Many organizations are undoubtedly familiar with the challenges related to managing, coordinating and scheduling private lessons. SmartRec's activities, facilities and staff scheduling modules work in tandem to display accurate, real-time private lesson availability without administrator intervention.
Easy-to-use template to create and sell your private lessons in your SmartRec store;
Link customized registration forms to get the information you need;
Update private lesson availability based on staff and facility availability;
Give clients 100% mobile freedom to search and register for private lessons;
Minimize no-shows with calendar notifications to instructor(s) and participant(s).
Getting Started
A little setup goes a long way! Ensure your private lessons offer accurate availability by reviewing this checklist:
Staff profiles and availability are defined in the Staff Management tab.
Facilities are created and opening hours are specified in the Facilities tab.
Facilities and Staff are assigned to activities in the Activities tab.
How it Works
1. Create a New Private Lesson
Private lessons are created via the Activities > Private Lessons subtab. They are located in a section apart from the rest of your activities in your SmartRec store:
Name and Description: This is visible to your clients in your store.
Help us get a better idea of what you're offering by defining your lesson category. If you can't find what you're looking for, simply click on a category and a box will appear allowing you to suggest a new category.
Who can teach this private lesson?: Assign your staff member(s). If you assign multiple staff, it means one or the other is available (they won't be teaching the class together). The schedule for your private lesson is automatically generated based on the staff's availability and that of the facility attached.
Where can this private lesson be taught?: Assign one or more facilities. If multiple facilities are assigned and are located at different addresses, clients can choose which location they prefer.
Tags: Tags are keywords that help clients find what they're looking for.
Display: Make your private lesson visible or hidden to participants in the store.
Forms: Choose an existing form or create a new one. If no form is chosen, participants will simply confirm their address information when registering.
Buffer after booking: You can add a buffer between each private lesson. For example, if each private lesson is 1 hour, there will be x time inserted in between each private lesson to allow your staff to prepare for the lesson.
Notice before booking: The minimum amount of time in advance that the lesson must be booked.
How far in advance can participant book: How early a participant can book a lesson.
Payment: Define the cost of the private lesson per unit of time. Assign a ledger code, configure taxes and which method of payment is accepted.
2. How Private Lessons use Staff and Facility Availability
The schedule for a private lesson is automatically generated based on the availability of the staff member and facility assigned to it. If a staff member is hosting an activity or a facility is reserved, they will not be available for a private lesson.
👉 If a holiday is scheduled in the Account > Calendar subtab, no private lessons will be bookable on that date.
Below, a client can book a private lesson on Nov 27th at 3:00 PM and/or 4:00 PM.
Dates with availability are labeled with a green dot.
The assigned staff's availability shows they are available to work at this time and are not booked in another activity or private lesson.
The facility where the private lesson is taking place is also available at this time. It has not been reserved for another activity or private lesson.
Staff and the facility must be free in order to display a private lesson availability.
To rely on the accuracy of your private lesson availability, it's important to assign your staff members and facilities to the rest of your activities in the Activities tab.
👉 If you prefer managing your private lessons manually, create them as drop-ins in the Activity > Edit subtab. However, you will be responsible for building the schedule and ensuring your staff and facility are available.
🏢 Suggested Facility Setup
Understanding how Parent and Child facilities work will ensure your private lesson availability displays as expected.
A Parent location is the main facility, which can be divided into parts (Child facilities). When a parent location is booked, it reserves all the Child facilities within it. A building can be divided into rooms, each of which can be reserved independently. If the entire building is booked, all Child facilities are automatically booked as well.
A Child facility is a part of the parent location. When booked, only that portion of the main facility (Parent location) is in use. For example, one room (child facility) within a building is reserved. All other rooms (child facilities) are available.
Assuming your private lessons don't have a designated room and just require some space, here's an example of how you can set up your facilities:
1. Add your Parent facility.
2. Add your Child facilities (break down your Parent facility/location).
3. Add Child facilities designated for private lessons. In terms of how many to create, think about how many private lessons you can offer while your facilities are in use.
When assigning facilities to your activities, keep in mind:
Don't assign the Parent Facility unless there's an activity that uses the whole location.
Assign your regular group activities to the appropriate Child facility (ex: Main Gym).
Assign a Private Lesson facility to your private lesson.
3. How do Clients Purchase Private Lessons?
Participants can register by clicking on the designated Private Lessons tab in your SmartRec store. Admins can book private lessons on behalf of their clients by following the same process.
All visible private lessons are displayed on the main page.
Click on the > icon to select the private lesson.
Choose an instructor (if more than one is assigned to the private lesson).
If assigned facilities have differing locations, choose a location to view its availability.
Dates with availability are identified with a green dot. Choose a date and time to register.
The class, instructor, location, time and price are displayed. Choose a participant to enroll.
Checkout or Continue shopping to return the main store page.
🎫 Purchase with a Multipass
Clients can easily enroll in private lessons using a Multipass or Family Multipass.
In the Memberships > MultiPass subtab, create a new Multipass or edit an existing one.
Scroll down to the Activities section and add the eligible private lessons.
A client's Multipass must have private lessons enabled in order to enroll with their Multipass.
Clients can see when a Multipass is eligible for private lessons:
By clicking the + icon, clients can view the list of eligible lessons.
They must first purchase the Multipass and proceed through checkout before it can be used to enroll in a private lesson.
Once purchased, clients can click to Reserve their spot immediately, which redirects them the front page of the store.
If a client has an eligible Multipass, a remaining pass will automatically be used.
If a client does not have a Multipass, they will pay as usual.
👉 Discounts are now available with Private lessons. If you are interested in this feature, contact the Customer Care team at: support@amilia.com.
Most discounts (except Multi-person and Multi-person (multi-discount)) can be applied to Private lessons at checkout. Multipasses aren’t eligible for automatic discounts.
How to cancel a private lesson
To cancel a private lesson, an admin with the right permissions must cancel the invoice in the client's billing. It's not possible to replace a private lesson.
Clients are not able to cancel a private lesson themselves. It must be an admin.
4. Calendar Updates
SmartRec keeps everyone updated when booking private lessons!
Participants and assigned staff receive a calendar invitation;
Staff can view their updated schedules using the Amilia app;
Facility calendars automatically update in the Facilities > Calendar subtab;
Staff schedules automatically update in the Staff Management > Schedule subtab.