How Panther Training Saved Hours on Admin and Streamlined Their Business with Xplor Studio

Success Stories

After using the Mindbody app for nearly four years, Claudia Gunter, co-founder and Principle owner of Panther Training, realized the not-so-user-friendly app took time away from her clients. The outdoor fitness trainer spent almost 20 hours per week on menial admin tasks the app was supposed to handle. Instead, she was forced to piece together various tools to complete backend tasks, provide training, and communicate with her clients.

“I had Mindbody for about 3 to 4 years, but it was very complicated and time-consuming. I’d ask myself, ‘Why am I spending 20 hours a week doing back office on this app when I need to be out?!’ I needed something quicker, easier, and more comprehensive. Then, I found Xplor Studio.”

Panther Training is an outdoor functional fitness and adventure services company founded by Claudia and her husband. They focus on training for outdoor physical activities and organizing outdoor trips such as climbing, kayaking and hiking for underserved groups in the Greater Chicago area. Panther Training provides training to all groups; from Panther Cubs, which is a program for small school-aged children, to seniors, and provides personal training for athletes, first responders and firefighters.

With Xplor Studio, Claudia cut back significantly on hours spent doing office work, provided a more efficient training experience to 1,000 clients using custom-made training videos, and now has more time to focus on organizing community outreach training events for people of the Greater Chicago and Cook County area.

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Making the Switch to Xplor Studio   

Initially, Claudia was nervous about making the switch because of the potential downtime businesses can face when migrating data to a new platform. Still, her previous software's lack of customer service pushed her to take the plunge. “It's really worth it vs. Mindbody. I could not find a live person to save my life.”

Xplor Studio made the switch smooth with white glove customer service readily available to guide her through every step, “The transition happened quickly, and I love the support I get. It could be 2 a.m., and customer support is there for me.’”

A significant reason for choosing Xplor Studio was to have a comprehensive software solution that offered a personal training module—the bread and butter of Panther Training. “The Xplor Studio personal training portal is really important. I like that I can create custom workouts… Our clients are addicted to going into [the portal] and seeing their workouts, and I'm able to throw their workouts in on the days we’re not together.”

After ditching their brick-and-mortar facility to make the great outdoors their gym, Panther Training needed a centralized location to share upcoming events and locations with all their clients—from grade school kids up to what Claudia likes to call “super seniors.” Studio’s seamless integration into her existing website allows her to post one schedule that her clients can easily access regardless of their tech-savviness.

With Xplor Studio, Claudia can keep track of her team, clients, billing, and scheduling all in one place. “The customer service basics, client communication options (like SMS and/or emails), managing finances, accounts receivable and payable billing, personal training, scheduling “FitTrips” and class scheduling should be quick and easy to do, which it is now!”

Claudia also loves being able to sell items through her Xplor Studio store, “I love the store! We use the store for our clients. They can buy gift certificates, Panther merch and gently used equipment at a discount. They love it!”

In the coming months, Panther Training plans on helping families improve their fitness and mental health by training and leading adventures in the great outdoors. With Xplor Studio, the future for Panther Training looks brighter than ever. “We have fun stuff coming up this summer for the kids. We've got a couple of retreats. It’s going to be hysterical; it's going to be fun.”

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