Many sports clubs use inappropriate ways to collect their fees and timely payments. There are still too many clubs that charge their members by hand, with credit cards, bank transfers or direct debit payments. We bring you payment methods that will help you speed up this work.
Four common payment methods in sports clubs
Charging by hand or charging by credit card or debit card can be very time consuming. Even when the collections are done very occasionally. Think about all the logistics you have to set up to collect all your club payments by hand. And imagine doing it on a recurring basis, every month!
Direct debit is an effective solution for regular payments that do not vary. But it is only a viable option if your club is very small, and you are able to be on top of all the payments. You have to make sure that your members schedule the direct debit, and then verify them one by one at the bank or on your bank’s online platform.
Bank transfers offer temporary flexibility. But we are in the same. It is necessary to make sure that each member has paid the amount that corresponds to him / her within the specified deadlines. Having to review transfers one by one. Also, for being a time-consuming solution for the club, it doesn’t offer many benefits to members either. In many cases, the commissions they have to pay are abusive.
To help you understand why Esportter is the appropriate form of payment in your sports club , we have compiled three questions you should ask yourself.
1- DO YOU NEED ALL MEMBERS TO PAY YOU IN ADVANCE?
a) Yes, I need my athletes to pay in advance
You can ask your members to pay you in advance by hand, by check, credit or debit card, or, for the most modern, by bank transfer. However, as we mentioned earlier, being behind people to collect can be a ordeal. We all come to mind that member of the club who, no matter how hard they insist, still does not advance the money for the trip or the order of clothes. What do we do? Will we call you back? Do we advance your money? Always the same tune … If we make an exception for him, we should make it for everyone, right?
If you need all your members to pay in advance, but it is impossible for them to do so due to cash problems or any other reason, another alternative is to use some factoring company. These companies allow members pay monthly, while they give you all the money in advance. Normally, the commission is usually around 6% of the total.
Another very feasible alternative can be to use an automatic payment method such as Esportter . Not only do you avoid having to wait for people to show up to pay us by hand, card or check, but it also allows you to set up recurring charges.
For example, you can collect the annual or monthly fee automatically on the selected date, without having to be aware that each member actually pays us.
It is a way to improve the service to your members, increasing loyalty and making them stay in the club for longer. Oddly enough, in many cases members stop paying a club membership fee for all the complications that the payment process brings. If it were easy, they wouldn’t care so much, take it for granted.
Be careful! It also significantly saves management time for the person in charge of the club.
b) I do not need my athletes to pay in advance
If it is not essential to have to charge your members the full amount in advance, consider allowing them to split their payments. Letting them pay their debts on a quarterly, monthly or even weekly basis through a method Automatic payment such as Esportter can bring unimaginable value to your club.
In this way you will make the fee more affordable for your members . Indirectly, the number of members of your club will grow, thanks to the fact that you offer a service that other clubs cannot offer.
Even though it is not widespread practice, being able to make exceptions for some members offers you flexibility. The last thing we want is for a member who is overworked to pay the membership fee to leave the club for financial reasons.
But remember, you also have to take into account the time you spend on each task in your club. Managing these types of specific situations can become a real concern.
2- DO YOU USUALLY MAKE POINT COLLECTS AT THE CLUB FOR TRAVEL, CLOTHING OR OTHER CLUB ACTIVITIES?
a) Yes, I usually require them to make one-time payments.
Normally, clubs have a fixed fee, and if there are variations, they use alternatives such as collections by hand or one-off transfers (in any direction, from club to member and from member to club) It is a waste of time and a great effort to have to manage every small change in the fees or punctual collection that is made in the clubs.
An alternative is Continuous Payment Card Authorizations (Continuous Payment Authority in English). These payments are charged directly to the member’s credit or debit card once they authorize us. In contrast, the commissions are usually quite high, hovering around 4% -5% plus a monthly fee. In addition, it is not a very widespread practice, and having to explain how to do it can take more time than charging it directly by hand.
If members have to pay for any type of one-off activity, or if the fees vary throughout the year, you can schedule specific collections and create different payment categories with Esportter paying a much lower commission than with Continuous Card Payment Authorizations.
And most importantly, without having to be behind your members day in and day out.
b) I don’t usually require them to make one-time payments.
If the only charges you make at the club are recurring and regular payments , direct debit could be a good option for you. However, keep in mind that members will remain responsible for all procedures to set up direct debit. So you are at the expense of actually doing it, and once again, you have to be behind them . In addition, it is likely that, due to ignorance, more than one member has complications to indicate the authorization of the direct debit of said receipts.
Unless you have a very small number of members that does not take so much time, you will probably prefer to consider a type of automatic collection like Esportter . The member adds the account number only once, and the amount indicated is automatically charged periodically
The club may at any time disregard the entire payment process, receiving alerts if there is a problem as a return. This process makes it easier for both members and the club itself.
3- HOW MANY MEMBERS DO YOU HAVE IN THE CLUB?
a) My club has less than 50 members
If you are a small club or you only have one team, direct debit may be a feasible solution. The costs are very low, even zero, although you will have to be aware of payments proactively so that you do not miss any.
b) My club has more than 50 members
If your club exceeds the 50-member barrier, the direct debit option is less attractive. With them you will not know if the payments have been configured or if any of the payments have been canceled. You have to manually review them one by one , and, with so many members, this task can get very tedious. In addition, you run the risk of cancellations, with their consequent bank charge as a penalty.
With the automatic payment settings you are automatically notified in case there is a failure with the payments. You will know when you have been paid and when you have not, without the need to constantly review your bank statements. You can also set up automatic reminders for all those members who have not paid within a certain period of days. This way, you’ll be “on top of them”, without really having to be.
THE BEST ALTERNATIVE? THE ONE THAT VALUES YOUR TIME
In short, from Esportter we suggest that to streamline the management of fee collections and punctual payments, you use an appropriate platform for this. You may have to pay a commission, but the time wasted in managing all those payments over and over again, has a much higher value to what is usually paid to these platforms.
In addition, in some of them, as in the case of Esportter , you are allowed to pass on the commission to the member. In this way, the club can choose not to assume any cost, and it is the member who has to pay a little more. If, on the contrary, the club wants to assume this extra cost to offer the best of services to its members, Esportter also allows it.
Here we leave you a series of tricks so that you save money in your sports club . Join the digital transformation of sports clubs and don’t let the traditional way of doing daily tasks stagnate you and keep you from moving forward. Learn more about our solutions to manage your club’s payments: Playoff and Clupik
