management software will provide detailed, meaningful reports on the state of your school’s business, students, marketing, and more.

A good martial arts school management software program is one that is easy to set up. A quick, simple onboarding process will get you using the toolset to build your business right away. Conversely, software that’s hard to install and use will take you away from achieving your business objectives. Other functional factors to consider include:

• Mobility — Having a mobile version of your school’s website, schedule, and so forth are no longer “nice to have.” Your customers—the parents—are on the move and will simply expect to be able to interact with your school on their phones. A school management software package must provide this capability.
• Scalability — If you’re doing things right, your school will be growing. You might even add more locations. The software should scale with you without requiring any complicated upgrades.

Each of these selection factors matters, but the best software will bring them together in an all-in-one solution. This is what Zen Planner offers. It gives you everything you need to run your martial arts school, from scheduling and membership to marketing and customer engagement.