vCita Review - Client Management for Personal Trainers

I spent an unnecessary amount of time looking for a client management system that has the right features and functions. It turns out that there are loads out there that include client management, online payments, assessment reporting, iPad/mobile access and even your own websites!

To be honest it was a bit frustrating as I had spent most of my time dodging free trials and being infuriated by the lack of price visibility.

Worst of all, when I thought about whether I would use any of these pieces of software with their Swiss-army-knife functionality, I realised it was highly unlikely. I don't need another calendar, I need something that syncs with my existing calendar. I don't need assessment reporting, I write that sh*t down because I don't have time to load an app between or during clients.

All I need, as a personal trainer, to manage my clients is a system that syncronises with my phone calendar or just emails me when a client books in, a place for clients to book in when I'm busy with other clients, a simple dashboard where I can arrange sessions and send clients notes, reschedule, ask them to reschedule and possibly take some online payments.

I finally found one that not only fits my needs but also works alongside my fitness marketing strategy. It's called vCita and this is everything you need to know.

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Features of vCita

Pro-Active Contact Form

vCita actively approaches website visitors with an invitation to contact you, leave their details with you or set a meeting. You can even add the contact form to your Facebook page and have clients book in for appointments from their Facebook Account! Actively engaging leads has been shown to produce twice as many contact requests than regular contact forms.

Active engage appears on every page and is set to pop up at intervals depending on visitor interaction. The active engage form is not only revolutionary in it's design and requires absolutely no programming knowledge but it is also completely customisable to your website. Me likey!

Not only does it engage new clients but it also creates a portal for existing clients to sign in book sessions and make payments with you. Clients can even share documents with you should you choose to send them their physical activity readiness forms online! This is a new feature since writing my first vCita review!

Instant Scheduler

The vCita Active Engage and contact forms offer instant scheduling options no matter where you are or what you're doing. Your clients will simply be presented with the services you provide and have the option to book in at a time that suits them.

You are then sent an email with a meeting request and you choose to accept, reject, offer an alternative time or ask the client to offer an alternative time. Choose whether to meet via video call or a meeting place of your choice. You can also have multiple accounts for each of your staff members!

This is great for both face to face clients and online clients. It eliminates the possibility of confusion as both you and the client have to agree on a time.

Collect Payments

Everyone finds it a little bit awkward to give or ask for money. This is especially true in the health and fitness industry where a personalized service is essential for improving referral rates. With Vcita you can simply send payment requests online and sit tight while the money rolls in.

Client Management

With vCita's simple online dashboard it becomes extremely simple to manage your clients. Your dashboard will tell you which clients are next, who has contacted you and alert you to anything that requires action. You can also view each clients' history and rest assured that you will never lose any data.

All you need is a PayPal account and don't forget to add the 2.9% fee to your prices. You don't want to be losing out on money.

You can also send payment request, meeting requests and view analytics about how many times your contact form has been engaged and how many people have viewed your widgets.

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vCita - Weaknesses

It's starting to look like this software is all singing and dancing so before I start to sound like a vCita employee, here's the nasty.

vCita don't currently accept multiple bookings for one slot. This renders the technology useless for those who run boot camps and group training. I've scoured their forums, particularly the "request a feature" forum and it seems as though vCita have this in the pipeline.

The last issue I have and it's not that major, is that vCita isn't exactly mobile friendly to the PT. It's great for your clients, as I'll explain below, but it gets quite tricky having to zoom in and out while accepting appointments. If vCita had an app I think they would be a force to be reckoned with.

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vCita - Strengths

vCita is actually a contact management system for websites that turns out to have everything I was looking for in a personal trainer client management system; online scheduling, calendar synchronicity, online payments and a simple dashboard.

Not only that but it has a very simple to implement an Active Engage form that pops up on your website and encourages leads to contact you (see the Let's Talk tab at the bottom of my site.).

It takes payments and sends invoices. It looks good and is personally brand-able. Best of all, it is polite to clients and simple to use. Even my technologically challenged clients are using it.

There are a few ways to use vCita that make it a little bit awesome. You can embed a form within your existing website, add a calendar with your availability on to your website, add a smaller widget to your site and use the Active Engage tab at the bottom of your site.

No matter where the client or lead clicks, it will bring up a professional looking form where clients can either book in or get in touch. Every session request comes to your email and you can either accept, reject, ask the client to reschedule or offer another time yourself.

When your client wants to book in for a session they are presented with an online booking calendar. From there they can choose up to 3 slots. This is sent to your email for you to choose whether to accept or reject them.

You can also use vCita without a website or keep it completely separate from your existing site. It will literally just become online booking system that looks good and takes payments. You can put the address on business cards and leads are sent to a professional looking website with all of your details and the info you choose to put on there.

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The Verdict​

Let me be clear: vCita isn't specifically for PT's. It's just an awesome client management system that slots nicely in to an existing personal trainer business.

Whether you run your own business, you're a health blogger, you are a consultant, a coach, a physiotherapist, a massage therapist, a medical professional, or a service provider of any kind, vCita is the right solution for online scheduling, adding contacts and managing customers.

If you like this review of vCita and want to give it a go then you're in luck! I will be teaming up with vCita to bring you what is in my opinion, the best client management system for personal trainers without the hefty price tags. In the meantime, check out their full list of features here.