Project · Fitness · Belmont, VIC
Ironbark Strength
An AI assistant and shared inbox that answer member questions quickly, so coaches can spend their time coaching.
Sample project created to show our approach. Business and people are fictional.
Ironbark Strength is an independent strength and conditioning gym in Belmont, with a small team of coaches running group classes, personal training and a popular beginner program.
As the membership grew, so did the questions. Class times, membership holds, payment changes and program details arrived by email, social messages and texts to coaches' personal phones. Important requests were sometimes missed, and the coaches were answering admin questions late into the evening.
The challenge
Most questions were simple and repetitive, but some were sensitive, such as billing disputes, injuries or cancellations. The gym wanted fast answers for the easy questions without letting an automated system make promises or decisions it should not.
Messages were also spread across several channels and personal devices. There was no single place to see what had been asked, who was handling it or whether it had been answered.
What we built
The solution
An assistant that knows the gym
The AI assistant answers questions using only Ironbark's own timetables, membership terms and program details, and says so when it does not know rather than guessing.
Clear boundaries and hand-off
Anything involving payments, health or account changes is passed to the team, with the conversation attached so members do not have to repeat themselves.
One shared inbox
Email, website enquiries and assistant hand-offs land in a single shared inbox, where messages are assigned to a team member and tracked until resolved.
Managed and improved over time
We review the conversations regularly, refine the knowledge base when the timetable or policies change and adjust routing so the team stays on top of things.
The result
Members now get instant answers to everyday questions at any hour, and anything that needs a person reaches the right coach with the context already attached. Admin has moved off personal phones and into one place the whole team can see.
This project combined AI integration and automation with our managed help desk service. If your team is buried in repeat questions, talk to us, or read about the client portal we built for Keystone Build Co.
I used to spend my evenings answering messages about class times. Now the simple stuff is handled, the important stuff lands in one inbox, and I actually get to switch off.
Can an AI assistant give members wrong information?
We limit the assistant to your own approved information and instruct it to hand over to a person when it is unsure. We also review conversations regularly and update its knowledge as things change.
What questions does the assistant pass to staff?
Anything involving payments, account changes, injuries or complaints goes to the team. You decide where those boundaries sit.
What is a managed help desk?
It is a shared support inbox that we set up and look after, bringing your enquiries into one place with assignment, tracking and reply templates for your team.
Does this suit small businesses?
Yes. It works well for small teams that receive many similar questions and want to respond faster without hiring extra admin staff.
More work
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