Gym in Charlotte, NC been open since 2010.

We currently use Mindbody for payments and contracts and forms, we use TrainHeroic for programming, and I am in BLG (Big Little Gyms) marketing group they take care of our website and we use their backend CRM for leads and booking intros.

Mindbody absolutely sucks and we have wanted to get out of it for years. MB is costing us close to $600 a month between the $255 subscription and processing.

We LOVE Trainheroic. We use it for our powerlifters, weightlifters, custom program people, and for our classes. And I have a dozen or so standalone programs for sale on the marketplace.

We are looking for software that will do it all. The problem is most do one thing better than the other. Curious what everyone is using for software. ********Just a heads up, if you pitch me your janky software you used Claudecode to create a month ago I am going to downvote your comment and may report it to be deleted...I am looking for established software!*********

I have looked at PushPress, Wodify, Chalk it Pro, and Gym Desk. They all have their pros and cons.

BLG is pushing everyone to Chalk it Pro, and I have looked at all their demos and I don't really like it. The pricing is good, and they use stripe for processing. But I don't like their programming side.

My issue with the others is that we are not crossfit, we do a bit of crossfit adjacent workouts, and we are a HYROX affiliate, but I don't love how so many of these softwares are tailored to crossfit. I get it, crossfit dominated the fitness space for so long and that is who used these softwares but that is not us. We also offer just open gym, and we need to be able to check people in with a self checkin for both classes and open gym and all of the powerlifters and weightlifters who come in at all hours. All of the class based softwares seem to just checkin people for classes.

Looking at Gym Desk, they are basically just processing. Do we stick with this setup, one program for processing and one for programming (TrainHeroic)? Or do we try an integrated software? We are losing money and that upsets me.

Also, if anyone has been in BLG and left for another group please chime in! The group is great, their service is great, I have nothing bad to say and when I need help or have questions I always get help, but I simply do not use the coaching/marketing side of the group and I know I should but I don't, they handle our website and CRM. BLG does have an option to do just the website and CRM without the coaching and marketing and I am considering that too, would take us from $500 month to $350 month.

Thanks for any help!

Hey!

I hope everybody is doing well!

As the title indicates, how do you hire your trainers at your gym and what is the best results you’ve seen in your experience?

I’m not selling anything just genuinely curious!

Do your trainers pay monthly rent, a percentage of their revenue, or nothing at all?

Are they employees or independent contractors?

Do you have different trainer levels (new, senior, elite, etc.) with different benefits?

Which model has been the most profitable for the gym while still attracting great trainers?