One major concern for a yoga studio, pilates studio, or barre studio owner is how to engage their clients! The statistic its that it costs about 7 times more to get a new client than it does to keep an existing client. If you have ever tracked what you spend on marketing, advertising, new client specials, etc – this could be significant. So one thing that is important, is how to recognize your clients and make them feel valued and keep them coming back for more!!!
Today, I am going to share with you four “No Cost” things you can do to increase your client engagement and client retention in your yoga, pilates or barre studio.
1. Call your clients! Whether it is New Year’s, Summer Bikini Season, or Back to School – there is a shift in schedules that can cause routines to change. Call your clients and say, “We miss you. Are you ok?” Or even just call and leave them a message and say how much you enjoy seeing them in the studio!
2. Incorporate a Challenge and provide a PRIZE! We all still like to compete. If you really want to encourage engagement – have them pick partners. This will encourage community and teamwork and may have them bring a friend with them to class – which always makes class more fun! If you reach out to local businesses, they will often donate prizes for the exposure – so this could cost you nothing!!!
3. Make a practice of hand written notes. Whether it be about how much their body has changed, how much you appreciate their business, how proud you are of all their hard work. Just drop them a line in old fashioned (and pretty much obsolete) script. If you want to really make an impact – mail it! Most of our mail today is junk or bills. A real handwritten note of appreciation goes a really long way!
4. Be discussing their next purchase shortly BEFORE their current purchase is expired. There is little worse for the client than that unhappy conversation after class that starts with, “Your current package was already completed – how would you like to pay for today’s class?” Instead, if you are having the conversation a of classes prior to expiration, you can kindly and courteously inform the client of their purchase options. We have found in studio that when we do this, the clients will often come to the desk and say, “I need to purchase my next package” which makes that discussion much easier for all involved!
The final thought here – remember, these are real, valuable people! They want to do business with those that treat them as such! So, appreciate your clients. Recognize your clients and they’ll keep coming back for more!
