Udio makes a splash for State Swim

State Swim runs a network of 13 swim schools across Western Australia (9), South Australia (2) and Victoria (2). Every week, more than 15,000 customers pass through the 13 sites, with some of State Swim’s larger facilities offering between 1,500 and 1,800 swimming classes a week.

State Swim began using Udio around four years ago, first rolling it out in Western Australia, before introducing it in State Swim’s South Australia and Victoria facilities.

State Swim Chief Operating Officer Ben Robertson says they were previously using a system that both staff and management found slow and cumbersome. They also found there wasn’t a lot of support when things went wrong.

They are now using Udio for bookings, reports, raising invoices and collecting payment, sales and stock control. Most recently, they implemented Udio’s account management function, which Ben describes as, “a huge step forward in customer-based interaction”.

Ben’s enthusiasm for Udio is shared by Sarah Adams, who manages State Swim’s two South Australian facilities.

Head in the clouds

Sarah rates Udio’s cloud-based solution over the local server approach of their previous system. As someone who manages two facilities and is often on the road, the ability to access the information she needs to make decisions from anywhere and at any time is incredibly important.

“The business we’re in isn’t static. It’s always changing. I need to see and respond to changes within the business quickly, and I can’t always be on site to do that.”

She estimates what now takes her half a day each fortnight would previously have taken her two days.

Ben, who also spends a lot of time on the road, says the cloud-based access is equally important in his role.

“Being able to see the same ‘live’ information that the managers of each facility are seeing while you speak to them on the phone makes everything easier and more efficient.”

Reporting for duty

The reporting, however, is the functionality Ben finds most useful in his role.

“Udio offers a great suite of reports. I’m able to customise existing reports to pull out the information I need and then export that to excel or email. The reporting is more accurate than anything we’ve used previously.”

He says he’s also been able to work with Udio to develop new reports, and found the team very responsive.

Stellar service

The responsiveness is a part of the customer service that both Ben and Sarah rate as another highlight of Udio.

“There were parts of our previous system that weren’t great and we’d provide feedback, but nothing would change. With Udio, there’s always someone there to help and, often, our feedback is implemented,” Ben says.

Sarah agrees.

“It’s really an evolving product. When they get a request, they look at whether it’s an issue other multi-sites might have and if it is, they look for a solution.

“I haven’t found the same level of after-sale support anywhere else previously.”

Both Sarah and Ben are equally as positive when asked whether they’d recommend Udio to other facilities.

“Definitely,” says Sarah.

“Absolutely. It’s made life easier, right across the board,” echoes Ben.