1) The nr. 1 belief tennis directors have to break: great customer service is only possible if you spend a lot of personal time and effort with the customer in person.
Actually, if your customer is asking for your time it means your work process is not optimal. If customers send you e-mails, call you or have questions, it means they cannot find or do what they want, right away. Of course it's important to help them if they have questions, but the main goal is to offer the best customer service, so don't let them wait!
For the best customer service you give customers their own personal account. With this online account they can communicate, see their own bookings and those of their kids, see invoices, lesson plans, feedback and development. They can also book selfservice options, pay and cancel directly online for courts, lessons, programs and more. So full insight with selfservice is what makes a great customer service.
2) The nr. 2 belief tennis directors have to break: our marketing website is great. We don't need a sales website!
Most tennis businesses have great looking websites. The only problem is that these great looking marketing websites are not generating income. They generate a lot of work. Why? First of all the website is not updated every day. So you cannot find the right up-to-date prices and available spots on the website. Customers are missing information and this causes them to e-mail or call you. Some tennis businesses work with websites that make it possible to sign in for a lesson or program online. The problem with this is that it's not automated. You still have to plan this player and send a confirmation and invoice by hand. So what you need is not a marketing website , you need a sales website. A great sales website is also connected with the back-end agenda, your financial system, the coaches agenda, facility agenda and your communication system and it is able to show the customer the available spots, coaches, courts and the right prices. This way the customer knows exactly who or what is available, when it starts and the customer can book and pay right away. Because this booking is connected, the customer gets an automated e-mail with confirmation. The customer gets a personal account, the booking is in the manager’s and coach’s agenda, the payment is received and the invoice is in the financial system. All automated from website, booking, agenda, communication to finance. If you still work with a marketing website it's time to change to a sales website with automation.
3) The nr. 3 belief tennis directors have to break: the lesson "groups" planning is something only we can do.
Tennis coaches believe they are the only ones who can do the planning correctly, because they know the players and their level. They don't allow their customers to book and plan their own lessons directly online. Because of this they let customers wait for weeks and sometimes months before they are ready with their planning. If tennis professionals work with an online sales website it is possible to offer all the options online, with the right levels and available spots. Customers can book and pay right away and will be placed in the right group automatically. The advantage is that you don't let them wait, you get your money right away, you know for sure the player is available and will not cancel (canceling a planning happens a lot when you make the planning and not the customer). By offering this service you also save yourself a lot of time. This belief can only work if you break belief 1 and 2 first!
4) The nr. 4 belief tennis directors have to break: customers don't want to pay in advance when they make a booking or reservation.
I see it happen all the time. Tennis businesses are suffering, because players don't pay at all or pay way too late. Customers who don't show up, cancel their bookings or refuse to pay. Why should you not ask for payment in advance? Good, reliable customers won’t have a problem with paying in advance. so why wait? Make sure you have a sales website with an online payment system that accepts all payment options in the world like credit cards, iDEAL (Europe) and many more.
5) The nr. 5 belief tennis directors have to break: we need team meetings.
To transfer information we need meetings. What is the lesson plan, how is this player developing, what is important to share with the team? We need meetings for his. But the problem with meetings is that they cost a lot of time and they are not effective. It's much more effective to work online. Automate the workflow, so every member of the team involved is always informed. So not only the manager and coach, but also the player and parents are informed by automation. Every team member gets automated information and updates, so they know the lessons plans and exercises, they can see the feedback from all team members. This way you don't need meetings, it is much more effective, you never loose data and safe a lot of time and money.
6) The nr. 6 belief tennis professionals have to break: customers don't want to pay for online tennis programs and coaching.
For this new generation internet is normal. For them it’s normal that tennis is connected to the online world; it would be strange if it wasn’t.
If you are a specialist and have great content, people will pay for it. Parents love to see their kid improve and will pay for an online program that will help them and their kid. If you provide them with enough value, people will pay! So if you are an expert, start thinking about new business opportunities with online programs and online coaching. With the right software you can grow your business and income fast.
