Client: Jungle Bus Gymnastics of Tampa Bay Florida

www.thejunglebus.com

Jungle Bus, serving the Tampa Bay area in Florida for 17 years, takes gymnastics classes to childcare centers using a school bus that owner Leigh Bruce -- or Ms. Leigh" as she is known by her students -- has converted into an air-conditioned gym. Her mobile gymnastic studio, with padded floors and walls, is full of preschool gymnastics equipment, including monkey bars, balance beams, mini-trampoline, zip line and much more. Students jump aboard the parked Jungle Bus to attend classes, including basic gymnastics, motor skill development, coordination, strength, and flexibility training.

The Need:

Two years ago, as her business expanded, Ms. Leigh was trying to use QuickBooks to manage her business financials. "That worked okay when we were small," she says. But when her business grew to 500-plus customers, the bookwork became a nightmare, taking an ever larger chunk of her time with each passing month. "We were there to teach students, but were spending way too much time managing the business instead. We needed a way for parents to log on and do the 'paperwork' themselves."

If I ever have a question, I get a person on the phone. For someone who is not a PC person, that is valuable. I'm big on customer service, and I like that ClassJuggler is too.

Ms. Leigh researched for a better solution online -- one that would significantly reduce her bookkeeping time and that would support her needs as the owner of a dance studio. She happened upon ClassJuggler, and then called ClassJuggler owner Jon Koerber directly with her questions. "He took the time to answer clearly."

The Solution: ClassJuggler

Ms. Leigh signed up with ClassJuggler, and hasn't looked back. "With ClassJuggler, we can now let our customers pay by credit card and review their statements -- in our first year with ClassJuggler, it's already dramatically simplified the business of running the business." Ms. Leigh has found ClassJuggler to be user friendly, which she values because, "I'm a coach, not a computer person."

After her first time using ClassJuggler to facilitate her regular August/September signup rush, Ms. Leah marveled at the difference. "Before ClassJuggler, getting everyone into the system for the school year was a deal, backlogging us with bookwork into November. Not with ClassJuggler -- that backlog is gone."

And the regular work of finances has changed for Jungle Bus too: "ClassJuggler has allowed us to put our focus back on the children. It used to take up to two full days each month to do billing and mailing. Now it takes 19 minutes a month! I give myself an hour, but now I just hit that button and fire off the invoices -- drastically better.

What's made the difference for Jungle Bus is largely the Customer Portal. As Ms. Leigh points out, "Parents love it; they can look back and see their history of service and billing: where their account stands, what they owe. They love being able to do it themselves."

Parents love [the Customer Portal]; they can look back and see their history of service and billing: where their account stands, what they owe. They love being able to do it themselves.

Some of what Ms. Leigh appreciates about ClassJuggler was a surprise. "What drew us was the billing convenience, but I've come to love ClassJuggler's e-mail tools. For example, I can choose a specific class and send an e-mail to just those students, instead of manually making an e-mail list. On a recent bad weather day, I sent an instant e-mail to just the affected students, and it's instantaneous, rather than me calling them as I've often done in the past." By her own calculations, to send out an e-mail to that one class of 25 students took less than five minutes. "In the past," she adds, "it took two or three hours to do the same by calling and voice mail and individual e-mails!"

Ms. Leigh's employees appreciate ClassJuggler's flexibility too. "We had a laugh recently when we discovered that all three of us used entirely different ways to manage the school year changes in ClassJuggler -- how we found the class lists and reports. That's just how flexible and user-friendly it is; we could each use the method that worked best for us."

The billing system remains Ms. Leigh's favorite feature. "The amount of time it saves you as a business owner is phenomenal. You can be so much more thorough, and yet the billing process will be easier and faster than ever before."

The amount of time it saves you as a business owner is phenomenal. You can be so much more thorough, and yet the billing process will be easier and faster than ever before.

"Unlike QuickBooks," she adds, "ClassJuggler is based around my kind of business. For instance, the customer is the parent and the child is a student, which simplifies bookkeeping when you have multiple kids in one family. That system logic makes me be better at customer service too; when I'm talking with a parent about their child, the brother's or sister's name pops up, allowing me to talk with them as a family."

One of the first things that attracted Ms. Leigh to ClassJuggler has remained a big value for her: customer service. "If I ever have a question, I get a person on the phone. For someone who is not a PC person, that is valuable. I'm big on customer service, and I like that ClassJuggler is too."

If you're in the Tampa Bay area and want to learn more about Jungle Bus, contact them at 727-773-1287.

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