5 Signs Your Padel Club is Stuck in the Stone Age (And You Don't Even Know It)

The first time I visited Miguel's club in Barcelona, I was shocked.

Not by how modern it was, but by how outdated. And Miguel had been running it "successfully" for 15 years. He had a waiting list, happy members, making money.

But when I saw his receptionist Paula running between 3 different notebooks to confirm a single reservation, I understood why Miguel came home exhausted every day.

"Francisco, this is how we've always worked and it's going well," he told me.

Here's the thing: Miguel was doing well, but he could be doing amazing. His club was operating at 40% of its real potential.

Sign #1: Your Receptionist is Mission Control at NASA

Let me paint the scene I witnessed at Miguel's club:

Paula gets a call. Writes the reservation in notebook #1. Goes to the computer and checks if the court is free in the digital system. Returns to the phone, confirms, writes in notebook #2. Later "when she has time" she'll transfer it to the system.

Meanwhile, the phone rings again. Another member wants the same court.

Sound familiar?

What this system really costs:

• Paula spends 5 minutes on each simple reservation
• Handles 60-80 reservation calls daily
• That's 6-7 hours ONLY on reservation management

A club in Madrid I know freed up 4 daily hours of their receptionist's time simply by allowing online reservations. Four hours they now dedicate to personalized service and product sales.

Sign #2: When Someone's Missing, the Club Stops

Miguel confessed to me: "When Paula is sick, it's a disaster. Only she knows where things are."

I've seen this movie before.

Knowledge is in heads, not systems:

• Only María knows how to process pending payments
• Only Juan knows the real maintenance schedule
• Only Paula understands the reservation system

A club manager in Sevilla told me: "My best employee quit on a Friday. Monday we had 6 double bookings because nobody knew how to check for conflicts."

Fair warning: if your club depends on superheroes, you're one flu away from chaos.

Sign #3: Your Members Call to "Make Sure"

This hurt to hear during an interview with a manager.

"Carlos calls me every Tuesday before coming," Miguel told me. "He always says: 'I just want to confirm I have court 3 at 7 PM.'"

"At first I thought Carlos was insecure," Miguel continued. "Then I realized: Carlos doesn't trust our system."

And he was right not to trust it.

Signs your system creates insecurity:

• Members calling to "confirm" reservations they already have
• Frequent questions about "is my reservation still valid?"
• Excuses like "I thought it was next week"

A club in Valencia solved this by sending automatic confirmations via WhatsApp. Result: 90% fewer "confirmation" calls and much more relaxed members.

Sign #4: You Don't Know How Much You Made Until Month's End

Miguel checked his numbers every 30 days.

"Francisco, I can't be counting coins every day. At the end of the month I see if we made money."

Let me be direct: you're flying blind.

Can't answer these questions right now?

• Which court generates the most revenue?
• What time slots are underutilized?
• How much did you spend on maintenance this week?
• Which members cancel the most reservations?

A manager I know in Málaga discovered his court #4 generated 30% less revenue simply because it had a lighting problem he didn't know about. Took him 6 months to realize it by checking daily numbers.

Sign #5: Your Staff Spends the Day Putting Out Fires

I observed Paula for 2 hours on a typical Tuesday:

• 20 minutes looking for a lost invoice
• 15 minutes explaining to a member why their payment doesn't appear
• 25 minutes coordinating court maintenance
• 30 minutes resolving a reservation confusion

Only 30 minutes dedicated to proactive service and experience improvement.

Contrast that with a club in Alicante I visited: their staff dedicates 70% of time to value-adding activities. Organizing tournaments, meeting new members, improving facilities.

The difference: systems that work alone vs. systems that need constant supervision.

The Real Cost of the Stone Age

Here's what Miguel wasn't calculating:

Lost revenue from inefficiency:

• 4 daily staff hours on automatable tasks
• 15% lower occupancy due to reservation problems
• 2-3 members leaving due to frustration each year

Annual opportunity cost: €18,000-25,000 in lost revenue

Modernization investment: €4,800/year

Do the math.

Where to Start (Without Going Crazy)

You don't need to change everything at once. Miguel started with online reservations and in 3 months recovered his investment.

Step 1: Automate reservations Step 2: Centralize club information
Step 3: Implement automatic reports

Start small, think big.

Your Next Move

If you recognized 3+ of these signs, don't wait any longer.

Miguel now comes home relaxed. Paula focuses on making members feel welcome instead of chasing papers. The club generates 22% more revenue with the same effort.

Want to know exactly how I helped Miguel transform his club in 90 days? Let's talk 15 minutes about your specific situation.

No sales pitch. Just sharing solutions that work.