Behind the Scenes of Member Manager with Product Owner, Michael Brandt
If you’ve ever used Member Manager, you’ve already interacted with the work of Product Owner, Michael Brandt, from new features to behind-the-scenes improvements that keep the platform running smoothly. In this interview, Mary-Margaret Bennett sits down with Michael to explore the vision, process, and innovation shaping the future of Member Manager.
Let’s dive right in.
SECTION 1: The Vision
Mary-Margaret:
“How would you describe the direction Member Manager is heading right now?”
Michael:
It starts with us adopting a data-driven mindset in our approach to development and what features we want to implement, and that mindset transfers through the entire company. Member Solutions has been around for a long time, we have a lot of experience, a lot of expertise, we’ve seen a lot of things, when you’ve been around for long enough, you get that idea that we know what happens next and I think we had to realize at a point that maybe we don’t, and maybe theres a better way for us to be more consistent decision makers. That starts with humility; We don’t know the answers or predict the future so what tools can we use that can help us impact our vertical or guide us in the direction of making better choices and decisions, and so that’s what we are constantly focused on doing. There’s a continual reinforcement in our group that what we think we know isn’t always right, so we need to investigate everything, all data points so what we think we see are real. I center all my thoughts around what to develop and how we develop as “if we weren’t already doing it this way, do you this this is the way we would do it”?
Mary-Margaret:
“When you think about the platform a year or two from now, what excites you the most?”
Michael:
I think a year from now I’ll be here about 2 years. Hopefully by then, we begin to see the outcomes of the processes that we’ve set up start to really come to fruition and what we are implementing and the way we look at data and our feedback loops are second nature to us and we can begin to say “hey, our focus on key drivers of success, our process in decision making, and a consistent feeling that the choices we’ve made over time have led us to more successful outcomes”. When push comes to shove, you are judged by your outcomes, not the processes you’ve set up so hopefully in a year from now we see a high-performing product in our vertical that can compete with some of the larger companies holding market share right now.
Mary-Margaret:
“How do you balance listening to customer requests with the long-term product roadmap?”
Michael:
Yeah, I think doing that requires a structured approach – typically beginning with mapping those requests to long-term company strategy and initiatives. So taking those requests, aligning them to a long-term goal, evaluate quantitatively and qualitatively to help us dissect urgency and importance. The balance there is that being overly reactive can’t come at the cost of compromising long term strategic intent and data-driven prioritization. I think that we spent a long time being reactive, so we would develop based on a need, but that need came at the cost of something else, whether it’s UX related or less rigidity in our product. I’m a big believer, and I stress this when making decisions internally with our team, that flexibility is not a feature, it’s a liability – it’s a liability in development, in bug triage, in product support, in user and company product knowledge. It’s something that seems great at first, but if you can deliver the perfect experience for a feature, module, or workflow – there is no need to develop multiple ways to get the outcome that you want.
SECTION 2: What’s New & In the Works
Mary-Margaret:
“What’s one enhancement or feature currently in development that you’re really excited about?”
Michael:
So for me, I’ve always been somebody who I think access to your data as quickly and efficiently as possible is a key product differentiator. So one of the things we are working on is scheduled report automation – being able to set up reports and then getting those delivered into your inbox in whatever cadence you want. Not needing to be necessarily logged into the platform to see that data. A big thing in our industry is follow-ups on declined renewals or payments that failed to process, alerting the club owner as easily and quickly as possible is a main driver behind that.
Mary-Margaret:
“Can you share an example of how user feedback directly shaped a recent update?”
Michael:
For me, it was the check-in improvements. I had noticed it was something we didn’t have a lot of engagement on despite being a key area of our platform and a data driver to other areas, like scheduling, program tracking, sessions – and for a majority of clubs, check in is necessary to make sure the people accessing your club have proper access to your club. So I put out some surveys, a few clients were kind enough to meet with me. I’m always grateful when somebody can share their experience with the product with me – as a matter of fact one of the clubs that gave me the most feedback was a club that was leaving us because of issues related to check-in, so for them to provide that feedback when they didn’t have to because they were already transitioning out speaks to the relationships we are trying to build here.
Mary-Margaret:
“Sometimes it’s the small tweaks that make a huge difference — is there one of those on your radar?”
Michael:
For me, the smallest tweak we can make is simplifying the platform and removing areas that aren’t used or that are duplicated elsewhere in the software. Going back to what I said about simplifying workflows and adding rigidity.
Mary-Margaret:
“What’s been the biggest challenge or learning from recent product releases?”
Michael:
I fully understand when we put out a feature, there are always areas for improvement- nothing is perfect. Balancing out iterating on those while developing new features can be a challenge, and so making sure we are addressing those requests and feedbacks in a timely manner can be a bit challenging as a lean development team.
SECTION 3: Designing for the User
Mary-Margaret:
“Member Manager covers a lot — billing, scheduling, communication, engagement — how do you make sure it still feels easy to use?”
Michael:
I think that happens by making sure the platform acts consistently and deliberately on user actions – as well as when errors are introduced, making those clear and direct to the user is the key.
Mary-Margaret:
“What’s something your team has learned recently from watching how people actually use the platform?”
Michael:
For me it’s some of the deserts inside the application. Areas where views and engagement is non-existent. Understanding A) if those are necessary and needed items in our platform and B) if removing those increases usability for other areas of our platform.
Mary-Margaret:
“Can you share how the team approaches accessibility and user experience testing?”
Michael:
So we have an open UAT environment that anybody in our company can access to review any work we’ve done before release. We have a dedicated QA department, and also I have a few trusted clients that I will preview items with or get initial feedback on.
Mary-Margaret:
“How are you leveraging automation or AI to make life easier for our clients?”
Michael:
So we use AI to help us with documentation – so when we have releases or knowledge base items, we leverage AI for that. We leverage it in areas of our testing as well, so basic regression as well as accounting for edge cases. We also have a few items in development that we will leverage AI and automation, like I mentioned earlier with the email reports.
SECTION 4: Data & the Future
Mary-Margaret:
“How are we helping businesses make better use of their data?”
Michael:
For me, I kind of think of like that “it’s my money I want it now” jingle – it’s their information, they should be able to get it in whatever format or schedule they want it. So introducing that schedule automation as well as having our reporting downloadable in an excel format or as a PDF if it’s something they want to post as a bulletin on their board.
Mary-Margaret:
“Are there any reporting or analytics improvements coming that you’re particularly proud of?”
Michael:
One of the most stressful things for a business owner is missed or declined payments and understanding where those are coming from – so creating a report that is as close to real-time as possible that allows you to follow up with missed payments before they incur fees or penalties is a huge one as that creates a downstream effect for owners – you might not just miss that payment, but if a fee is incurred, that gym-goer might not want to continue going and you lose out on potentially more revenue.
Mary-Margaret:
“If we peeked two years into the future, what do you think will surprise people most about Member Manager?”
Michael:
A big torch I’m trying to carry is our member portal – so it’s a self-service portal for clients to schedule classes, pay invoices, check-in, purchase memberships. I think as a tool it serves a lot of benefit as there are certainly people who don’t want to physically go to a gym to manage their membership or purchase a membership – they want to just sign up, pay, have access. I think in the next two years, making that a necessity as opposed to an optional tool inside Member Manager is one of my main goals.
SECTION 5: Behind the Scenes — The Team
Mary-Margaret:
“What does a typical sprint or development cycle look like for your team?”
Michael:
So we develop in 2 week cycles and release on 2 week cycles, so every other week, you can expect something new in Member Manager – although the impact of those new items will certainly vary or even be noticeable to the end user. We have a roadmap that we drive to, it’s made up of a mix of customer requests, company initiatives, and internal application improvements.
Mary-Margaret:
“How do you collaborate across departments, like support, sales, and marketing, to align priorities?”
Michael:
We certainly don’t develop in a silo. So we do what a lot of companies do where at the end of our sprint, we review with our internal stakeholders what we’ve done and get feedback there. We work closely with support, sales, and marketing to make sure we are getting feedback in as many ways as possible and we are all driving towards the same goal. For me, I’ve always believed sales feeds, so making sure what we are developing helps in sales, are things we are hearing in sales meetings positively and negatively is being addressed is crucial for us.
SECTION 6: Looking Ahead
Mary-Margaret:
“Where do you see the member management industry heading in the next few years?”
Michael:
I think, at least where I see it going, is encompassing a full-house operation service. So by that I mean, going to a martial arts or studio owner and saying “what software are you using externally from our software, how can I help develop that aspect in Member Manager so you can cut that cost out of your overhead”. I think along with that, lead automation and management, so the ability to identify high performing classes and contracts and create campaigns and awareness programs around that, will be a big thing in the next few years.
Mary-Margaret:
“How is Member Solutions staying ahead of those shifts?”
Michael:
Going back to the full-house operational piece, it’s understanding what clients are using outside of our products and building those inside Member Manager or Member Portal. Identifying those key automations and enabling those in our platform as well.
Mary-Margaret:
“If you could give one piece of advice to businesses using Member Manager, what would it be?”
Michael:
Do not hesitate to contact me directly with any feedback or to reach out to support or customer service and give feedback. One of the benefits of being a vertical software company is that there is a niche focus – so if you have a martial arts studio, I would love to hear from you and what is in the software you like, you hate. What isn’t in the software you’d like, things you’d change.
Mary-Margaret:
“Finish this sentence for me: ‘The future of Member Manager is…’”
Michael:
Bright.
Do More with Member Solutions
We are grateful to Michael Brandy for pulling back the curtain and allowing us to peer inside how Member Manager ticks, and the humans behind the Member Solutions platform.
If you would like to explore the latest updates in Member Manager, head over to our feature releases page or contact us for more information.
And stay tuned! We’ll have more behind-the-scenes conversations like this soon.
