Mindbody vs. Thryv: Who Has the Better Customer Service Flex?

Launching a healthcare practice or wellness business can feel like a whirlwind. With an extensive to-do list and the need to build and maintain relationships with customers, new owners need a helping hand. Streamlining day-to-day processes can be challenging, especially if you’re not in the business of tinkering with software like many health and wellness-based practices.

A few software platforms on the market are tailored to small business owners who want to improve customer communication, capture more online reviews and build more leads. The real task is discovering which of the software platforms is best for your business. Which platforms allow you to communicate with your customers easily, create customized offers, follow up with online scheduling and reminders, send estimates, invoices and receipts and more.?

To assist in your search for the best software for your health or wellness practice’s journey to greatness, we’ve gathered details about two popular platforms: Mindbody vs. Thryv. While both platforms make communication and managing jobs easier, not all platforms are created equal.

What is Mindbody

Mindbody is a business management software founded in 2001 that was designed to elevated customer experience. The company acquired Booker Software, a spa and salon management tool in March 2018. The acquisition of Booker added an initial 10,000 salons and spas to the Mindbody marketplace. It’s since grown to serve over 58,000 health and wellness practices.

The app claims to be the answer for small businesses in the health and wellness industry to simplify their day-to-day operations, save time and help your client feel like they’re getting the attention they deserve. The app features workout planning, scheduling and reservations, which are ideal tools for those in the fitness industry. By digging into Mindbody’s features we’ll uncover how beneficial they are to those gyms, spas and salons that are just starting out.

Mindbody features and pricing

strong>Communication. Mindbody offers its users the ability to connect with their customers via text and email. Business owners and physicians can use the provided Mindbody customizable templates to build marketing messages and then automate the campaigns based on the criteria. It’s a hassle-free way to communicate with clients and patients while bringing back those who haven’t visited in a while.

Users can send unlimited conversational SMS text messages, and communication is held in a single dashboard. Users are limited to only text, as they can send content like images, GIFs and documents. They can also analyze the health of their marketing efforts using the Performance Summary dashboard.

Scheduling. By listing their facility and services on the Mindbody app, users make it easy for people to find and book on both the app and Google. Wellness center owners can promote specific classes and visibly reduce prices to attract current and potential customers to buy last minute. They understand that customers are attracted to discounted classes and their pricing design in-app plays to that. The app also allows users to promote their intro offer to get more people into their doors.

Payments + Invoicing. Mindbody manages and tracks payments in one location whether online, on mobile or at the center’s front desk. Businesses can offer automatic recurring payments to avoid manually collecting membership fees from clients. This simplifies the administration and reporting processes. Because the app comes with the ability to accept payments on mobile, fitness studios have the option of breaking away from their building to offer classes and training sessions from anywhere.

When it comes to payment processors, the app couldn’t be more unclear. Business owners looking for software don’t have time to sit on Zoom calls answering basic questions about what payment processor is used and what the rates are.

While Mindbody states that all transactions go through one “powerful, integrated payments system,” they neglect to share which one. They also state that the starting rate is 2.75% but leave off added costs and fees associated. A sure way to kick off a series of trust issues between business owners and software companies.

MINDBODY PRICING

Mindbody offers several pricing tiers for its users.

On the Starter plan, priced at $139 monthly, users can list their services, schedule classes, appointments and resources. On this tier, business owners can also manage their clients and staff as well as run basic comprehensive reports. Those looking for a deeper dive will need to invest in one of the three higher tiers.

Accelerate: $279 monthly

Ultimate: $499 monthly

Ulitmate Plus: $699 monthly

Those using Mindbody should note that they’ll be locked into a year-long contract with the software. One health, wellness and fitness administrator who uses Mindbody took to G2 to share their thoughts on not being able to cancel their contract.

“No matter how much they’ve inconvenienced you they hold you to a contract. I didn’t understand why my 1-year contract was needed but now I do. It’s to hold you, hostage, when their product or service is broken.” A flawed software and customer service staff aren’t what business owners paying $139 monthly deserve.

Mindbody reviews

Pros: Helpful with schedule management, advanced marketing settings, good referral programs.

Cons: Mindbody’s software is unreliable, much like their customer service. Its inability to assist users have business owners as their wit’s end and struggling to free themselves from the company’s contract.

“Software has glitches and bugs that customer service refuses to fix. I’ve spent hours on the phone trying to help MB fix technical issues with their programming and I just keep getting passed on to a different department… I had to hire a programmer for $600 to figure out how to link MindBody to my auto email service because MindBody does not make it easy… Do not start using mind-body if you have a practice or healthcare center. You will be locked into using them because switching software is a bigger headache. …” –Shelly S, Small business owner; Verified user; G2 review 6/24/2021

Mindbody customer service

When it comes to giving their users support, Mindbody seems to have suffered a steady decline, according to online feedback. It once had small business owners boasting of its quick and efficient response times. But now, users are frustrated with the software’s poor customer service.

One user pointed out that the decline of the level of customer service seemed like a result of COVID. Although customers can contact a live person, they go through a series of re-routing to various lines — some even outsourced. It’s a time-suck that small business owners can’t afford, especially while attempting to meet the increase in post-COVID demand.

Onboarding for the company is extremely limited. Another user was excited for the variety of customizable options but was turned off by the poor support during setup. They noted that the onboarding calls were strictly 45 minutes and limited to once a week. That kind of timeline could set back a business opening.

What is Thryv

For health and wellness practitioners who want to centralize, manage and automate their office’s day-to-day activities, including customer communication and generating online reviews, Thryv is the solution. Thryv is the end-to-end customer experience platform for growing small businesses that is fully integrated with nearly all business activities, from organizing the customer database to sending bulk email and text messages to managing all aspects of a job from initial outreach, ongoing, centralized communication, estimates, invoices, payments, receipts, follow-ups, reminders, online scheduling and more.

It’s also a powerful marketing tool that provides email and SMS text messaging templates, as well as a tremendous library of social media posts, paired with a post scheduling calendar. This way, users never have to leave their Thryv dashboard to deliver their marketing messages.

Thryv’s powerful follow-up tools also allow users to request and manage online reviews so their online reputation is well cared for. Users also receive regular insight reporting on their website, social media and online reviews performance.

Not to mention, Thryv has an ever-evolving App Market that integrates seamlessly with several popular business-operating programs. Integrate your QuickBooks Desktop and QuickBooks Online, Jotform, Yext, Constant Contact, Indeed, Mailchimp and more.

Thryv pricing and features

As a full, end-to-end platform, Thryv helps health and wellness centers:

Get the Job by improving online presence, building and maintaining reviews, growing social media audiences, setting online appointments, creating and delivering estimates and allowing form fills.

Manage the Job by maintaining a real-time calendar for all staff members, collecting and storing online documents, creating and delivering estimates, allowing a variety of payment methods.

Get Credit with marketing automation such as social posting, text and email campaigns and requesting reviews as well as sending promotions and other messaging that is customized to the right audience at the right time.

Enhanced CRM. A centralized customer relationship management system is at the foundation of Thryv’s software platform. The customer is at the center of your practice. Full customer information is available in each client “card,” and can be organized with identifiable information, such as services received, date of the last service, upcoming appointments, payments, conversations and even uploaded documents. This makes every other action more seamless for those in charge to manage the client’s entire journey.

Thryv’s verticalized CRM means that when health and wellness-based users sign up, they see the proper terms for their specific industry. The enhancement also means users can now organize multiple jobs, patients, cases and more. For example, a small physician’s office can add multiple children under a parent’s name.

Sales + Payments. Thryv users manage the entire sales process, not just payment collecting – from creating estimates and invoices to collecting payment and sending receipts from the dashboard. Thanks to that dashboard, which also provides a clear overview of outstanding invoices, physicians and trainers can send payment reminders to collect what’s due.

Because Thryv is all about giving control back to those over the operation, our users can take their pick from several payment methods; credit, debit, ThryvPay, PayPal, Braintree, Venmo, Square, Stripe, Apple Pay and Google Pay.

ThryvPay offers competitive flat-rate fees for credit cards, so there are no surprises. ThryvPay also offers low ACH fees that max out at $9. With ThryvPay, users can access the pay by text message option that allows patients and clients to pay from their mobile device. This means they can pay you on time. Thryv users can also pass on convenience fees to their patients and clients (where allowable by law). They can also accept tips for a job well done.

Want to offer discounts to clients visiting your wellness center? Thryv allows users to offer packages to their clients, like 10 classes at a discounted rate. These packages make for an easier check out for your clients and a slightly cheaper route, while helping you build customer loyalty.

Customer Communication. Thryv users manage every conversation in their centralized Thryv inbox. Those running health and wellness centers can respond immediately, whether that is over email or text message. Staff members can even be assigned to manage specific correspondence.

Online Scheduling. Sick of no-shows? With Thryv, patients and clients can schedule, reschedule or cancel without having to play phone tag with the office assistant. This gives time back to everyone on staff. They no longer have to stop working to answer scheduling phone calls and your schedule will stay up to date.

When it’s time for wellness centers to lay out the list of classes for clients, this can be done easily by creating an event and selecting the staff who will manage it. For example, Beginner Yoga at 10am with Sarah. Seems simple enough. And for your regular drop-ins, packages can be used for the these events.

Reputation Management & Online Presence. In addition to requesting and managing online reviews, Thryv users can tap into Thryv’s powerful online listings capabilities, which ensures that the facility’s information is current and accurate across more than 60 online listings sites. This way potential patients and clients anywhere can find the business, no matter where they look, as opposed to Mindbody users’ just 2 locations.

Regular reporting also allows Thryv users to stay on top of incoming reviews and get in-depth benchmarking against their competitors. This is a feature that might not even be included in three upgraded versions of Mindbody’s plans.

Marketing & Social Media. Thryv users can create customized marketing campaigns that can be sent in bulk or automated to send after a milestone. For instance, using the enhanced CRM and its tagging capabilities, physicians can automate an email or SMS text to go out whenever it’s time for a patient to schedule their next appointment. And trainers can send out offers and messages to a specific set of customers, such as a VIP promotion for customers who receive a certain service. Thryv also provides social media posting capabilities. This comes with a large library of customizable post templates to make an ongoing social presence and posting a breeze.

THRYV PRICING

Thryv’s policy is to customize pricing based on the needs of each facility. The goal is to get our users what they need to run successfully, not limit features for the sake of upselling.

Thryv reviews

“Thryv packages all the essentials for small business management into one excellent bundle. Unlike many other tools of its kind, Thryv does it all, and all the parts work. … Plus, it is all customizable. So many other services make you squeeze into their paradigm of operation. Thryv stands above them all, making you the engineer of your business management tools. And Thryv’s customer service is 100% human and real-time. No bots. No community boards. A real person is always there to help, and they will not give up until they resolve your issue, and you know what you need to know to keep rocking your biz management.” – Administrator in Professional Training & Coaching; verified user; G2 review; 8/19/2021

Pros: The quality of customer service, central location for everything, multiple services in one place, easy to learn, allows recurring payments tools allow users to compete with larger companies.

Cons: There’s a learning curve with the more complex side of website building, but there’s a team of specialists available to take on the task.

Thryv customer service

Simply put, Thryv’s customer service stands out against the competition, especially Mindbody. With extensive onboarding support, Thryv provides free, unlimited technical support 24-7. In Thryv’s online reviews, customers continuously point out this benefit as the key differentiator for Thryv.

Free online resources include educational guides and blogs, customer testimonials, how-to videos, and a knowledge center with step-by-step instructions and new feature updates.

Thryv provides video and one-on-one demos to understand each business’s individual needs. It’s a no-pressure informational session focused on discovering small business needs, rather than a hard sale.

Mindbody vs Thryv

While Thryv and Mindbody both offer facility management, the systems have their differences. Mindbody is a more specific software used for health and wellness centers needing to book clients and classes, while Thryv can meet the needs of health and wellness centers, as well as various other industries. Mindbody, although nicely structured, doesn’t provide the transparency small business owners need when launching a new facility.

While Mindbody users are being passed from person to person on the support line, Thryv users are getting their questions answered by our free 24/7 unlimited technical support. But our users also have several resources to pull from.

For users who prefer to work more independently, the Knowledge Center and blog are bursting with information. They can connect with other Thryv users on the exclusive HighThryvers Facebook group as well to get tips and insight from their peers.

While Thryv holds pride in helping small businesses get the job, manage the job and get credit, Mindbody offers just two of those three — but only offers one well.

Mindbody’s ability to manage classes is great and scheduling is simple; however, their users will struggle with getting discovered. The app highlights random studios in the area, which is great for those already on Mindbody. However, for those searching online, not much full-circle action is happening.

Mindbody businesses are not likely to populate on Google listings because the Mindbody software hasn’t looped in one of the things that drive businesses to higher rankings with Google — reviews.

Thryv helps users get discovered thanks to the reviews they receive. And yes — Thryv makes getting credit for the work you’ve done quite simple. Thryv aims to meet the demands of today’s small business owners. This is reflected in the well thought out and extensive features that continually allow physicians, health practitioners and trainers to get the patients and clients, manage the workload and get the credit they deserve to bring in more people to their centers.