Sawyer Features

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.

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.

The software is SO easy to use! When you’re setting it up and training other employees it’s easy to see that it’s hard to mess anything up!

No Point of sale feature available. We still pay for another 3rd party software for this part

Ease & functionality for admin and user.

Not very customizable for class display.

Always rolling out new functionality Great design

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

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.

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.

Let's start for the basic: It's a software specifically for booking children's activities, which is my exactly what my business does, so every single feature in Sawyer is just perfect for what we do. I had tried 5 or 6 different software companies and all of them are for other industries (spas, gyms, consulting businesses), so they weren't ideal to use. I love Sawyer has children-activity-specific features such as camps, semesters, drop-ins, sibling discount, caregiver needed in the class, ages for the class, etcetera. Also it supports different locations, gift cards, and most important for us: a widget to add the registration form to your website.

Sawyer keeps improving and adding new features, I've run into tech problems when they just launch a new functionality but I consider this normal and I appreciate they keep improving their product. Tech support always replies fast when there have been issues.

Because I was not a web designer and didn't have backend experience, I needed a platform that I could basically input information into, I wish however it was more customizable. I also was drawn to Sawyer because I wanted to create memberships as well as classes and this gave me the opportunity to do both.

There are more things I dislike them like unfortunately. Some of them small like wishing I could customize the color other than red, some of them huge in that the forms are rigid meaning I can't have a different form intake for a member from my students. I need more flexibility and options for my businesses I was hoping everything could live under one umbrella. I find it almost impossible to navigate...

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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.

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.

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!

- 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....

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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...

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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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

I like the daily class tracking features.

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.

Hi Jaimee, I am so sorry that you had a less than stellar experience, that is never our intent nor our goal. We continue to evolve our products because of feedback like this so thank you for letting us know how we can improve! We'd love to connect on a few additional insights you may have, so please do not hesitate to reach out.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

Ease of use on the backend. Easily customize classes, coupons, view live registration in multiple locations on my phone, tablet, or laptop.

Some less than tech-savvy parents find it hard to navigate to register. Tracking financials could be clearer.

What I like most about the Sawyer software is that it suits the needs of a robust program like ours in that it provides seamless attendance tracking , easy student and parent information maintenance, as well as accessible finance reporting.

I would say opportunities for Sawyer to improve its program is to make it feasible for prerequisites classes to be offered individually. Also, when reporting, the dates of transactions aren't visible which is helpful for our record keeping. Lastly, there isn't a comprehensive database feature in which one can view the entire enrollment list at a glance.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

The Sawyer software is easy to use. The technical support team helps with initial set up and deployment, training, and on-going support which was a very valuable service. Our favorite feature is our ability to make changes quickly and efficiently through a customer-centric design. This was very impactful in our ability to adapt quickly to our customers' needs during the world-wide pandemic. There are reporting features that we find helpful for strategic planning.

I would like there to be a way for the customer (or at least the company) to choose the calendar layout. I would prefer an option that had a calendar style instead of a text layout.

Easy to set up. Easy to have individual functionality / details for variety of end services (can set different price-points, days, add-ons, discounts, etc for various camps, classes, events -- while also building on common components like activity-description). Integration into website is great. Customer service excellent and continued improvements much valued. Marketplace exposure is great!

The bookings / orders feature is a little limited in not displaying current enrolled activities for families who have made changes to their registrations.