Using ProClass allows me to streamline some the steps in clients booking corporate on-site training and accepting other forms of payment; besides checks.
Pros
The customer service is exceptional. I can call tech support, e-mail or chat on-line. They'll even set up customized webinars for staff learning to use Pro-Class. I did not expect to get such support or a quick response to even my basic questions and even more complex problems. I also like that our clients/students can sign up for classes on their own and make payments using a secure site.
Cons
I wish the manual covered more material. But the manual leaves off, the customer service covers.
Rating breakdown
Likelihood to recommend: 10/10
I am very happy with my decision to use ProClass. I recommend it to anyone that has multiple classes, whether large or small. If I could suggest anything for improvements I would ask for a more simplified, step by step How-To section to address common things like refunds, class lists etc. I tend to see things visually and perhaps using visual markers or icons instead of words would make the self-help section more user friendly for non-techies like me!
Pros
As a sole proprietor, I do it all, from lesson plans and teaching to marketing and running the not-so-fun parts of the business. I was spending 6 hours of my day just doing data entry and administration while having to keep my office open long hours just to allow parents to come in and register. I thought ProClass was for much larger businesses than my small art program. As my business grew however, I was overwhelmed by the paperwork and I knew I had to hire someone. Instead, I decided to try ProClass for a year. ProClass allows my clients to register for classes day or night, at their convenience allowing me to reduce the time my office has to be open to the public giving me more time with my family. It allows clients to input their own information, reducing errors and my data entry time. In fact, it saved me from having to hire someone just for the data entry! It has organized my recordkeeping, making tax time so much easier. I can now concentrate on my students and my teaching. It allows parents to have clear recordkeeping which they can access themselves. It tracks my communications with parents for easy reference. Well that first year came and went and I am still with ProClass! I am not a techy person and there was a learning curve which I found a challenge as I juggled everything on my plate however, ProClass provided very patient and thorough training, that suited my schedule. The more I use it, the more it feels natural. I am still discovering features and as I can I add them to my knowledge base. I truly appreciate their kind and encouraging customer service team that help me with any questions I have. I look back and wonder how in the world I managed my classes before ProClass!
Cons
I had to really think about this to come up with a con to ProClass. I guess for me, it would be some of the technical terminology that I am not familiar with. It does require a time commitment to get to know the program and set it up just right for your business. Again, this isn't really a con for ProClass, more my own limitations of time, knowledge and experience.
Rating breakdown
Likelihood to recommend: 10/10
Gage Academy of Art uses Proclass as its complete class management software, student database, and CRM. Students register through Proclass, set up their own accounts, and make their own payments. Easy and intuitive solution for running a school of over 4000 students with a staff of 12 - It would not be possible without proclass.
Pros
This program is a robust and comprehensive crm! I have personally used it for over 3 years while working at Gage Academy of Art. It offers COMPLETE control over class scheduling, payment, online deployment, and even integrates with our website flawlessly. Very logical and easy to use once you understand the structure. I have never seen a program that offers more comprehensive custom reporting, email list building, and student records. Proclass makes what Gage does possible and helped in our transition to online programming this year.
Cons
The ONLY con in my opinion is that there are limited coupon code abilities. It is difficult to only discount some classes with a coupon code BUT there are easy work-arounds that we have figured out. It is in no way a deal breaker.
Hello Chad,
Thank you for the review and your kind comments. We are looking forward to enhancing our coupon code features in the coming versions in 2021
Rating breakdown
Likelihood to recommend: 10/10
Pros
Proclass is great if you only have a simple structure such as an art studio only offering art classes. The customer service rep we have is AMAZING....he's been doing his absolute best to try to find work arounds and patches, but as a growing business, this hasn't been a great experience. Though he's really the one we keep going back to. The other reps have tried to be helpful, but none of them have found workarounds or solutions for us and the challenges we face with Proclass were ones that could significantly impact our business.
Cons
Proclass is great if you only have a simple structure such as an art studio only offering art classes. However, if you run a series of classes AND are marketing savvy with different offers or complex structure for camps, this is definitely not a system for you. The functionality simply isn't there.
The API is a joke. It is not a fully developed API so expect to do some heavy coding.
While an anonymous review is difficult to respond to as we do not know the circumstances around these comments, we do appreciate the feedback and are pleased that our customer support is rated so highly.
To classify ProClass as a marketing application is inaccurate and misleading. ProClass is not marketed as, nor meant to be a marketing platform such as Mail Chimp or other direct marketing applications and we explain this to every prospect prior to any sale.
We do provide the following features and more to assist with your marketing efforts.
*Unlimited bulk email with customizable templates.
*Unlimited SMS messaging to contacts where mobile provider information is collected
*Comprehensive search features and data mining to allow for targeting of specific demographic groups or class participants
*Easy export of data for use with other tools
*Unlimited and fully searchable user defined fields and customizable data collection forms to allow for extension of the application to include information that is critical to your organization.
*Industry leading relationship tracking across multiple accounts and families.
*Customizable online registration class listings.
*Social media integration
*Online registration and customer portal site language translation
*Read only REST API
These features are successfully in use by hundreds of organizations in diverse industries including summer camps, after school programs, arts organizations, lifelong learning and continuing education, and others with varied and complex scheduling and program structures.
Our API is being successfully used by many clients and allows read only access to a vast selection of data. Customers have successfully used the API to integrate ProClass to their websites as well in house real time video schedule displays and as with other various applications. It is a developer tool and should be used only by qualified developers who are familiar with XML, Json, and Odata standards.
Rating breakdown
Likelihood to recommend: 1/10
Pros
My favorite thing is how many functions this software has. From handling tuition online, to printing out rosters and availability, there’s a function for every aspect of my career so I don’t need to be using multiple softwares in order to run the business.
Cons
My least favorite part about this software is it’s UI/UX. There’s a lot of clicking involved just to do simple things and there are certain bugs that haven’t been fixed that make it a bit difficult to use it seamlessly such as not being able to go back to the main account after sending an email and tuition being off just one cent.
Thank you for the comments Elaine. The bug with the 1 cent in certain split tuition charges was corrected several versions ago so if you are still seeing this please contact support so that they can address any accounts where this may have occurred.
Regarding the UI/ UX your comments are appreciated and we have been working hard to eliminated additional clicks and make the UI as easy to use as possible. By using the return icon in the top menu after sending an email you can return directly to the account or prior screen in a single click.
If you need assistance on anything or are interested in any of the recent updates please contact us so that we can schedule a site review with you to go over ways to improve your experience.
Rating breakdown
Likelihood to recommend: 8/10
Annual subscription with pricing based on individual quote – contact ProClass for more details.