Zen Planner

Excellent product with futures that are practical, easy to use, and visually appealing

Comentários: Endless , independence and function. Being a small business owner it allows me to run and automate many things such as financial reports, workouts, attendance. Reservation, automations of emails for customer retention , sales funnel , customer support, technically forward thingkong woth use of apps for iPad and iPhone to allow me to function on the run , away from the office, in the field, and manage coaches.

Vantagens:

I love zenplanner. They started out with few features and no apps but they promised to improve regularly and they deliver. In the short 4 years I have been using they have incorporated a staff app for the iPhone, a users app to reserve, keep track of workouts , PRs, billing and much more. an app for the front desk to use as checking in, reserving, adding new clients at ease. On each of these products they improve and incorporated new needed features faster than any software I have ever used. Their customer service is truly second to none. Helping you not only in the set up stage but anytime you need help and they work to resolve your problem immediately. The software not only is packed full of great functions for financial, workout writing and publishing, emailing automation, reports of attendance, finances , and mass email intervention but it does it with a sleek appearance that is not only visually appealing but with an easy of use that it's simple and powerful.

Desvantagens:

Software is still growing and some features , not many anymore, can be improved. This is truly the worse thing I can think off as I have tried many many others do never been so satisfied and impressed with them delivering a great product and on a regular bases truly adding features to improve it without making it more complicated for the user.

Zen Planner the Winner

Comentários: Ive been really enjoying my experience with the platform. I like the customer service. They are always very helpful and respond immediately. I really like the pricing. Its affordable and better than the competition.

Vantagens:

I love the functiality of the platform. I also enjoy the reports for financial reasons. I like the automated portion as well. The emails, and automatic responses.

Desvantagens:

I would like a real app for trainers. One with exercises and videos of excersis that can show clients how to perform the designated weight training program that the trainer makes for them.

Avoid Zen Planner - Glitchy software and unethical business practices

Comentários: Using Zen Planner became a highly negative experience as I was forced to face daily reminders of how ineffective it was. It cost me time, money, and lots of stress as a business owner. With the amount of negative reviews detailing similar experiences in recent years, I'm shocked they get any new customers at all. For now, they try to get every penny they can put of their longtime customers who are fleeing the platform by charging multiple different fees when you try to close your account.

Vantagens:

I liked Zen Planner when we started using it to manage our martial arts school in 2018. It was relatively low barrier to set up and simple enough to use at that time.

Desvantagens:

Zen Planner constantly develops new bugs and glitches in the software. The system is slow, crashes often, and critical components (like online registration) are constantly breaking down. They have terrible customer service and unethical charges when you finally try to leave.

Wanted to Like it more than I actually did

Comentários: I was excited to use the program while touring and testing it, but the program performed just under expectations on some features, and mediocre on the rest. I'm sure there have been updates to some of the program since we used it but friends of mine continued on it until this year and always complained about its limitations, so maybe not updated enough (?).

Vantagens:

Integrated a nice workout planner/calendar and timer for public display directly through the app. Good member profile management

Desvantagens:

We run both fitness and martial arts classes. We had to choose between the standard (martial arts) and the fitness-centered beta version but could not have both. This meant we could either have the cool features of the beta or rank management for the different martial arts programs

A must for managing martial arts studios

Comentários: 10/10 would recommend. We have had a great experience and enjoy using the software.

Vantagens:

We have been supported the entire way with their superior customer service. Everything from set up to troubleshooting tech issues, the staff at Zen Planner have been there to support and guide us in our day to day operations.

Desvantagens:

We had an issue with a tablet that wasn't able to be resolved. However we found a work around and now have no problems whatsoever!

Good software; Horrible back office customer service!

Comentários: ZP's back office customer service is horrible. In fact, "customer service is a misnomer; it is actually customer disservice. ZP's tech support is, from time to time, difficult to access by phone, but the tech support staff is excellent. Additionally, the software is highly evolved, fairly intuitive and reliable.

Vantagens:

Zen Planner has nearly all features we require to run our school of traditional Japanese karate, including payment processing, rank tracking, online store, class and event management.

Desvantagens:

We started with ZP in late 2023 and had fully migrated by March 2024. In December 2023, we decided to change banks and asked ZP and its payment processor, Gains, to do so. For four months, we've been waiting for them to resolve this issue, but they don't answer our emails and refuse to telephone us to make this simple back-office change. We are mystified and disappointed. So, we've let them know we'll leave ZP if they don't resolve this matter by May 1, 2024.

Zen Planner Review

Comentários: We've used it for almost ten years now and it has been very helpful for tracking membership data. It's not very intuitive and training new volunteers how to use it takes a while, but its working for what we need it to do.

Vantagens:

We can document the important most data from our membership.

Desvantagens:

It is not very flexible and report writing is very clumsy. There is a very bad bug with testing records that overwrites previous data with blanks if you not careful. This has lead to numerous problems and repeat data entry.

Easy to Navigate Interface but has occasional major crashing. No useful Tech Support

Comentários: From an employee's perspective, it seems to do what is needed with minimal issues. When issues do arise, you are basically on your own to troubleshoot or just have to wait until whatever network malfunctions subside.

Vantagens:

Zen Planner's interface was very easy to navigate. The network had minimal lag when it was functioning properly.

Desvantagens:

Sometimes the website would crash during critical processes such as signing up new members. I tried to contact support when the system was completely malfunctioning, and they were completely unhelpful and rushing to get me off the phone.

Terrible Customer Service / Worst Features and Updates

Comentários: Awful experience, please save your business and stay away from Zen Planner.

Vantagens:

Nothing, they caused us incredible stress whilst using this platform.

Desvantagens:

Terrible customer service, no loyalty, charged after cancelling subscription, deceitful about updates, not functional.

ZenPlanner Review

Comentários: Not the best. I have looked into other apps and am reviewing a change with the [sensitive content hidden].

Vantagens:

Downloadable info into spreadsheets. Being able to customize search queries.

Desvantagens:

App freezes and is inconsistent on a lot of features. Sometimes it works well, others it does not.

Good program

Comentários: pretty good app. Gets the job done. Would recommend

Vantagens:

Easy process to enter members. Gets the job done. Check in process is very easy

Desvantagens:

trouble shooting. When there are bugs in the system and merging

Great for Organization and Management

Comentários: Overall, Zen Planner was helpful for managing memberships and keeping things organized. It had great tools, but some features, like the mobile app timing out, could be improved to make the experience smoother.

Vantagens:

I loved how easy Zen Planner made it to manage memberships and track attendance. It saved us so much time and kept everything organized.

Desvantagens:

I didn’t like that the mobile app would close after just a few minutes of not using it.

Great app and easy to use

Comentários: Overall it's been one of the best scheduling apps I've used. Easy to use, and I would definitely recommend it

Vantagens:

Zen planner is easy to use, and has an intuitive interface

Desvantagens:

The design of Zen Planner is pretty straightforward, I can't think of any cons

Good for very simple gym businesses, bad for everything else.

Vantagens:

ZP lets us schedule and bill clients in one place. It spits out reasonably useful accounting summaries and can handle some email automations.

Desvantagens:

This software is the worst part of my job. Do not be fooled by their slick sales staff: this cannot perform most of the functions advertised. It can, but only in a perfect world where you gym runs exactly as ZP imagines it. In this imaginary perfect world, you'd need a team of administrators working full-time to keep your database up-to-date and functioning. Our gym runs about 250 sessions per week. That's either classes or PT. They're all different. ZP's workout builder does not work for this. We were spending ~3 hours per day inputting workouts. It could not scale. So now we do not track workouts in the software. We see 100 leads per week and run free trials to get them into the gym. ZP's various 'prospect' systems cannot handle this. They are not manipulatable enough to handle the different types of trials we'd like to offer. Doing so, again, would take a team of administrators. We now use a separate sales software for everyone on trial. ZP goes down most days for 1-2 hours. 5-6 days per week. Just no software to run the gym. No attendance tracked, no bills processed, no member questions answered. ZP's calendar never works on the first try. Literally. When I click on a staff member's calender I wait 15sec for the software to reload the full gym calendar with no changes. Then I click the staff member a second time, wait another 15sec, and only then am I rewarded with his/her calendar. With 28 staff this is not working.

Go elsewhere

Vantagens:

At first the software fit most criteria's that our business needed. They had great integration to our existing merchant. Great membership customization, billing, customizable charts, and belt promotion system.

Desvantagens:

Software had a bland, early 2000's look to it UI. Very outdated. Our member's portal lacked tons a features and many of our members disliked having to go into their app to setup or alter anything. Signing up a new student or trial lesson through the tablet was a mess. It lacks customization and the overall UI would not work well with our tablets. We reverted back to having our student's sign up on paper and later be added manually to the system through an administrator. Completely eliminating our paperless needs. I can keep going on about their very weak waiver system, email templates, customer support and lack of any regular updates, however, the overall reason we had to let go of the software as a whole was that they no longer supported our existing merchant. At the start of it all they were fine with us keeping our existing merchant. They charged a small $20/monthly fee for "maintenance" which I guess we were fine with paying. However, after a year or so of using we received a noticed that they were completely removing the option of us keeping our existing merchant unless we wanted to pay more than double our existing overall monthly bill. Not only were we not satisfied with the software, we were being charged more than double to keep it. Overall we would not recommend this software. It seems as if the team behind it has lost heart for the program and isn't keeping up with the competition.

Customer service is THE best

Comentários: Once you learn how to use the system, it's easy to charge people and view membership history. There are so many financial tools available and that side can get a little confusing (like narrowing down your quarterly taxes is a bit of a hassle). I have yet to find a product with better customer support. They always answer promptly and always have a solution.

Vantagens:

This software makes it easy to track membership history, but the BEST thing about Zen Planner is their customer service. They're friendly, they answer fast and they ALWAYS know how to fix an issue.

Desvantagens:

Zen Planner is quite an advanced system, so it is easy to get lost. Luckily, the customer service is always there to save you (except for holidays and off-hours of course). The app sometimes crashes. It could use an update.

[SENSITIVE CONTENT] at ZenPlanner is Top Notch

Vantagens:

The customer service is stellar. Everyone I've spoken to is smart, friendly and efficient. [SENSITIVE CONTENT] did our transition to GAINS payment processing and I couldn't have asked for more warm, knowledgeable and efficient support. Her follow-up with me has been outstanding.

Desvantagens:

It's not great for use with membership under 18; we do a lot of programming for children and need a way to have both parents as primary email contacts, need a way to communicate both with parents and with the 13-18 year old group. Grading (movement between programs and belt levels) is difficult.

Happy to be back!

Comentários: The reintroduction to Zen planner has been great. I'm learning new things and I'm excited about the dashboard that will show me exactly what's going on every day at first glance. It's exciting that I can customize it as well! I can't say enough good things about my onboarding coach. She was and continues to be amazing support with Zen Planner. I appreciate all of her patience and genuine interest in helping me utilize the software to its​ maximum potential for my business. I'm looking forward to growing with Zen Planner

Vantagens:

I left for about four years because I felt like the software was missing some integral parts for my business. Now I was needing something different and looked at Zen Planner again. The​ changes they have made over the past four years has been amazing. This is not a company that sits idle and is content with the status quo

Desvantagens:

The system is a little complex but I believe it's more to do with the novelty of it and all of its features.

Bad service

Comentários: After using their product for a couple of years and when covid forced our company to shutdown, they kept charging our business our monthly rate. After calling them to see if they would be kind enough to refund our payments they wouldn’t oblige nor would they freeze our account so I had to cancel our membership which was a big headache. I had to write a cancellation notice as well as call the different financial companies that had led our credit card transactions, etc. It’s u fortunate that after being a loyal client as well as referring a few of my colleagues to their business they would be compassionate enough to help our their clients with a small gesture.

Vantagens:

Data entry, membership retention, payment plan

Desvantagens:

Couldn’t refund client right away after credit card payment mistake. Had to call a different company that dealt with the credit card transaction.

Frustrating, super buggy, unfulfilled potential with good customer service

Vantagens:

The customer service reps are very nice and helpful. Unfortunately you will get to know them on a first name basis.

Desvantagens:

This is the buggiest software I have ever used. There is always something going on making what you can potentially do a hassle. It actually increases what you have to do relative to not being able to use the functionality and having to constantly call in to customer support. Not to mention having to put out fires with your members when the bugginess effects them.

Solid software, great support.

Comentários: Zen Planner takes care of our membership tracking, payments, scheduling. It can be a powerful tool if you know how to use it.

Vantagens:

We've used Zen Planner in our gym for six years, and it's been pretty uneventful overall - which is what you want with such software. It does its job with a minimum of drama. Any issues we've had have been dealt with in a timely fashion. We do not use the workout programming feature (we went with SugarWOD for that), so I can't comment on that particular feature.

Desvantagens:

Zen Planner is good about making constant improvements, but there have been some things over the years that are a bit clunky and not necessarily intuitive to use. It's likely a function of building incremental improvements into existing software rather than starting with a clean slate.

The best customer service crew on the planet!

Comentários: Every (and I mean EVERY) time I contact customer support, I am astounded at not only the response speed, but in the quality and thoroughness of the help I get. Their support techs are incredibly helpful and friendly. I am always blown away at the level of service and support I get from them.

Vantagens:

I like that it is very easy to set up and use. From the daily dashboard to the automated messages and prospect funnel, the system is set up to save time (and $$). The website integration is also very easy and I have yet to discover the limits of their robust reporting system.

Desvantagens:

That there is so much available that I probably only use a small percentage of its functionality.

Great Experience!

Comentários: I absolutely love Zen Planner Help Desk. They are the most patient and helpful people EVER. Never have I called and hung up without a solution to my issue. I wish I could have them for my daily life!

Vantagens:

It's simplicity. It's not overly complicated and buttons are easy to find.

Desvantagens:

Reports and the filters within it can be confusing; sometimes I'm not sure what terminology or keyword I need to use to produce a report I need - or if I'm supposed to use a whole number in a text box or spell it out...

Automizes your entire business

Comentários: More time to work on my business instead of in it.

Vantagens:

Price point, functionality (never had any down time in 5+ years), great customer support, options to customize the reports and functionalities specifically for how I choose to operate my business.

Tried the others, using Zen Planner

Comentários: Extremely positive.

Vantagens:

Extremely user friendly. I could figure out how it worked quite easily and i am not a tech Wiz which I found to be quite pleasing.

Desvantagens:

the common problems that happens with all of the software like it. when the whole system goes down. It is not unique to ZP it has happened with others as well.