Direct Debit for Personal Trainers
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Direct Debit for Personal Trainers
With the average personal trainer working over 12 hours a day and up to 7 days a week just to see clients, the life of a personal trainer is a busy one. Add in all the administrative tasks that come with owning your own small business and you’ve got yourself a hectic work schedule. That’s why, if you’re a personal trainer, you need an automated payment system that works as hard as you do. In particular, finding a payment system that offers direct debit for personal trainers can be a lifesaver. Biz Core offers personal trainers a way to take automatic payments and manage their business so that they can spend less time on tedious admin work and more time on what they love!
How to take payments as a personal trainer
When considering the best payment methods for personal trainers, it’s important to look at options that are convenient, secure, and easy to use. Direct debit ticks all these boxes and can help your small business to succeed.
How direct debit works
Direct debit works by transferring funds straight from a customer’s bank account into a merchant’s account. Direct debits come out on an agreed upon date and are frequently used for recurring payments.
Why direct debit?
We know direct debit is a popular payment method for many different types of businesses and industries, but why is direct debit such a great payment option for personal trainers?
It’s a safe payment method
In 2020, Australians lost over $851 million in scams and one of the most affected areas was health. Now more than ever, Australians are focused on keeping safe from fraud. This is why direct debit is such a great option for clients. For businesses to make and collect direct debit payments in Australia, they must be approved as a direct entry user by a financial institution. A direct debit authority form is also required to set up any direct debits. This makes direct debit one of the safest payment methods available.
Helps to grow your client base
There’s no question that happy customers make the best advertisers. This is because word of mouth is powerful with approximately 92% of customers believing recommendations made by family and friends. And in the world of personal training, word of mouth is one of the most successful ways to build a client base. Using a secure and reliable payment method, like direct debit, can help keep your customers happy so that they spread the good word about your business.
Increases member retention
Expired credit and debit cards and forgotten invoices can be a killer for retaining members. But with direct debit, you no longer have to hassle your customers when they forget to pay or update their credit card.
Reduces your admin load
Manually sending invoices, payments reminders, and processing payments can be time consuming. With direct debit, you can set up automatic payments and skip these laborious manual processes. The less administrative work you have to do, the more time you can devote to your clients and to growing your business.
Direct debit vs credit card
While customers can still opt to pay with a credit card, direct debit is a far superior payment method for membership-based businesses like personal training. Direct debit allows you to set up recurring payments and avoid missed or late payments that can cause distress for both you and your customers.
With Biz Core’s versatile payment processing platform, our system allows customers to pay using their credit card, debit card, and direct debit so you’ll never miss a payment opportunity.
How to encourage your customers to choose direct debit
As a business owner, you know the benefits of direct debit. But sometimes customers can be hesitant to make the change to recurring payments. Offering incentives can help convince customers to make the switch. You may like to try:
- Discounts, either on services or products
- The first month free
- Competitions for customers who switch to direct debit
- Waiving admin fees
Go further with Biz Core
Helping everyday people to become their healthiest selves and live their best lives is an important job–and a hectic one! Many people don’t realise that in addition to focusing on fitness, nutrition, and healthcare, personal trainers battle through the same woes as any other small business. That’s where Biz Core shines. Biz Core is more than a direct debit payment system–it’s also a complete business solution.
Biz Core’s payment processing platform for sports clubs and personal trainers also allows you to:
- Log, store, and manage customer information
- Monitor payment histories, successful payments, failed payments, and overdue accounts
- Automated receipts, reminders and notices
- Reporting capabilities and dashboards so you can see how your business is performing at a glance
- Record and track customer interactions
With these key features at your disposal, you can leave administrative woes behind and focus on what matters most, growing your business!
FAQs
How do I get customers to pay by direct debit?
Offering incentives is a great way to encourage customers to pay via direct debit. Popular incentives include:
Offering small discounts on products or services for direct debit customers.
Offer the first month free.
Rewards cards.
Waiving admin fees.
Offer a once-off charitable donation for every customer who chooses to pay via direct debit.
How do direct debit payments work?
A direct debit is an authorised automatic transaction that transfers funds from a customer's bank account, rather than their debit or credit card, to a merchant's account. Direct debits are often used for recurring scheduled payments, though they can also be used for one-off payments.
Once you and the customer have agreed on the amount to be debited and the payment schedule, your customer will need to provide you with their BSB and account number. The customer will also need to complete a direct debit authority form. Then, once the form is signed, the customer’s account will be debited according to the amount and schedule agreed upon.
What is a membership payments system?
A membership payment system combines the ability to process payments and manage customer information simultaneously. Payments are often made by credit card, debit card or direct debit, and are often recurring at scheduled intervals. A membership payment system can also accommodate once-off payments.
What are examples of recurring payments?
There are a wide range of recurring payments that businesses use, common examples include:
Membership fees
Phone bills
Utility bills
Subscriptions
Donations
Can anybody set up a direct debit?
Any organisation can set up a direct debit as long as the customer has authorised the Direct Debit Instruction. With a direct debit payment processing solution like Biz Core, all you have to do is enter in the payer details and set the payment schedule. We then send out the direct debit authority form. Once confirmed by the customer, the direct debit payments are automated.