I’m in Colorado Springs right now for the 2010 Men’s National Qualifier.  Right before the meet started, I saw long-time gymnastics judge, Dave Juszczyk, and found out all about his new company, Wisper.  Dave has a proven track-record of success with previous businesses he has founded, taken public and sold.  Within about 30 minutes of talking to Dave about Wisper, I knew he was onto something big again … really big!  The exciting part for me was that I can use the service Wisper provides to benefit American Gymnast … AND I know the thousands of gymnastics clubs across the country can use it to benefit their businesses as well …. for FREE (for the time-being)!

WisperWisper is a review and ratings service for business owners and their customers.  The advantage of Wisper over other review services is the ease and timeliness with which a customer can submit a rating and/or review of the business. Customers can easily text message a 1 through 5 star rating of a company they’ve done business with, plus include any comments they want to share about their experience with that company.

How can Wisper help gymnastics clubs?

Imagine parents sitting in your gym watching their child in one of your gymnastics classes.  Do you ever wonder exactly what they’re thinking?  Now, imagine giving those parents the ability to send a simple text message that rates, for example, their child’s instructor, your facility, and/or their overall experience with your business.  Also imagine that they can include any comments about any or all of those aspects of your business, providing you (and other potential customers) with instantaneous feedback about how well you are serving their needs.  And, what if one of your customers has a bad experience and posts a negative review?  Imagine having the ability to immediately contact that customer to try and make the situation right – before the rating and/or review is ever posted.

I think the idea of using text messaging to submit the rating and review is brilliant.  You can get the customer’s feedback when they are actually still inside your gym using your services.  And, of course, Dave and his Wisper team don’t stop there … business owners will have the ability to market to their customers with text message replies that could possibly include advertisements, coupons or other special offers from the business.  Social media integration is coming down the pipeline too … plus lots more.  For web-based businesses like mine (or any business with a web site), customers can submit their rating and review via a link that the business can include on it’s web site, order confirmations and/or email campaigns, for example.

I’ve signed up for the service, so you’ll start seeing Wisper integrated into American Gymnast in the very near future.  If you are a gymnastics business owner, you should definitely check it out.  Customer testimonials, in my opinion, are the VERY best form of advertising for your business.  AND, for right now, Wisper is free to sign up!  Dave projects that the service will be a nominal monthly fee for small businesses around $10-$40/mo.  Sign up now for free and get parents Wispering about your business today!  Just go to http://www.wisper.com

Jay Thornton

American Gymnast

Train Smart. Compete Hard!