Top 6 features to look for in a class management software

For class-based business owners managing daily operations like booking, scheduling, answering emails and chasing up payments can be a tedious task. Fortunately, with class management software like Udio, these tasks have just gotten so much easier.

But, what is class management software?

Class management software is a software application that is designed for lesson-based businesses and helps to reduce manual admin, optimise teacher-led classes and create a better experience for students and staff. It helps with day-to-day tasks, such as scheduling and booking classes, taking payments, analysing business data and answering email and phone queries.

Our clients say that Udio saves them around 8 hours of admin a week. That’s a whole day you will get back to spend where it matters most - with your customers.

Here are some key factors you should consider when selecting a class management software:

1. Ease of Use

Your staff can be quite reluctant to adopt a new system so make the transition as easy and smooth as possible for them. Ideally, the software should be intuitive and easy to navigate with a user-friendly interface.

“We found Udio to be simple to use and learn; our institute’s personnel rapidly learned how to use the program.”, says Surya, one of our long-time customers.

2. Scheduling and booking

The main reason for class management software is to save time. According to a survey conducted by us in September 2022, businesses like yours are spending on average 32% of their time booking or cancelling sessions for their customers.

At a minimum, your class management software should be able to create classes (and holiday programs if you run them), allocate instructors, set class capacity and view lesson attendance.

3. Reporting

What’s the point of having data if you either have no visibility or you have to go on an adventurous journey looking for it? Your class management software should provide full visibility and downloadable reports so you don’t need to spend hours upon hours collecting the data you’re after.

Ideally, you want to invest in a software that allows you to access reports at any time, automatically keeps them up-to-date and lets you filter each report for a more structured overview.

Reports are a great way to understand customer behaviour, reward returning customers and reach out to the ones who haven’t booked with you in a while. On top of key insights on your customers, real-time reports for billing and booking statistics can also help you identify strengths and areas for improvement.

In Udio, every single step of the way is tracked. From bookings to cancellations, fees, invoices and even emails. You can easily filter each report to get the exact data you need. We even have statistics available for you.

4. Communication

Just imagine one of your instructors calls in sick and you need to cancel a class. Now you are looking at either manually sending out emails to already booked-in customers or - even more time-consuming - you have to call every single one of them. With the right class management system you can automatically send an email or SMS to all participants in case a class is cancelled.

With Udio, you can either bulk send emails or set up events that trigger an email or SMS if that event occurs. For example, if a class is cancelled or moved to a different day, the booked-in customers will receive a text message without you having to do anything.

5. Automated payments

Manually collecting payments and creating invoices can be a pain and - of course - time-consuming. On average, it takes 11 minutes and $15 to create one invoice. Now multiply this by the number of customers you have - it’s a lot, right?

Give your customers the option to pay online and remove the inconvenience of queueing. Not only will this save you crucial time, but your customers will also thank you for not having to approve and manage every single transaction.

6. Customer / Parent portal

Providing access to an online portal allows your students or their parents to manage their own bookings and payments and - if you invest in a software like Udio - allows them to track their progress and achievements online.

Summary

First and foremost, a class management system has to fit your individual business needs - if your main time-waster is managing lessons, look into software that specialises in this area. Do your research and schedule demos or calls with shortlisted providers to understand if they tick all your boxes.

Remember to take ad-hoc costs into account, such as migration, set-up, support and training fees. Udio does this free of charge and supports you throughout your whole journey.

If you are looking for a software that fulfils all of the above, plus much more, schedule your free demo or consultation with us today!