The plan was to open two or three Altitude Trampoline Parks in total, but as they met with success after success, two or three quickly turned into dozens. Today, there are 39 active Altitude Trampoline Parks spread across the contiguous US, UK and Puerto Rico, with another international facility scheduled to open in Norway, Fall 2017.
When Jeff and Curt discovered CenterEdge five years ago, they were getting ready to open their first facility in Fort Worth, Texas, and needed to find and implement technology that would support the originally envisioned three parks.
The Initial Challenge
It was their search for a facility management system that could simplify processes across multiple facilities that lead them to CenterEdge.
CenterEdge delivered easy-to-use point of sale support for the management team Jeff and Curt had hired, but also provided exceptional cash control and a level of data tracking and business insight they hadn’t seen with any other single software solution. Both Jeff and Curt had financial backgrounds, so they were impressed with how CenterEdge software tracked sales and ensured a system with high security controls and notifications.
The integrated waiver verification was also a huge selling point for Jeff and Curt. Since waivers are such an essential part of trampoline businesses from both an operations and risk management standpoint, finding a POS system that had waiver verification built in was a huge win for the Altitude Trampoline Park team. CenterEdge enables teams to quickly and easily make sure people are who they say they are: from filling out the waiver and storing the initial form to reviewing and storing the completed waiver.
With all the backend data capabilities they were looking for, the decision was an easy one—CenterEdge was the perfect fit for Altitude Trampoline Park.
Fast Growth and Centralized Solutions
Due to almost immediate success, Altitude Trampoline Park drew the attention of additional investors and the brand began to experience rapid growth. But with rapid growth, comes growing pains, especially in an industry that relies heavily on young, seasonal workers rather than business professionals.
“We work with a lot of high school kids, so having knowledgeable support on hand all the time to walk individuals through issues is my favorite part of working with CenterEdge,” said Courtney Skallerup, Senior Vice President of Operations. “There is always someone there who has an answer or can find a solution.”
When a manager Altitude Trampoline Park Puerto Rico mistyped an employee ID number into the line for deposits and it looked like they had taken in $200,000 in cash that day, reconciling could have been a nightmare.
“She tried to sell a gift card and return it to balance books in the system and it all went out of whack from there, but CenterEdge support was able to remotely access our system and quickly fix that obvious mistake,” recalls Courtney. “Without a centralized system and the incredibly responsive team at CenterEdge, this one error could have taken us days to work through.”
It wasn’t long before the leadership team at Altitude Trampoline Park realized the licensing model they were using just wasn’t going to allow the brand to realize its full potential.
Simply licensing the brand restricted what Jeff and Curt could offer owners when it came to resources and services, and the owners were looking for more guidance for day-to-day operations and marketing. So, in 2016, Altitude Trampoline Park transitioned from a licensed brand to a franchising model, unified the nearly 30+ parks already in operation, and made CenterEdge the required vendor for all franchisees.
If a park owner engages with corporate for accounting services, the financial analysis they provide is through data they’re collecting using CenterEdge. With CenterEdge, managers can find reports beneficial to their marketing strategy, like the top 10 zip codes that drive the most visits. With this particular piece of data, managers can target their efforts and increase their bottom line. Or, if the most popular birthday party is a 10-person party with pizza, but the average cost isn’t ideal, they can strategize on how to enhance or better market that package without giving discounts.
CenterEdge is so detailed and accurate, and the reporting so thorough, it allows us to piece together pretty spot-on stories about what is happening at an individual park level.
“CenterEdge is so detailed and accurate, and the reporting so thorough, it allows us to piece together pretty spot-on stories about what is happening at an individual park level,” Courtney said. “We have exceptional visibility into what is happening just through the numbers.”
Whether a franchise is using the centralized accounting and marketing services or doing it all on their own, CenterEdge allows both the corporate team and the franchisees to access all numbers and reports without getting in the weeds with day-to-day operations.
With the ability to gain valuable insight through CenterEdge, Altitude Trampoline Park is able to plan their marketing strategies further in advance, improve their overall efforts and grow exponentially without outgrowing their original mission.
International Expansion
Now, using customizable features and one on one assistance from a CenterEdge assigned Account Manager, Altitude Trampoline Park feels like they have the ideal partnership. If there’s any confusion, mistakes or support needed, CenterEdge help is available and quickly works to reconcile or fix anything. And if there’s an opportunity to enhance services, CenterEdge has an open ear and collaborative spirit to ultimately make their business better.
Different currencies and tax laws require a customizable accounting system, and the customer relationship varies so widely from place to place, it is essential for Altitude Trampoline Park to offer tools that adapt to the local culture and customs.
“CenterEdge is incredibly customizable. When we set up a database at a new location, each individual park owner can make adjustments that suit their location,” Courtney said. “If an individual owner sees a roadblock or potential improvement, they can even work directly with CenterEdge on customizations that will best benefit their business.”
Today, Altitude Trampoline Park is wildly successful—attributed to the tenacity of its leadership and their careful selection of a software system that meets and exceeds their needs. With features like painless implementation, exceptional customer support and a robust platform and dashboard, ATP sees their partnership with CenterEdge enduring.
“We’ve always had a great relationship with CenterEdge from their easy, mapped out implementations to their flexibility and customizations, but it is their customer service and partnership approach we value most,” Courtney said. “We’re looking forward to continuing to improve and innovate together for a long time.”