ZenSports launched its Membership Pass & Reservation software in December 2018, and we initially brought on board 3 pool rooms in San Francisco to use our app to drive more revenue for their businesses. One of those pool rooms is Family Billiards. This is the story of how they more than doubled their membership pass revenue and reduced administrative overhead in just 2 months by using ZenSports.

About Family Billiards

Family Billiards is a 17 table pool room in the heart of San Francisco’s Richmond district. They are open everyday from 11:30am — 2:00am (until 4:00am on Fridays and Saturdays) and offer a menu consisting of sandwiches, fried food, beer, and non-alcoholic drinks. On average, they host anywhere between 50–100 customers a day, including those who have a ZenSports membership pass. Family Billiards also hosts APA/BCA weekly pool leagues (Monday/Thursday) and 2 weekly evening tournaments (Tuesday/Wednesday).

Implementing ZenSports

Like most sports facilities, Family Billiards didn’t have much of a Membership Pass program prior to using ZenSports. They were previously managing their memberships via pen and paper, only offered a daytime pass, and only offered passes that were valid from the 1st-30th of each month. Prior to implementing ZenSports, they were generating about $3,000/month in Membership Pass revenue.

With ZenSports help, Family Billiards expanded their Membership Pass offering to include nighttimes, anytime but Fri/Sat nights, and even anytime passes that can literally be used by players anytime, all of which are at higher price points than their daytime passes. In addition, ZenSports’ technology gave Family Billiards the capability to not just do monthly passes, but also weekly passes (ZenSports offers daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly pricing capabilities).

Because everything is automated through ZenSports, players can purchase a membership pass on any day of the month (not just the 1st), as well as set up recurring payments right from their phone. ZenSports provides automated notifications to facility employees when players purchase passes, along with information about which players have active/expired passes, when those passes are valid from, etc. And all of this is done from the convenience of a smart phone or tablet that the facility and its employees can view at anytime.

Unlike most other sports facility software that only gives the facility employees visibility into what’s going on, ZenSports also is a consumer-facing app as well. Which means players and customers can use ZenSports to view which facilities in their area offer Membership Passes and Reservations, as well as purchase a pass anytime, anywhere, right from their phone with their credit card. Because players can set up their pass payments to be recurring, this has helped Family Billiards generate recurring, predictable revenue each week and month.

In just 2 months, Family went from $3,000/month in Membership Pass revenue to over $7,000/month, all while creating a better experience for their players and reducing administrative overhead.

In Their Own Words, Q&A with Renee Mata, General Manager at Family Billiards:

What were some of the challenges that Family Billiards faced in managing its membership pass and reservation program prior to implementing ZenSports?

There were a lot of limitations to the prior method. Only offering a daytime option alienated those who weren’t able to come in during those hours and those who worked during those times. It also discouraged customers from buying a pass if they knew they were going on vacation, weren’t going to be able to play for most of the month, or had their work schedules changed that could no longer benefit from the membership hours we had to offer. But we had to have it this way because we didn’t have the capabilities to manage a program with more flexible offerings since we were managing everything via pen and paper.

What have been some of the tangible results that Family Billiards has seen since implementing ZenSports?

There is a much better even distribution of when members come in to play. This has resulted in members always being able to get a table or even get the specific table that they want to play on. Family Billiards used to seem very slow after 5pm when all the members used to shuffle out (because their Daytime pass would end at 5pm), but with members now being able to choose Nighttime and Anytime passes that work around their schedule, there is always someone here at whatever time. On our busier nights, in my opinion, I feel when people walk by and notice people are playing it somehow creates a demand that brings in more people. People being here makes other people want to be here. There has resulted not only in an increase in our membership pass revenue, but also our food and drink tabs.

How do your customers feel about using ZenSports, and what has their experience been like?

The impression that I receive from customers is that they really enjoy the convenience and flexibility from the ZenSports passes. I feel like they are being rewarded for their loyalty to our pool hall, giving them the option to play when they can play rather than the hours that have been set forth for some time. For the ones who have been here from the beginning and have switched over, they are happy with what is offered and the options they have available to them. The recurring payments, quick customer service response, and a friendly easy to navigate user interface really make a big difference and just makes a lot of sense.

Ready to start making more money for your sports facility? Click the link below to send us your information. We’ll get your business set up with ZenSports, and help you take your revenue to the next level!

CLICK HERE to learn more and submit your info