Sawyer

Avantages

The ability to change it to what we need and for our summer camp that has worked for us. For our after school program it is not working.

Inconvénients

That it is not working for our after school program. We are having issues with the options for parents showing up and the ability for the program to bill out accordingly.

Avantages

The software is easy for customers to use. It has a clean look and the widgets are nice on our website. I don't have much to compare to but putting the program into place was relatively easy.

Inconvénients

The tech support available is limited. Contact is only through email. We also do not have direct access to Stripe, the third party credit card processor, you have to go through Sawyer with questions/concerns. This was a huge issue when our Stripe account was disabled due to bank verification needed. There was no notice given to submit the verification and even after I submitted the requested documentation (right away) we didn't receive our payouts for over a week. We were owed over 21k! There was very little explanation given as to why it took so long to get our payouts and I had to really push to get information. It was beyond frustrating and the situation was not handled well. I've also had to initiate follow up with other questions/issues since going live with the widget.

Other things to note - the sales rep did not accurately convey the functions available. You cannot view all classes in one perspective or edit them all at once, which is time consuming when creating classes, you need to check for errors, or make edits. The reports are limited in their customization. You also cannot schedule emails or email contacts that are not enrolled in classes.

Avantages

I like how easy it is to set up. They do all the inputting of information and then send you the code to embed on your website. I like that as a parent, it retains my information from year to year so registering my child is quick and painless. I like how they handle all the gathering of money. For the first time, all our accounts paid their tuition and I didn't have to track anyone down.

Inconvénients

It's hard to get reports of how many kids have registered or print lists by ages. I would like for them to work on that capacity. The last software we used, you could print all kinds of reports but I have a hard time getting what I want on Sawyer.

Avantages

It looks great.

That's really it...really, that's the selling point it's all downhill from there.

Inconvénients

The widget slows your website down dramatically and the problem has existed for a long time.

Customer Service is the major negative with this platform.
They are set in their ways and will do absolutely nothing beyond their initial intentions.
There are many other platforms that will customize your experience, and they are nice. Which is great.

Cost - You can save $125 a month with multiple other companies.

Your clients must sign up for sawyer before even seeing what you have to offer. They are absolutely hungry for your users information.

Avantages

I didn’t like anything about it. I liked the “promise” that it could be amazing. But the implementation was too cumbersome for us

Inconvénients

It was confusing, it wasn’t self explanatory. It was cumbersome. Setting up new classes and camps for a new “semester” was tedious. There was no option to do the same as the current semester and change the dates.
I think this was the biggest draw back for me. My classes are the same from semester to semester, so to have to enter them all manually each time was a huge pain in the ass.

Avantages

I love that it's so easy to use and very user friendly. I didn't need to "learn" to use it - it's very self-explanatory. I like that I get paid very fast with Sawyer direct deposits. I like this new party booking feature - haven't tried it yet but intend to sign up for that!

Inconvénients

- it's less flexible in terms of creating one off classes. for example, in pearachute, i am able to create an "impromptu" class with a certain musician. On Sawyer I have to create a new schedule, then a new activity, etc. it's a bit overwhelming. I don't always necessarily want to create an event for one offs but the way the Sawyer system is no you almost have to.
- some glitches along the way. i can't always access all the functionalities in my phone (like adding packs to people's accounts for example); certain coupon codes not working after awhile (even without me putting any time restrictions on it); duplicate accounts in Contacts and not being able to delete them (even when there is no packs attached to them)
- Reports. I don't really understand how to use them. I will be calling support team to learn more about how I can customize them
- If someone comes to studio and pays cash for the class there is no way for me to check them in and note that this is a paid customer because there is no such function in the system. For report purposes I would like to understand paid vs not paid customers.
- Function that prompts emails/messages to customers who haven't come to studio in a while. Maybe not an automated email but a reminder email to me saying "Hey, Johnny Smith hasn't come to Tiny Tunes Studio in a while, maybe you want to send them an email offering some sort of a discount for his next visit?" and maybe have like a standard email that each owner can customize then.

Avantages

Ease & functionality for admin and user.

Inconvénients

Not very customizable for class display.

Alternatives envisagées 

Pourquoi choisir Sawyer 

Pourquoi passer à Sawyer

Avantages

I love that parents have a username and password that saves their information and helps them easily sign up for future events quickly and efficiently. Easy to collect payment and quick deposit times. Love the attendance feature and how quickly I can assign users so they have access to all medical information.

Inconvénients

Sometimes it is difficult to set up classes . But once I got the hang of it I found this software to be great.

Avantages

I love that it’s for kids. There are features different softwares might overlook (like number of siblings or sibling ages). Also, it’s key turn ready to use. Once a user starts setting up classes, it’s pretty simple from start to finish.

Inconvénients

The reason I love it as also a small reason I find flaws. It’s a extremely easy to use registration and class tracker for childrens events. If you need a more customizable, advanced system or one setup for a different target demographic (adult patients for example), it might prove challenging.

Avantages

I love that I can be doing something else -- anything else -- and I will look at my phone and see that I have a registration. It's always exciting to see who has registered for what and how much money I just made while doing something else!
My customers love that they can register online without having to call in!

Inconvénients

It's not intuitive. Even after all the years I have been using it I sometimes still have to search around to find what I want to do. But I am getting better at it!
So far there is no way to create online registration for our rolling enrollment.

Avantages

Registrations are very simple to make, promotion is effective and also calendar integration is helpful.

Inconvénients

Some of the UI parts like "Class Notes" are really primitive looking and more attention could be paid to that.

Avantages

I loved that the graphics were beautiful, and that I was able to add pictures/logos to a presentable page for my families.

Inconvénients

An automatic waitlist would be great! When a class fills up, have families enter a waitlist with their credit card info and when a space opens, the next person is automatically added and notified.

I also had trouble with adding one child to one class last year. The class was full but wanted to allow one additional student in. It turned out the only way this parent could pay was in person because the link wasn't working. I had to awkwardly bring my laptop to dismissal and take their credit card info and type it in manually. If there was a way I could create charges and forward them electronically to adults that would be much better!

Also, on the calendar, there should automatically be national holidays (and possibly religious holidays) entered in just so that people can see them on there. I found myself having to go back and forth making sure that certain dates didn't conflict. It would be even better if there was a way we could add dates that would not work (e.g. spring break or conference day). Then sawyer would automatically skip classes on the days we entered in.

Avantages

Financials - reporting, payment plans, etc. I used to spend so much time creating and managing payment plans for parents! Our previous software made it almost impossible to get information about our deposits, fees, etc. It is very transparent with Sawyer.

Inconvénients

It is more for children at this point and we have classes for children and adults so sometimes we have to do a lot of explaining to people. A little more flexibility for that would be nice.

Avantages

I like the organized dashboard. I can see the calendar of my week of classes, and I can set up registration for future classes.
I can pull info from previous camps, events, etc.

Inconvénients

I can't think of anything except: I wish it was easier for my customers to switch from "semesters" to "camps/events." When I list something under camp/events tab, I have to explain it a lot to customers how to get there on my enrollment page.

Avantages

Always rolling out new functionality
Great design

Inconvénients

Lengthy learning curve - takes a while to get into the flow
Few options for custom coding

Avantages

That teachers and instructors can all see who’s in the classes

Inconvénients

No auto monthly payments for memberships with sibling discounts

Avantages

I like the daily class tracking features.

Inconvénients

The party option is still incomplete. You need to develop an app. There needs to be a way to send bills/invoices directly to customers. The reporting function is a total joke. The reports that you are able to run are useless. Parents should be able to register and select check or homeschool funds. I need to be able to run a report grouping children of different ages and different schools. The banking function is almost never up to date. It never reflects current information.

Avantages

Their tech support is beyond compare. Anytime we have a problem, we almost always get a response, from an actual person with a name, within an hour. The response often comes directly from our account manager. They also listen to feedback from their users to continually improve the software.

Inconvénients

My only real complaint is that it does not integrate with Quickbooks, which causes some additional accounting headaches, but still SO much better than the previous registration software we were using.

Avantages

I love the I can access class lists and info about our students quickly!

Inconvénients

So far I don’t have a con. The features I use have been very helpful!

Avantages

This is the most user-friendly, easy to use and learn software that I have ever used! Super easy to set up and use daily! Your customers will love it! Customer service is amazing! like honestly, the best ever! I cannot say enough good things about my experience with Sawyer!

Inconvénients

I like everything! You got a lot for the money!

Alternatives envisagées 

Pourquoi choisir Sawyer 

Logiciel antérieur 

Pourquoi passer à Sawyer

Avantages

I love the ease of use for me and for my clients. There's never a problem with the user interface, the clients are happy, and I get to save time and effort registering individuals by myself the old way.

Inconvénients

There isn't much missing. Perhaps there could be an easier way to move people from the waitlist into the class - like an automated notice that alerts me when an opening becomes available and which client is next in line to get in

Avantages

My favorite thing is that all payments are made through the program and reminders are automatically sent out for payments due. I haven’t had to make that phone call to a parent all year! I also like how fast the transfers are made into my bank account when payments are received

Inconvénients

Navigation through the back end gets better with practice but it’s still a bit clunky. I find myself having to hit the back arrow a lot. A very specific-to-me feature I would love to see is a space to upload the voucher from the schools. Some of the classes that i offer are covered by charter school funds which each parent has to request from their school. If I could upload the voucher, or just an image of it or even a check box so that I could see in one place which parents have their class paid for already, I wouldn’t have to cross reference everything and it would be a big help

Avantages

I am so disgusted by the deceit that this company does not make it clear that they use your patrons personal information to advertise to them.

Inconvénients

They take you patron person information and use it for their own marketing purposes. This was NOT made clear prior to contract. We are getting so many complaints about spam from sawyer.

Avantages

From the very first time I reached out to Sawyer for an initial phone call, their team has been nothing but helpful, incredibly responsive, and easy to work with. I offer music/movement classes and find it helpful to see the full calendar in upcoming mode. Sawyer integrates well with my website, and parents (for the most part) have not had any issues registering for classes. Enjoy have a month to month payment option, too! As a small business that is just getting started I appreciate the flexible pricing and all of the support from the Sawyer staff!

Inconvénients

The ability to customize a bit more would be nice. Software is probably great for a traditional run school/daycare program/summer camp, however my weekly music class program I find areas that I wish I had a workaround or option in the software to make registration easier for my parents. It would be helpful if the tabs could be changed to fit the names of my classes, as well as the ability to have people use class packs without there being a drop in fee associated. These things might just be specific to my program though!

Avantages

For me I need scheduling to be easy and not complicated but most importantly I want the parents of my students to book a class with ease!
I am not a big tech person but I found setting up everything on Sawyer to be very straightforward.
I have used other scheduling systems in the past and am so happy that I went with Sawyer.

Inconvénients

The only thing I find a little frustrating is when I post a picture as part of a listing it takes several tries to get it to look good. It often repositions and doesn’t look good. But after a few attempts I get it right.

Alternatives envisagées 

Pourquoi passer à Sawyer

Avantages

Our customers have very precise needs that have been difficult to handle for our bookkeeper. Even our CPA or QuickBooks expert was not able to satisfy our needs. Our customers sign up with a Nonrefundable Deposit about 6 months before classes begin. We almost always sell out in a couple of weeks of registration opening. Then some pay with a monthly purchase order, but not till class has already begun, and some want to be billed monthly on their Credit Card. This has been a nightmare for us and no bookkeeping system has been able to automate it, give us a roll sheet, contain a database, bill the customer, send statements and receipts, give us a list of accounts receivable, etc! We are delighted! Plus it looks great on our website and our customers believe we have stepped it up a notch! We love the financial reports and we have not really gotten started yet! I think it does so much more!

Inconvénients

The thing we also needed but have not been able to implement in our organization we also have theater performances and we can not figure out how to sell tickets to the shows. We had to put event espresso back on our website to accommodate ticket sales.

Avantages

It is really user-friendly. It did not take long to learn it and I can train my admin staff to use it pretty quickly. I like the interface, everything looks nice and is readily accessible. I LOVE the customer service team, they have always been really fantastic and totally understand my needs as a small business offering kids' programming.

Inconvénients

It is simpler than some of the other registration systems, which I think mostly works to it's advantage. Sometimes though I need the software to do something more specific and there's not an option available. I do appreciate that their customer service team is always really responsive to these moments though. They either walk me through other options or even talk to the development team about adding further features.

Avantages

There are features that serve everyone in our business from the administration and management, the front desk, teachers, and parents! It keeps all our registration info for kids and grownups in one place, so we can easily transfer customers to different dates or types of classes. It's essential to running our business!

Inconvénients

There could be more customization— example: for our programs it would be useful to have the ability to split all registered students for a class or event into smaller groups within the software— but new features are added frequently and the team does ask for feedback and respond to our real world experience with the product! Occasionally we do hear from parents who are having a hard time navigating the registration interface.

Avantages

I most like that Sawyer streamlined my class bookings, financials, (some) reports, and managing clients.

Inconvénients

Sometimes I find running reports confusing or frustrating. When I want a download of all clients with birthdays and other information that helps me categorize them (birthdays are because our classes are categorized by age, and I also like to categorize them by membership or activities taken), and it's not so easy to figure out who are current members of a particular age who have taken the same activities. The activities are all listed in one category, so they are difficult to separate.

Avantages

Cloud based, handles all sorts of online registration for educational programs; super support to set up and onboard; affordable; terrific support team; growing company --> adding new features to help me with online registration, class management

Inconvénients

no training videos. Training videos on on-boarding, intro features, advanced features and troubleshooting would be helpful

Avantages

They way they do registration through creating family accounts is very nice! I also like the way the upcoming calendar works! The ability to email classes and groups direct from the app is very nice!

Inconvénients

The biggest problem we have is the payment plans. They way it is set up cause us way more work then it helps. We wanted it to just be a monthly payment based on the day that the customer bought the item. Instead its assigned day that has nothing to do with the date of the purchase.

I would like more control over how get access to what. Who get what notifications. Right now people have to have way more access then they should and everyone get every notification.

They way they have for making forms is so confusing! They tried to make it simple but the way they did it is based on a persons thought process. That can back fire if people done think like that. Just give me a list i can check what info I want!

Avantages

It's very easy to use and minimal learning curve. I launched a summer camp for kids and was figuring it out as I went. Sawyer made that easier for me because they had everything in place already including things I hadn't even thought of. Sawyer had all the features I needed and they continue to add more, especially when the pandemic hit and businesses needed to pivot to online classes. Their onboarding couldn't have been easier. Their front-end AND back-end interfaces are modern and "Apple-like" making it easy for me as well as users. The other softwares I tested were outdated and extremely clunky. Their customer service is very helpful.

Inconvénients

I've used the software for going on 2 summers now and I cannot think of anything I don't like.
Oh, I wish I was able to embed my Registration page on my website myself but Saywer does it quickly so really not a big deal to me.

Avantages

I love that I have all of my services in one place. It makes registration simple and easy for both my customers and myself! I also love that I can create a service once and then simply copy and paste it into my schedule. It makes customization very easy.

Inconvénients

Sometimes the navigation of Sawyer Tools can be cumbersome. It would be nice to have a menu drop-down that allows access to other pages without having to go back to the main menu each time. Also, being able to add a quantity option for adult events and classes would be quite helpful.

Avantages

Sawyer is so user friendly. Even for those that are less tech savvy than others. The customer service and tech support are top notch and prompt to answer any questions.

Inconvénients

I have not been able to attend any of the online workshops because I have always been working when they occur.

Avantages

Marketplace, Easy to use/train employees, design, customer service/tech support, form fields, messaging system, coupons, pivot to online learning was incredible and easy!

Inconvénients

Stripe takes too long for deposits, inablilty to copy semesters so it takes a long time to set up new ones, would love to be able to attach files in roster emails

Alternatives envisagées 

Pourquoi choisir Sawyer 

Pourquoi passer à Sawyer

Avantages

The software is super easy to use and provides an easy setup for camps, classes, and events!

Inconvénients

Some features like birthday parties and appointments need a little more versatility and ease. I find it easier for customers to only have one step in registering versus multi steps. It would be great to have functionality on the admin side to complete certain orders.

Avantages

I like that it is highly customizable and easy to use. Customer service has been timely and kind.

Inconvénients

Insight downloading is complicated to figure out. There’s a lot of features so there is a learning curve, not necessarily bad though!

Avantages

THe customer service is the most wonderful aspect of sawyer. If I ever have the smallest problem, the admin team gets back with me within minutes, and a fix is on the way. They are constantly working to make the software better, and really value the relationships they build with their customers. You get the sense that they really care about helping us grow our businesses.

Inconvénients

As they grow, there are frequent bugs. They get worked out very quickly though! Also, as my business grew, I was paying thousands of dollars in fees. I wish I had known about a monthly payment option earlier. I could have saved a very large amount of money.

Avantages

Sawyer's customer service is stellar, they always respond quickly and usually are able to address the issue within a day or so.

The interface is user-friendly, both on the admin backside as well as for the parents looking for classes.

I appreciate that it looks good embedded in my website, and that each activity has an option of a direct link.

Inconvénients

There are a few spots where I can't customize as much as I need. Particularly around summer camps.

Avantages

Customer service, combination of this platform used with others like mail chimp and banking .

Inconvénients

Some of my classes are for adults only and that can be cumbersome to register when they are already set up for their children.

Alternatives envisagées 

Pourquoi passer à Sawyer

Avantages

Really helpful software that made organization and signups far easier

Inconvénients

There is a bit of a steep learning curve understand how all the pieces of the system fit together

Avantages

Once a customer is registered it is very user-friendly and easy for them to register for classes or for me to book them on their behalf. I can access customer information quickly and easily.
I like that the financials are relatively simple to navigate and monitor.
It has a professional appearance and I appreciate that some customizations are available by request.

Inconvénients

There is a pretty steep learning curve.
I would like a simpler, more direct way to book a one-on-one customer service appointment but the help desk is quick to reply to questions and concerns via email.

Alternatives envisagées 

Pourquoi choisir Sawyer 

Avantages

I love how easy it makes for our patrons to sign up for our classes. We used to do everything by hand, take payments over the phone.... but now this system gives the ownership of the registration process over to the patrons. It's saved us so much time. Now we can get back to the work we need to get done without wasting time over paperwork.

Inconvénients

I feel like the process of adding semesters and activities could be streamlined a little better. And I wish we could just choose every date of our classes instead of it being an automated feature. Our schedules change quite a bit so sometimes we may have a weekly class on Mondays, but some weeks it changes to Tuesday or the start time may change. It doesn't let you fix any of that which is frustrating.

Avantages

I like that it’s catered to children activities

Inconvénients

Having to make a listing then schedule it is a little tiresome.

In the “upcoming” tab it would be nice to have an option to block off certain dates as a business so that you can keep important events that only business owners need to know about. So that it allows you to keep track of things going on outside of things booked through sawyer.

Would love if the software could sinc to google calendar!!

Avantages

I’ve been running a sewing school for 14 years.
Incorporating Sawyer Tools has changed my life for the better. I was bogged down with juggling sign ups, keeping class lists current, collecting tuition, tracking financials, sending updates and notices to parents, and so much more.
Sawyer Tools takes care of all these tasks in one easy to use platform.

Inconvénients

I would like to be able to have clients sign up and pay for birthday parties without a lot of back ad forth via emails.
I would also like to be able to edit more if the client info from my end. For instance adding student allergies , etc.

Avantages

After a little training, Sawyer is relatively easy to use. The software makes it easy to create offerings and allow parents or students to register themselves and have all of the information in one place. It has defiantly helped my business become more efficient and freed up administrative time for other important projects to grow our business and reach more students.

Sawyer also has the potential to open doors for students from other parts of the country with its centralized marketplace.

Inconvénients

The software integrates well into my website but still has a lot of its own branding on information and registration pages. It would be great if this were a little more subtle as to not confuse new clients about who actually provides the classes.

The software can be unintuitive at times but once you’ve used it a bit, things flow easier.

Avantages

Sawyer "gets" my business. It is nice to have a platform that has already thought of what I need for my enrichment class platforms. I have worked with other online registration platforms, the interface is not as clean and beautiful as Sawyer and it required more time spent on my end customizing.

Also, Sawyer sends payments DAILY rather than twice a month - which is huge for a small business.

Inconvénients

Like anything new, it takes time to get used to the functions and how to set everything up. But if you do it well the first time, you will only need to go back to make minor edits for each class.

The customer service is TOP NOTCH! This was a HUGE reason I did not get frustrated in those early days of set-up. It took time, but I had assistance at my fingertips whenever I called. Shout our to our support staff

Avantages

Everything from online registration to seeing participants on the calendar is top notch.

Inconvénients

Very expensive. Annual fee + each transaction fees, + monthly fees? Very big chance we will discontinue after the first year. If Sawyer can eliminate one of these transactions we would most likely remain with them.

Avantages

It's beautiful, intuitive for parent to use, modular so it can be used effectively semester after semester.

Inconvénients

I love Sawyer but a few things I'd love to see (and I'd pay more for) are:
Payment plans applied to cart, not individual activities.
Data management and sorting ability in Sawyer instead of having to export data then sorting it.
Easier way to communicate (email) contacts in bulk through Sawyer.
The field "grades" should be included in addition to age since more schools are using the program.
Pages load super slow because it's so beautiful, maybe have a mode where it isn't so pretty for admin so we can work (create activities, schedule, and finances) faster.

Avantages

Sawyer is simple for our customers and staff to use. Parents can now register themselves and all their kids and see their family’s schedule all in one place. Also if someone is signing up late Sawyer prorates their registration fees. We use to do all of this manually. Finally our admin can work on making our programs better, instead of redundant menial tasks.

Inconvénients

For staff page loading can be slow. The page navigation could be simpler, and breadcrumbs could be more useful. They’re continually revising the staff interface though.