PerfectMind Software

I like the fact that I don't have to enter dates too often.

Pros

I like the fact that it repeats itself. I don't have to waste time on entering same information.

Cons

That when it does not work it does not work.

overall experience is ok

Pros

It seems applicable to a Recreation Center and it is customizable

Cons

The glitches and support are not good and some of the processes are too lengthy and not customer service friendly

The software is helpful and user friendly. However it is a bit time-consuming.

Pros

The presentation and cleanliness helps visually and functionally. The options to change and customize uses and permissions is also an advantage.

Cons

Time consuming and multi-step processes that slow down customer service efficiency. It would be be helpful if there the software could assume steps or jump through hoops initially.

Overall I think I would recommend a different software or think it would have been beneficial to try a different software. Not sure I would recommend it. I am getting the job done, but as I said it has been frustrating with all the changes that occur. My terminal has been down for over a month. Sorry but this is ridiculous. A work order has been put in and it's in the works, but that is way too long.

Pros

I use Perfect Mind everyday. The program alone is not too hard to learn so I have caught on quickly. Overall it works for my job.

Cons

Seems like with the system being somewhat new, there have been ALOT of kinks being worked out slowly. Seems like when one this is fixed, it screws up several other things in the system. There have been days the system has been down and this is crucial to my job. Also seems like things are changing constantly with the software. As soon as I get used to something working out great, something else changes for the bad. It's been very frustrating.

Pros

Easy to learn and use the features.
Point of sale system beneficial to everyday use.
Great online system for customer use, updates quickly.

Cons

Terminology hard to grasp at first.
Locations are hard to use and tie to activities.
Customer support not always efficient of helpful.
Levels of access for employees sometimes confusing to determine.

I just don't think PerfectMind suits our needs as much as we had hoped. Though easy to use, it is plodding and slow, and software errors abound with each update.

Pros

Easily navigated with little experience.

Cons

Too many "OK" buttons! It takes 15 screens to do anything!

Before we switched to PerfectMind we had a 20 yr old software system. Switching to PerfectMing was an eye opening experience. We have had our issues and troubles with PerfectMind but I think overall it's a good product.

Pros

PerfectMind is very user friendly and easy to navigate the system.

Cons

We have had so many bugs and glitches from the updates or hot fixes. I feel like if there is a hot fix for one things then the next day we will have about 3 or 4 other issues related to the hot fix.

It is nice having a system that covers everything that parks and recreation has to deal with. I just wish they were more proactive in developing systems that work off of each other and not independently.

Pros

Looks professional. Easy to add new clients and accounts. Reservations are fairly easy. Quite a few options are available. Integrated email a nice feature. Different payment plans a nice feature.

Cons

Many systems don't work well together. Trying to put together reports that display the information you want can be a challenge. Report building offers many options but not the ones you need. Random bugs are an issue. Each update seems to fix one thing but break another.

Horrible.
and i am not exaggerating in any way.
If you are a business owner and want the following iofo at your fingertips, like accurate student counts, who is paying what and who didnt pay, and finally what can i expect to bill next month based on my active students.........
then dont bother buying this hunk of junk

Pros

At first it was fine, the attendance and categorization was adequate

Cons

I asked for a simple answer to a question.
How many students do I have that are active and paying. This could not be done at a glance because it was combining FROZEN non paying students. This eluded them. I was told to manually subtract them and recalculate.....duh
then i wanted to know the names of all the monthly paying students, and status of their monthly payments each month. could not be dont without creating a new report, and that also needed to be cross refrenced with at least 3 othewr reports. INSANE
this is supposed to save time and energy, not turn me into a computer programmer.

testing paramaters dont work at all. total joke. dont use them

An easy, effective, and accurate means of managing all components of our organization: properties, facility rentals, programs, POS etc. We have been extremely happy with the product overall. The willingness to fix issues and experiences when they do arise, is what makes PerfectMind the perfect fit for our organization. The implementation specialists go the extra mile to ensure customer satisfaction!

Pros

We use this software as our main operating system for our organization. After exploring several options, PerfectMind was selected for it's user friendly interface, reasonable pricing, and features. The implementation process was very comprehensive with support only a phone call or email away at all times. Challenges did arise and sometimes work-arounds needed to be implemented; however our PerfectMind implementation specialist was also able to find a workable solution. Our frontline team learned the system very easily and has enjoyed the transition. Our customers have also indicated that it is very user-friendly and ease to navigate.

Cons

Creating work-arounds for some functions isn't ideal; however no software will meet every single need of an organization.

We have a software that encompasses retail, inventory, program registration, facility booking (with dependencies,) event rentals, membership, online and mobile booking, ticketing, accounting information, ability to merge documents, marketing tools, and reporting.

Pros

Our business doesn't have to mold around a software, with PerfectMind we can now run our business the way we want. To have such a scalable software has given our staff to increase business and create new revenue streams.

Cons

Don't migrate from old software...go in clean. There will be many efficiencies created, however, keep expectations to staff and minimal as implementation and training has to be considered for delivery.

Pros

PerfectMind is very easy to use and has a ton of customizable features such as custom databases. The possibilities are endless!

Cons

While I love the complexity of the software, it did take some who are not great with technology a bit longer to learn, however, once they got used to it they loved it!

For the purposes of my tasks with my organization, it suited my needs just fine. However, if I was the owner of the studio, I would look elsewhere for a more streamlined experience for a more business oriented software.

Pros

It was fairly user friendly and the interface was clean and simple. I was able to run simple commands of the database and manipulate the data as needed to make it useful for me. Information was also fairly simple to find as well.

Cons

I found that this software lead to a decrease in productivity due to the number of clicks required. I found it confounding that while information was easy to find for people in the database, it required so many clicks and a redirection to send an email to that very same person. Furthermore, the layout of the student information/demographics was a bit messy in that there were a lot of extra fields that were unused. One byproduct of this feature was that users of the system were using these blank fields for all types of misc information, which made the student information hard to sort through.

Ability to keep customer base organized

Pros

Organization and layout of the customer page is great. Ability to change and edit products and services is great. Billing is easy and efficient. I like to have the ability or organize my customer base by any one of the various options.

Cons

I don't like the mr. Marketer emails sent out without me having much control over content. I find the emails go out to customers and I need to be able to select specific groups of customers to send this too.

I have used this software for a few years now. At first it seemed like a god send, but the constant 'upgrades' have ended up with a patchy end result that fails to deliver. It's a shame.
It may be ok if you have a smaller business that is not too complex but I have found it beyond frustrating.

If you love outside the US it is frustrating as you have to work out your pre-tax price manually for every new product or service you enter and then the pre-tax price will display online. The booking widget only works with custom calendars, however custom calendars won't work with student retention statistics or exam updates. The other back end book me page won't display correctly on phones and tablets. And students have a horrible experience booking anything having to click through 3 pages for each booking.
To cancel a booking, student's only option is to reply to an RSVP email and then it doesn't remove them from the class, you have too, and then it doesn't add people from the wait list.
It seems like it will do a lot but in reality it feels glitchy, and broken.
Customer service is fast to respond but have to escalate most things to the 'development team' which sees few results.

I have been with them for 10 years and the software and value continues to grow. It's an all-in-one management software to help you with contact management, email, billing, reports and much more.

Pros

Easy to use, internet based. Allows you to analyze your business, get goals and grow. Constantly providing updates and listening to customer feedback.

Cons

Some features don't work well with Apple computers. Other features can still be added to make it even better.

Advice to Others

Great company, good people. Best martial arts software out there.

I have used PerfectMind for the last 3.5 years and have utilized it in a number of different ways in my business. It helps to keep things organized and has made systemizing business processes much easier.

Pros

Has many fields and levels of functionality that I can utilize.

Cons

Some software objects don't link with one another so sometimes you are not able to run a specific report or workflow that I want to do.

The software seems very promising at first and the features, if working properly, would be a dream come true. I found there were several way to complete the same task, but all with different levels of data entry- why not one place where you can do it all? Some data entry was repetitive and took too many clicks for something simple. I was never able to manage family accounts properly, had several instances where the site would freeze upon class check-in when I needed it most, newsletters and e-mails erased because of a system glitch, and reports were also more complicated than necessary and I often couldn't find the report I wanted, but a million others. Also, you can't use the browser back button and instead end up having a handful of tabs open to navigate the system. I spent a LOT of time trying to make the system work, and gave up after a month and a half because it was hindering my productivity. I was very hopeful about the system, but execution was atrocious. I gave consistent feedback to the always friendly staff, but it never seemed to be acknowledged. It seemed to me like a big company that failed to provide their staff with the necessary tools to do their job and service their customers. As I just came from living and doing business in Brazil where customer service is non-existent, it took quite a bit for me to be this disappointed in their level of service.

Pros

The features are awesome in theory, but don't function like the should. Customer service agents were consistently nice, but there is VERY obviously a lack of communication within the company. Training was thorough. Interface is nice, but not always efficient. Option to enter basic operating expense was a nice feature I haven't seen in other programs. I would recommend adding tips throughout the system for suggestions on how to use certain fields. There were a handful that I had no clue what their purpose was. Overall speed of system was good, except on days when it chose to freeze upon check-in.

Cons

Seems glitchy at times, but not a deal breaker. Sometimes the help section videos are not the same interface as the actual software. Billing is a NIGHTMARE. After nearly two months of trying to get set up, I was repeatedly asked for personal information without clearly being told how it was being used, when I finally received a merchant contract I read it (because I'd already lacked confidence in their services and felt like I was getting into something not good) and the company was unable to and eventually refused to answer my questions. Without signing the contract, I was opened with 2 merchant accounts on-line, one of which neither Perfect Mind or EVO billing services could tell me what it was. After making a request to retract my application and refusing to sign the contract yet again, I was billed for their services and given a hard time when I requested to 'cancel' the service I never accepted, and was actually told twice I was denied the account in the first place- this in the midst of others asking me to sign the contract. I tried using the software with a separate merchant account because I was hopeful I would eventually get the hang of it, but it proved to be inefficient and takes away a lot of the value of the system.

Advice to Others

If Perfect Mind had different merchant services and had better communication within their company I would have stuck with them and done my best to learn the system. Nothing could've been done to keep me with their merchant services though, and this ultimately was the deal breaker.

First of all, I stuck with PerfectMind longer than I should have because at one point it was working. Additionally the email integration, though the email program was a little sloppy, is fully integrated into the platform...which is great for sending automated sales emails. But here's the thing....after an update or 2...the core function which is making sure credits are getting removed from people's passes was not always happening....letting clients take classes for free! We contacted customer service, the president of the company, and their customer service head....and we were told it would be fixed. Then radio silence. The worst part is, I found out another studio owner also had the same problem. This wasn't an isolated incident. They choose not to tell people about the issue...thus everyone else losing money.

Pros

The email integration

Cons

The core function which is removing credits from passes didn't work. Horrible customer service.

Advice to Others

Do not pay top dollar for software that is going to lose you money.

i would recommend this program to any school looking to manage all aspects of their industry. it makes everyones lives so much easier

Pros

The program is amazing with its customizable features, it has allowed me to create a databse unique for my studio and the different components it has as compared to other martial arts studios. It has covered all my bases from databsing my clients and collecting payments to setting up students for exams, printing out their custom diplomas and auto updating their ranks. If their is anything not included in it that you would like it to do, the possibilities are limitless with a basic knowledge of the systems software.

Cons

the only downside is that these customizable features are great if like i said you have a decent understanding of the system. the system at times can be a bit complex for the average user to maneuver around but the new browser version eliminates that problem almost completely making an easy program to use for all skill levels, while still leaving the customizing available in the desktop version for those who still wish to take advantage of it