Customer Stories

Gym Insight’s digital keytags fixes a big problem in the gym business — access theft.  This innovative door access system reduces theft by making it nearly impossible for members to share gym keys. Read on to discover how this simple change made a big difference for gym owners just like you.

ProFitness Greenville

Mark Edwards, owner of ProFitness Greenville in Greenville, South Carolina, runs a gym and personal training studio. He is, as he likes to say, a “one-man show.” Despite having bought the fitness center at the end of 2020, business is thriving. Gym membership has tripled and he feels confident for the future.

Currently, he contracts nine trainers and trains about 10 people per day. In addition, individuals exercise on their own in the fully equipped gym. Because of this grueling schedule, he is never in the back office. 

At the time he purchased ProFitness, the previous owner had just started using Gym Insight’s gym management software. When Edwards took over, he dialed into the system’s full capabilities, including automated billing, in order to avoid hiring a floor manager.

“This system allows me to run two businesses at once.”

Mark Edwards, owner ProFitness Greenville

Despite these successes, he still faced a dilemma. 

ProFitness is a 24/7 gym, which he staffs only about half the day. To provide one of the city’s only truly 24/7 clubs, Edwards leans heavily on a 24-hour-access door controller.

Unfortunately, Edwards inherited a manual keypad system. This required he provide a four-digit key code to every new customer who signed up over the weekend. Each of these weekend sign-ups turned into a two-step process because the manual code was not integrated into the system. Instead, Edwards, would mark down the code on paper and keep track of it until the client received their key. Then, he’d have to manually cancel out the key code once they received their permanent key.

Of course, then there were clients who’d lose their keys… It was a big hassle.

Now with Gym Insight’s digital keytags, a member’s key is on their phone. They sign up for memberships through ProFitness’s website, receive a link, and download the Member App, which provides a dynamic QR code. To open the gym door the client scans the digital keytag displayed on their phone. That’s it.

And, because the QR refreshes after a short period of time, unauthorized key use is nonexistent. Although Edwards upgraded to digital keytags to increase efficiency, this unexpected benefit has paid off in nixing any screenshot sharing of memberships. 

Tangible Wellness

Chris Sheimann, owner of Tangible Wellness in Phoenix, Arizona, knew he had a key theft problem. He just had no idea of the scope of it before enlisting the use of digital keytags. The veteran gym owner runs a multi-service facility with ten subcontracted personal trainers, an onsite chiropractic service, red light therapy, tanning, cryotherapy and more. This active business sees more than 400 people per day.

The digital keytags were a service he added when signing up with Gym Insight in January 2022. 

Gym Insight’s digital keytags revealed one client sharing keys with six friends.

Sheimann suspected a few members were screen-shotting keys and handing them out to friends. After all, the external door controller system had no way to discern one key from another. Younger members, as well, were used to cheaper gyms, and believed paying more gave them the right to bring a friend.

But it was not until Sheimann caught an individual attempting to check in illegally that he realized the extent of his problem. A review of the client’s gym usage history and security camera data revealed this one client had shared a key with six people.

That day alone, four people exercised at his gym under one account. The member’s friends rotated workouts so their check-ins would correspond with shift changes.

Chris Sheimann

Eventually, Sheimann terminated about 20 individual accounts by switching to digital keytags. Because Gym Insight’s digital keytags scramble the old QR code and replace it shortly after use, clients are not able to share keys. Simple math suggests he may have had hundreds of unauthorized users in his gym each month! A staggering level of risk exposure for a privately held company. 

In addition, he’s found individuals don’t want to carry tags on their key rings or wait days to receive a key. The fully integrated web-based sign-up system and immediate key access fits perfectly into our contemporary “have it now” mentality, he said.

By culling unethical members and upgrading the sign-up/key distribution system, Sheimann has found it easier to run a complicated company – a definite plus for any owner. 

The future for the gym industry looks amazing!

Our customers realize what we already know – the fitness industry is thriving. Despite two years of incredible change, the gym industry is now growing at nearly 9 percent a year, with more than 64 million people regularly visiting a health club or fitness center. Oddly enough, though, only 34 percent of U.S. gym members are happy with the price/performance ratio offered by their facility.

That leaves a bundle of people grumbling about the price they’re paying for gym membership. Truly, most people are honest. If they believe a service costs too much, they’ll just switch. But a small percentage of gym goers are willing to take it to the limit – squeezing out all the value, legally or illegally.

This rare but persistent group frequently try to share gym memberships, swapping keys to ensure one monthly rate covers multiple people. In the past, this was a pretty easy trick to play on gym owners — just hand a friend the key for a couple of hours. Or, with the advent of key tags and traditional QR codes, screenshot the digital image and send it to that same friend. Presto – two, three, or six memberships for the price of one

Unfortunately, owners pay a steep price for this unethical behavior. Not only are these individuals consuming the gym’s amenities and putting additional strain on equipment, they are increasing the owner’s risk exposure.  As we discussed in our last post, if an unauthorized person gets injured on premise, your gym — and every manufacturer represented inside of it — are open to a lawsuit. 

Knowing who is in your gym at every moment is a fundamental responsibility of a business owner. With Gym Insight’s digital keytags, you live up to this expectation by eliminating the ability of customers to screenshot and share keys. The member would need to hand off their phone to a friend for several hours in order to dupe the system.

And how many people part with their phones now? Even for a few minutes? Almost no one. 

Congratulations, gym owners, on surviving the toughest years in history. Now, let’s discover how to take your business to the next level.

Gym Insight 

Discover the easiest-to-use member management and member billing solution available. Visit us today at www.gyminsight.com