Northwest Family YMCA's objectives:

• Allow members to reserve class spots using SMS text-messaging
• Reduce time consuming phone-in class reservations
• Send class rosters to trainers using SMS text-messaging
• Create an intuitive interface for managing class scheduling & reservations
• Eliminate class over-bookings
• Reduce paper usage

Like most YMCAs, the Northwest Family Y allows members to reserve spots in many of their classes. However, the influx of reservation calls hindered the staff's ability to focus on their core responsibilities. They needed an application that allows members to reserve class spots via text message and also provides a smooth, easy way to manage reservation lists. Since the Northwest Family Y adopted Text My Spot, the number of members calling in to reserve class spots has been dramatically reduced. Members quickly adopted the text-messaging option to reserve their spots in classes. A custom web app was also developed that allows staff members to easily manage class scheduling and rosters.

The Results

The results were swift and dramatic . Within 4 weeks of implementation, class reservations via text-messaging were at 44%. After 8 weeks, they were at 62%. Now, with over 3 months of usage, around 70% of class reservations are being made using text-messaging.

Text My Spot allowed the Northwest Family Y to achieve all of their objectives by creating intuitive software, providing hands-on live support at the facility, and focusing development on the members' experience.

"Text My Spot has reduced errors in overbooking classes, eased the influx of calls to our welcome center and improved the reservation process for our members by making it quick, easy, and convenient."