What do people care most about with online sports registration software?

August 31st, 2010

What do people care most about with online sports registration software; surprisingly the answer is… REPORTING.

We were stunned. While people love:

  1. Lowest overall cost
  2. Great personal support
  3. Easy to use but powerful
  4. No contracts
  5. Your money in your bank account

The thing that they hate most about online sports registration software from companies OTHER THAN Bonzi is that reporting is a nightmare.

See, most online sports registration software usually has a few canned (pre-packaged) reports with no or little flexibility for change or customization.

Say you want to report all of the players in a league who are members of a certain grade school so you can let them know about a special event in your sport that will be happening near their school. In many online sports registration software packages you’ll have to let all players who are in grade school,  regardless of the specific school, know about the event despite the fact that the information will be of no use to most of those getting the message.

In Bonzi you could either select the group you wanted and email them all from the system or you could build a customer report with a few clicks and print the report out so someone could call them all on the phone.

The bottom line with reporting for online sports registration software when you use Bonzi is that if you can dream up the report and you have the data in the system… you can build the report no matter how unusual it may be; there are literally no limits to reporting with Bonzi online sports registration software!

Impact; It’s The Difference You Can Count On In Your Next Youth Sports Software

August 11th, 2010

Impact; let’s face it, it’s what we want when we take an action in life.

When we choose something to add or subtract from our life we are hoping that we get an impact we both want and can feel. Is there anything more frustrating than to take an action that requires effort, risk, time, money, and political capital and either have nothing discernible happen or have something we don’t want happen?

When choosing youth sports software it is all too easy to not only not get what you wanted but to also be locked in to what you don’t want for years. The consequence of a bad choice in youth sports software can be deep frustration, wasted time, wasted money and heavy political cost to say nothing of compromised relationships.

Why are these consequences so high? For starters almost all youth sports software companies want to lock you in. They do this with auto-renewing long term contracts, no guarantees that what they promise is what they’ll deliver, and the most insidious is that they doubly lock up your data; you can’t export it and you can’t even report it in the ways your situation demands.

Bonzi youth sports software takes a different approach to all this:

  1. No contracts!
  2. Your full satisfaction is guaranteed
  3. Your data is never locked up
  4. If you can dream up a report you can have it; instantly
  5. Impact

The key to the list above is #5: impact. Our theory at Bonzi is that if you get the desired impact today and every day from Bonzi’s Youth Sports Software that nothing else will matter. For over ten years 100% of Bonzi’s thousands of customers has gotten the impact they came for every month, every year. They must have because not one of them has been locked into a contract and could have left at a moments notice.

The consequences of a bad choice in youth sports software is, we think you’ll agree, very high; you don’t get the impact you wanted and you are now locked in for years to come. The consequence of choosing Bonzi is that either you’ll get the impact you sought or you’ll be free to make a different choice.

In this nation we are a bit short on trust these days. We are short on trust because many feel that they have been burned over and over again; think oil spills, Wall Street, health insurance, and any of the hundreds of other pain points that seem to pop up every day. The big issue seems to be when people or youth sports software companies want you to give them your trust instead of earning it. At Bonzi we just want the chance to earn your trust… and re-earn that trust every 30 days for ever.

Just imagine if your car company said “if we ever let you down you can bring the car back and stop making the payments immediately”. What if your employer said “if we don’t keep our promises to you we’ll step down and you can get a new manager or management team in here tomorrow”. In essence that is what Bonzi says every day to each of our thousands of customers. And, knock-on-wood, nobody has ever said “get lost”.

You see Bonzi is willing to take the consequences if we don’t give you the impact you were seeking when you signed up unlike most of our competitors who rely upon contracts and lousy software to lock you in.

So it’s you choice; do you want a youth sports software company who is willing to immediately accept the consequences if they don’t achieve the impact you were looking for or do you want to “trust” a story from a company that is so un-confident in their ability to give you the impact you seek that they have to lock you in with an auto-renew contract to keep you from seeking alternatives?

Why New League Scheduling Software Is Your Best Bet!

July 29th, 2010

Technology associated with league scheduling software is continuously changing at warp speed. What might have been tolerable software two years ago, might now be considered league scheduling software from the stone age.

One company, for example, calls themselves the “undisputed leader” in league scheduling software and yet they can only schedule groups of 40 teams. Additionally, their solution requires a separate module for tournaments and it appears that none of this is fully integrated with other typical sports software functions.

The key is to find a league scheduling software that meets your needs today and that has a commitment behind it to steadily improve and stay current with today’s industry standards.

One way to do this, while not perfect, is to simply seek out the league scheduling software that has most recently been brought to market or has most recently been updated.

The more important way is to write out your “must have” criteria for league scheduling software and then to have all providers go on the record with how they can meet your requirements.

Sports Scheduling Software – Like “Dirty Harry” said… do you feel lucky?

July 28th, 2010

Labels can deceive. There are pedestrian bridges over small creeks and then there is the Golden Gate Bridge; both called bridges but oh so very, very different.

If you choose your sports scheduling software based upon the label “sports scheduling software” and look no deeper we suggest that you might want to borrow Dirty Harry’s line from the famous movie scene and ask yourself if you feel lucky. Will you get the capabilities in sports scheduling software that you and your organization really need? Unless you are a very small organization, going by the label alone will almost certainly leave you so disappointed that you’ll likely need to bolt on a separate, costly and often difficult to use stand alone sports scheduling software.

With Bonzi you can get both the best sports software in the world, according to nearly everyone who has ever gotten a demo, AND you can get what is easily the most convenient and powerful sports scheduling software all nicely integrated and ready to roll… or you can risk being deeply disappointed. So, “Do You Feel Lucky”?

Details on New Sports Scheduling Software from Bonzi

July 21st, 2010

As many of you know, we at Bonzi have been working on a  new online sports scheduling software enhancement to our core sports registration platform for the last few months.  This product is based upon our powerful sports scheduling software desktop application and gives you the same scheduling power online that it does on the desktop…only it’s easier, faster and offers more benefits:

  • Schedule games instantly!
  • Teams already in the system  automatically show up when you go to schedule games.
  • The scheduler actually does the schedule work for you, unlike most of your alternatives . . . it doesn’t just pair your games and leave you to assign the date, time and location.
  • All locations across schedules and between events will be managed for conflicts when games are created.
  • Easy drag and drop game edit features let’s you know exactly where you can schedule or move games.
  • Unschedule games for a location that’s rained out, and automatically re-schedule with one click.
  • Set team conflicts so teams don’t play at the same time and allow travel time for those teams between games.
  • Add home preference game sites for teams and times when they can or cannot play.
  • All games publish to your web site AND to your team web pages automatically.
  • Choose to allow your coaches to enter game scores OR you can enter game scores yourself.
  • Standings calculate in real-time as soon as the scores are entered.

The new scheduler is scheduled for BETA release the week of July 26, 2010.  More upgrades to this great new product are scheduled after its full release.

Our next newsletter will have a “sneak peek” video of the new online scheduler so you can see how it might work for your organization.

Are you ready to step-up to a truly modern sports scheduling software and leave the whip and buggy days behind? If so give Ricky Aker a call today and book your time for a demo: 503-620-6661 X224

Sports Schedule Software and Crocodile Dundee – That’s Not a Knife… This Is Sports Schedule Software!

July 19th, 2010

The scene in Crocodile Dundee is famous… three punks threaten with a small knife and expect Crocodile Dundee to hand over his wallet. Dundee’s date suggests he give the punks the wallet because they have a “knife”. Dundee counters saying “that’s not a knife, this is a knife” as he draws a huge knife from his belt. So what’s that go to do with sports schedule software?

Almost everyone claims to have “sports schedule software” but often it seems that this claim is either in name only or just for those with fairly modest demands. Before I go on let’s get a peek at the clip from the wonderful movie “Crocodile Dundee”:

Real sports schedule software in our book, like many of the goodies that  Bonzi sports software offers, is unlimited. If you look beyond the label of “sports schedule software” you may find that what others in the sports software industry call sports schedule software is akin to what the punk in the video clip above calls a “knife”. We’d like to suggest that the Bonzi sports schedule software is like Crocodile Dundee’s knife and the rest of the industry is running around sporting the kind of sports schedule software akin to the punk’s “knife”.

Are you really confident that for your club, today and tomorrow, your current sports schedule software can really handle the job without forcing compromises and artificial limits? Maybe you already know the answer, and the answer is that you know what you have today can’t perform so you’ve gone to a separate package to get the job done. Either way we suspect you’ll love and enjoy the typical Bonzi ease-of-use and the typical Bonzi power in our version of sports schedule software integrated with our sports registration, team websites all-in-one sports software.

It is a shame that not all sports scheduling software is created equal, but the fact is that some are better than others. In this critical area we’d like to ask you to give Ricky Aker a call and see for yourself just how different the Bonzi sports scheduling software really is from the rest of the pack. Ricky may be reached at 503-620-6661 X224

Are You Going Up The Sports Team Software Escalator?

July 14th, 2010

Are you going up the sports team software escalator?

Believe it or not, most clubs, teams, leagues or other sports organizations are going up the sports team software escalator one way or the other. Here is what I mean…

Like some credit card companies, many sports team software companies offer you a “low introductory price” to make it easy to get started. Some even make it “free” to get started. But its not too long before you discover that you are on the sports team software cost escalator. The old saying is that if you toss a frog in boiling water he’ll jump out, but if you put him into a pot starting with cold water and gradually raise the temperature the frog will stay until he croaks. Sadly, that can happen to any of us with sports team software for sports registration, sports websites, and sports scheduling.

There are a number of ways that this can happen. The first is that they just tell you that your fee will be $2 year one, $5 year two and $8 year three for each registration. They may also tell you that your credit card fee will be 3% year one, 5% year two and 8% or more year three for each registration. The theory is that nobody will care on an individual basis and they might be right. The problem is that this kind of arrangement can suck a huge amount of money out of your organization and your players that you just didn’t need to spend on sports team software and that you could have spent instead on scholarships or some other worthwhile investment.

The second way that you can ride the sports team software escalator is by getting “nickeled and dimed” with cost for more storage, costs for more band width, costs to email as often as you need and costs to turn off the unrelenting ads to your organization. Finally, you may be going up the true cost escalator simply because you don’t have a way to do fund raising because the fine print gives the proceeds to your software provider and not your club so that they can support your “free” or low cost sports team software.

At Bonzi we promise that you’ll always enjoy the lowest overall cost, the best support, the easiest to use software, the most powerful and compatible software, unlimited storage and email, no contracts and your money in your bank account every day. At Bonzi sports team software you’ll never be on the sports team software escalator.

What Puts The Team in Sports Team Software?

July 13th, 2010

Team is a term that is thrown around so loosely that you’d think all you have to do to get a team together is to just say the word “team” and voila, you’d have a team… whatever that is.

When you search “team” on the www.amazon.com website in the books category you get approximately 172,000 results returned; obviously the world struggles with “team” otherwise why all the darn books?

So just what does put the team into sports team software? In my observation it’s when two conditions are met: 1) everyone has a shared goal that excites each and every person and 2) all proposed members of the team believe, to some degree, that achievement of that goal is possible … even if it’s not precisely probable.

What we’ve found is that if you got those two things going for you, you can skip all 172,000+ of the books, the seminars, and all the other whoo-haa about teams… because you will have a team. See, what we’ve found, and your mileage may vary, is that when you have a goal that everyone shares, is excited about it and believes that it is possible to achieve even if it might be hard work… then a team naturally and easily forms; that’s what puts the team in sports team software.

There is, of course, a bit more to the software part of the story. The one major threat to a team is a lack of communication. The Bonzi sports team software makes it a breeze to communicate with one or many teams, one or many team members and allows you to do so impromptu, automatically or both.

The bottom line is that as a leader it’s really you that put’s the “team” in sports team software. Yeah, Bonzi is here to help you keep the “team” in sports team software but only you can get it there to start.

league software – Just What Does Bonzi Offer?

July 8th, 2010
Online Registration & Management Software
Registration Process
Bonzi league software offers, according to our clients who have used virtually every alternative league software, the easiest  to use and most comprehensive Registration Process.
Player and Team Registration
You can register players, teams, parents and referees.  Once registered, any of the data can be edited by authorized volunteers and board members.  There are multiple levels of registration so you can allow authorization limits appropriate to a volunteer’s job.
Automated Schedule and Scheduling Management
Online Web Based Schedule Creation & Management
You will be able to quickly and easily generate a centralized online schedule that can organize and optimize any size league, club or organization. The schedule will be visible to parents, players and coaches when they login to the system from any internet connected computer. Any change to the schedule will be automatically updated for all users.
Games & Referees Scheduling
You can automatically generate a game schedule for all sports and little leagues. After configuration, your volunteers, administrators and board members can easily generate schedules by division or level in a few minutes.
League Volunteer Registration & Scheduling
Parents can register their children or players 24 hours a day and seven days a week; whenever it is convenient for them.
Rain Out / Reschedule Tool Emailer
Schedule changes, including cancellations and rescheduling, are a breeze with Bonzi league software. The players, parents and coaches impacted will be automatically emailed the change and given the new game information (time and location).
Automated Broadcast Email – Unlimited, free and effective
Email Players and Parents by Level, Team, and Season
You will be able to quickly and efficiently create a group to send broadcast emails to your Parents based on their level, team, season, or their answer to a custom field question.
Secure Administrative League Access
Administrative Access can be give by Menu, Access Level, and League
We put the power in your hands to give volunteers just the level of authorization they need to do their job and no more.
Secure Portal for Parent, Players, and Coaches
Secure Login for Parents and Coaches to view Roster and Schedule
Parents can login to get secure access to the rosters, schedules, photo galleries and the ability to edit their contact information: Address, Phone and Email Address.
Secure Portal for Coaches
Coaches can log in and enter Game Scores, Player Stats, Player Evaluations, and Email their team. They can also update the contact information for their players and parents if changes occur after initial registration.
Parent Portal provides secure access to their children’s information
When parents log in, they get access to their children’s data and their children’s data only including their roster, schedule, and team photo gallery.
Customizable Registration Process & Online Fee Collection
Add Steps, Text, and Custom Fields
You can fully customize your registration to fit any need. You can add custom fields to do, among many things, collect volunteer signups, jersey size, coach signup, residency, or any data you would like to collect for players, parents, and coaches.
Customizable Fee Collection
The fee structure allows you to give family or quantity discounts and to collect residency fees, sponsorship fees, payment schedule or any other payment arrangement to meet your needs.
Secure Credit Cards Processing
Your own merchant account – No fees added on
No worries if  the thought of setting up a merchant account gives you a headache; we will set you up with your own merchant account. We do not charge extra processing fees in addition to your merchant. The best part is our merchant account vendor provides the service to you for the lowest fee we have ever heard of… it is very, very low.
Content Management Software
Edit Your League’s Website – No HTML
With a simple to use content management editor, your authorized board members and volunteers will be able to easily and intuitively add, edit, and delete web pages with no or little knowledge of HTML. This drag and drop system goes well beyond most content management systems on the market in terms of its ease of use and speed of results not to mention how much money it can save you.
Unlimited Years and Seasons of History
Lookup and Email Previous Year and Seasons
We keep unlimited number of years of your history so looking back and see anything you want from previously collected data.

Finally, Bonzi is the most constantly updated and modern league software on the market.

Finally, our dedicated support staff will get you up and running quickly and painlessly, no matter what your technical skill might be. These patient and helpful people have done this thousands of times and love to help volunteers, parents and administrators actually have fun with the process.

When we are done with the setup, we will import your data and get you ready to register.

Take the Bonzi Challenge!

That which doesn’t kill you often makes you stronger

July 7th, 2010

Then again, sometimes it does or at least seems like it “kills” you.

So what does this have to do with sports software, soccer software, football sports software, volleyball software and so on? At Bonzi sports software we’ve been tested over the last decade by clients who run some of the largest and most complex sports organizations in the country. We’ve been tested by volunteers and parents who are software experts. We’ve even been tested by very small clients. The win is that with each sport, each part of the country and each new test we feel like we get better and our sports registration, website and scheduling software gets better.

When you have it easy in your life you often have no real reason to grow, improve and test your limits. We like to say that our most demanding customers – some would say the biggest pain-in-the-neck customers – are our very best clients in terms of making us better. Why? Because they are brave enough to stand up for what they want and to communicate it to us.

Sports software that serves tens of thousands of people every hour of every day is complex stuff. Add to that this software must be constantly updated to stay aligned with new browsers, new operating systems, new requirements and innovations and you could go crazy just trying to figure out what to do next. That’s where our customers help us out.

In our observation when people share their concerns, desires, wants and needs with us they are doing a number of good things:

  1. We’ve learned that behind every concern, desire, want and need is a value of some sort. By expressing those concerns, desires, wants and needs we can get a better idea of what our customers values are. We are confident that if we the people of Bonzi and our sports software are aligned and stay aligned with our customers that we will be one of the fastest  growing sports software companies in the world.
  2. We get a chance to find out if those concerns, desires, wants and needs are for action or if they are just blowing off a little steam and don’t actually want us to do anything or if they do want action. Nobody has enough money, not even Microsoft, to blindly respond to every request. Just simply listening to our clients view of sports software goes a very long way. What’s even better is when we just ask “what action would you like us to take”?
  3. We learned that customers who are willing to share their concerns, desires, wants and needs are usually not the kind of customer who abandons you every time a new shiny toy comes out from a competitor.

No, all this listening is not always fun… but it sure is productive. We love it when people say things like “Wow, you took care of that request fast – my old sports software provider basically charged us more, barely listened and never took any action to address our concerns.”

So what doesn’t kill us does seem to make us stronger. Got a concern, complaint or a suggestion; please let us know. After all, if it doesn’t kill us it will make us better.