Introduction
In this article, you will find the information on how Freezes work. You will find here the detailed description of the most important options and fields that are available to be selected during Freeze configuration. If you do not know how to use a given Freeze feature, here, you can check its function and in some cases, example of usage.
Mind, it is not a practical instruction, but the feature description. Use this article as an explanation of the possibilities you have when configuring your Freezes.
- This article will help you understand the meaning of the fields you have to fill in during the Freeze configuration.
- This article will be helpful to PG Champion, Club Manager, Administrator and Club Owner.
Before you start
Read the below description to better understand what a Freeze and Freeze type is.
What is a Freeze?
Freeze or membership suspension, as it is also commonly known, is the process of temporarily stopping a members contract for a variety of reasons, mostly due to an injury, holiday, or pregnancy. Perfect Gym offers the Contract Freeze which enables a temporary suspension with variables such as minimum and maximum times, associated costs, impact on ongoing memberships, i.e. extension of contract end date. During a freeze period, a member will be unable to book classes, PT sessions, or attend the club, but the option to log in to their account on client-facing applications will remain available.
In this period of time, membership fees can be reduced, canceled, or remain as they are (and extend membership by the length of freeze without extra costs).
The system gives multiple methods of handling Freeze; with separate parameters becoming available dependent upon the member’s contract type. I.e. Upfront contract freezes may be connected to a fee, however, their contract end date will be extended.
What is a Freeze type?
It defines which Payment Plans give possibility to freeze a Contract. Here, you can decide if the Freeze will be free of charge or paid in advance. The Freeze fee can also be calculated as percentage of the Membership fee or become a one-time payment - Fixed fee.
During Freeze type configuration, you can choose from many different limitations, i.e.:
- Scope - day / month / week, minimum and maximum period of the Freeze.
I.e. selecting the day and choosing between 1 and 12 gives a possibility to freeze the Contract for 1 to 12 days.
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Usage limit - in the calendar year or in last 12 months.
I.e. entering 2 in one of the fields gives a possibility to use this Freeze type only 2 times in the calendar year or within the last 12 months.
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Payment Plans - you can select which Payment plan will give a possibility to use the specific Freeze type.
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Combine with freeze types - you can decide if a member should have a possibility to use different Freeze types under the same Contract.
I.e. when a member has already used one Freeze type allowing for Contract Freeze due to his/her injury, having selected this option, they will be allowed to use another Contract Freeze i.e. in case of holiday break.
If you don't use this option, after choosing this Freeze type, your club members will not be able to use other than this particular Freeze type during their whole Contract period.
Feature Description and Basic Instruction
In Perfect Gym, you have many options available when you create Freezes for your club members. You can choose from various options to find the best solution fit for your business. Depending on the options selected during set up, Freeze you offer to club members will bring different functional result and business outcome.
To make this easier for you, the Freeze configuration process has been divided into several steps:
1. Go to the PGM -> Sale -> Memberships -> Freeze types
2. In the right top corner, click on the Add new freeze type button to create a new Freeze.
3. In the New freeze type window, fill in the following fields:
- Name - enter the name of the Freeze.
- Active - tick this checkbox if you want this Freeze to be active.
There are two main ways of paying for the Freeze to configure. During basic Freeze configuration, we recommend to configure Interval payments only!
- Is Prepaid - This option is for advanced PG users only! Freeze has to be purchased in advance - the Product with Freeze service type must be assigned and sold to the member in order to use it.
- Interval payment - costs can be calculated as follows:
- Fee from payment plan - use this option if you have already set the Freeze fee during the Payment plan configuration. In this case, different Payment plans can have different fee for one Freeze type.
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Fixed fee - use this option if you want to define the same Freeze fee amount for every Payment Plan related to this Freeze type.
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Freeze interval - use this option if you want to define the same Freeze fee for every Interval.
- Interval fee percentage - use this option if you want the Freeze fee to be calculated as a percentage of the Interval fee.
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Free of charge - use this option if you want to give your members possibility to use Freezes without any additional payment.
Mind the fact that payment terms from freeze overrule payment terms from payment plan. Therefore, if you apply a free of charge freeze to a payment plan that charges for freeze, the customer will not be charged for freeze. This functionality derives from the fact that a need for free of charge freeze may arise after a payment plan has been created.
- Administration fee - use this option if you want to charge your members with a one-time payment required during adding the Freeze to the Member Profile.
As described in the Freeze Type description above, there are many usage limitations that can be configured. Select one of these 3 usage limits:
- Usage limit in a calendar year - decide how many times the member can use the chosen Freeze type in the calendar year.
- Usage limit in last 12 month - decide how many times the member can use the chosen Freeze type within 12 months.
- Usage limit per contract - decide how many times the member can use the chosen Freeze type usage under the same Contract.
As described in the Freeze Type description above, select the Scope and Minimum and Maximum period:
- Scope - select days, weeks or months.
Depending on your business model and club policy, you can give your club members the possibility to add Freezes in a more flexible way, i.e. by creating a Freeze with a daily scope which can be used several times. You can also decide on more strict rules by using monthly or weekly scopes.
- Minimum period - enter the minimum intervals of the chosen scope.
- Maximum period - enter the maximum intervals of the chosen scope.
Select the following options if you want to add limitations in connection with the Freeze application:
- First freeze application - decide after how many Months or Intervals from the Contract start date the member will be able to use the Freeze.
- The latest date for freeze application in period - decide when at latest the member has to inform the club about the Freeze.
- Day of month - select this option to define the last day of the month until which the member has to inform the club about the Freeze. I.e. entering 25 means that the member has to inform the club until 25th day of a given month.
- Days before Interval end - select this option to define the numer of days before the Interval end date until which the member has to inform the club about the Freeze. I.e. entering 5 means that the member has to inform the club until 5 days before the end of the Interval. Setting: Allow freeze start only on payment date must be ticked for this setting to function correctly.
- Payment plans - decide which Payment Plan will allow for a given Freeze type. Select the given Payment plan from the predefined list. Here, you can select more than one Payment plan.
- All current and future payment plans - tick this checkbox if you want to add the Freeze type to all your current and future Payment plans.
- Clubs - decide in which clubs the Freeze type will be available.
- All current and future clubs - tick this checkbox if you want this Freeze type to be available in all your current and future clubs.
- Valid for periods - decide when the Freeze type will be available for your club members to purchase, or available in a free of charge form.
- Click on the Add new record button. Select the period in the calendar - From and Until fields. Click on the blue tick Insert icon to confirm your choice.
- Combine with freeze types - when using multiple Freeze types on one Contract, you can chose which Freeze types can be used together as different Freezes. Select one given Freeze from the predefined list and click on the Assign button. Repeat this process with all Freeze types you want to add.
- Only for chosen employee roles - tick this checkbox if you want to grant the access to the Freeze type visibility to a specific role, i.e. Club Manager. In this case, roles other than this specific one will not be able to see this Freeze type configuration options.
- Only for chosen sources - select the modules where the Freeze type should be available for purchase, i.e. Client Portal, PGM, or POSweb.
Settings
- Move contract end and commitment date - use this option if you want to extend the Contract end date / Commitment date on the number of days under this Freeze.
I.e. when you freeze the Contract for 15 days, the Contract will end 15 days after its initial end date.
- Keep charging for contract and extend it for free - use this option if you want to charge the member during the Freeze and extend the Contract for the same number of days, for free.
This option cannot be combined with any other option except for Move contract end and commitment date. When selecting Keep charging for contract and extend it for free and Move contract end and commitment date, only end date will change (commitment date will not change).
- Move contract recurring payment date - use this option if you want to move the Contract payment date for the number of days under this Freeze.
When selecting Payment interval occurs on contract start day option in Payment plan configuration, changes are visible after irregular freeze periods instantly.
When selecting Payment interval occurs on selected day - to move the payment date the freeze period must cover the full interval. The first freezing interval must be paid (added days will offset the fee).
This option cannot be combined with Allow freeze during pro-rata period option
- Do not prorate membership fee - use this option if you want only the Freeze fee to be added to the member transaction.
- Allow freeze start only on payment date - use this option if you want to give your members possibility to freeze their Contracts only on the Contract payment date.
This option is disabled for month scope
- Allow freeze during pro-rata period - use this option if you want to give your members possibility to freeze their Contracts during the pro rata period.
- Set the date of payment to date of freeze creation - use this option if you want to charge the Freeze fee on the day of its creation, which means when the Freeze will be added to the member's Contract.
4. Click on the Insert button to save the configuration.
Hints
Now, you may want to learn the description all of the features of the Freeze type module. Go to this article for more information. Having done that, you can continue with the practical instructions on Contract Freeze creation, depending of the Payment Plan Type and other characteristics, i.e. Single Contract Freeze vs Mass Contract Freeze, or Free-of-charge Freeze vs Paid Freeze.