We live in a world where we remember things, not by their face value, but by the experience that they inspire, and the emotions they invoke.
If you own a fitness studio business, you can hold this true for the day-to-day interactions that you have with your clients. The actions you or your staff undertake over a regular day of business do have an unmistakable impact on the decisions a customer takes overtime.
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86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience.
As per reports, customers are willing to pay up to 18% premium on services if they receive a great customer experience (CX). Although this may not seem intuitive at first, but great CX can definitely help in improving the standing of your fitness studio business in the mind of clients and prospects.
CX is everything related to the way a customer may perceive your fitness studio business. It’s the overall notion that someone holds about your brand through their member journey. Whether this perception is positive or negative rests entirely in the hands of the fitness business owner and their staff.
While managing a fitness studio, even if you are running at full capacity, getting the bookings you want, meeting your monthly goals, and so on, insecurity can often creep in.
It can be it in the form of a doubt - “whether next month would be as good as the previous one”, or “if my clients leave all of a sudden, what will I do?"
No one wants insecurity, it’s dreadful. And that precisely is the problem that a remarkable member experience can solve.
A happy customer is a loyal customer. And that's the truth of it.
In this competing market, a customer has multiple fitness options. Some studios charge less. Some studios are better known. How to ensure that your customer doesn’t leave for an alternative?
The answer is simple -> Providing such an experience that makes them coming back for more.
Boutique fitness studios offer their customers an experience that is individualized and specific to a niche fitness group. That helps them build loyalty and solidify the brand’s position in the mind of potential customers.
But even if you own a classic online yoga studio (or an offline one), pilates studio, or barre studio, simple day-to-day practices can help in engaging clients and setting yourself apart from the competitors.
Happy customers are more likely to talk about their day at their fitness studio with friends and family than disappointed ones.
When your customers themselves convince others to try your studio, it just means that you are doing something right.
Fitness studio owners will ask themselves this,
“How do I make sure that my customers are having a good time?”
‘Is there something extra that I can do for them?’
‘What are the things that they already like?’
‘Is there any way to make them feel more than satisfied?’
There is no direct way to answer this question. No particular number of steps that you must follow. The ways and means to achieve good CX are highly individualistic and personalized for all brands and businesses.
Here are some points though that you can adopt to start off your customer experience journey. If not a formula, see it as kind of a checklist that any decent business should try and aim for.
Let’s dive right in!
Is your brand based primarily on the fitness service you provide? Like yoga for post-pregnancy moms. The raw energy of your Zumba class could be drawing morecustomers to your studio? Or maybe it’s the innovative yoga courses that you’re famous for?
Before bending backward for your customers make sure that the service that you provide is something that adds value to their lives and satisfies their need for joining a fitness studio.
Use methods that keep the classes engaging. Keep them coming back for more, remember?
Your USP or the unique selling proposition builds over time. Marketing your classes as with latest fitness trends and adding a stylized theme to your studio can set you apart.
The idea here is to use your classes to build a community, and strengthen relationships - with and among your customers.
Check up on your members on a regular basis. Encourage them to help each other. Hold group discussions. Talk about your lives outside that fitness bubble. Get to know each other on a deeper level.
Realize that the one hour you spend together means a great deal for your client. Take constant inputs from your members. Acknowledge what they like and what they think isn’t working for them.
Listen to what they have to say.
One of the most important things a fitness business needs to keep in mind is the level of ease and convenience that should be there while dealing with any client.
This doesn’t mean that the workout should be easy or that the classes shouldn’t be hard for your customers.
What this means is that all the other aspects of the user journey that a customer goes through should be seamless.
Member On-boarding
Is your on-boarding process long and complicated? Is your website a maze that will take hours to figure out? Does every new customer need to be trained to use your studio app?
It is important that your customer smoothly settles into the routine of your studio without any major overhauls or complications.
Class Scheduling
Is figuring out the class schedule and actually booking a fitness class a task for your customers? RED FLAG.
If your members are facing problems in booking classes, they will become more and more frustrated doing so over time.
Retaining members through enjoyable and valuable classes is one thing. But how will that happen if getting those customers to the classes is itself a major pain?
Make sure that the process of getting a paying customer to the fitness class is as simple and easy as possible. Keep it short. Keep it direct.
Bookee's web-integration give your your customers the perfect online experience via three-click booking options.
Reactivating Subscriptions
Why hassle your customers to confirm their subscription plan and remind them of their monthly payments again and again?
It becomes bothersome and might even lead to doubts and second-thoughts about the same.
Whether you are a yoga studio owner or a dance studio owner, you definitely don’t want that!
This is why you can offer your customers the benefits of reactivating subscriptions by automating payments. It keeps them motivated and engaged in their fitness journey without those monthly reminders that create a doubt in their decision.
This can include setting up a CRM system that tracks and automates your members’ plans and payments. One of the greater benefits that this option provides is not more time-saved on memberships but reduction in cancellations and overall churn-rate!
Set up monthly recurring memberships with Bookee so you get paid on time - every time!
In this post-pandemic world, virtual classes have become the saving grace of many fitness businesses.
You might have re-opened your fitness studio but might still have a majority of customer-base that consumes VOD content and take online classes from the safety of their homes.
Here is where accessibility comes into play. Is your online studio equipped for a personalised fitness experience? Do you have live-streaming set-up already? Can your remote customers access your video content through studio apps?
Virtual classes have become the focal point of many fitness studios as a highly profitable option. But is your website and app prepared for such use?
Studio App
Nobody goes anywhere without their phones these days
Invest in a studio app for your business. It allows your customers easy access to the daily workings, schedules, and classes held at your studio.
Apps can become that means to interact and stay connected to your studio no matter where they are.
Such apps can also be used to live-stream classes, upload videos on demand, and keep in touch with and by your members via regular updates and push notifications.
When the outside world shut down, we switched on zoom. And now, the zoom platform is a common enough name used by all.
Many fitness businesses resorted to hosting classes over zoom to continue their practice and it still is regarded as a leading option for the same.
Bookee's native Zoom integration can help you give your customers the ultimate remote experience over zoom.
Zoom integration virtualizes your studio so you never feel confused about live streaming again.
Make your customers feel a sense of accomplishment for all their efforts. This can be done by regularly tracking their progress throughout their journey. Different metrics available on your fitness management software can help you do this.
Tracking Attendance
Tracking attendance is a great way to analyze a number of things about your customer. Both for you and them. As a studio owner, good or poor attendance can often be a sign of the level of commitment from the side of the customer, especially if it’s on the lower side.
As for the customers themselves, attendance can be used to showcase a timeline for all the hard work they have committed to. You can send them random messages with reminders or appreciation on having successfully participated or attended a particular number of classes or hours.
This lets them see for themselves how much time and effort they are putting in and see how far they have come from when they started.
Tracking Fitness Goals
Another way that helps customers feel accomplished is setting up small achievable targets and motivating them to complete them. You can track daily individual goals and also improve their level and intensity as the clients make their way forward.
Messages consisting individual statistics like -
‘You achieved your daily goal of 50 squats. Hurray!’
‘You successfully ran 2 miles today!’
‘Your average running time is more than 30 minutes since last month!’
and so forth, can prove to be a real boost up for your member's individual morale.
As much as you or your customers love the studio, it can come as a bit of a refreshing escape when you take things outdoors. It can be just a change in scenery, but a retreat can add up to be a distinctly different experience that might help your members revitalize their minds.
Organizing workshops and retreats may seem daunting if you are doing it for the first time but over time it becomes natural in lieu of providing a memorable member experience.
Workshops necessarily need not be informative, these can be physical workshops with themes that focus on one particular aspect of fitness.
They can also be shaped as group activities and team-bonding exercises that not only are super fun but allows attachment and relationships to foster in a mutually comfortable environment.
Motivation is KEY.
Your customers are your priority. It is important to make them feel that way.
This can be done by sending a simple inspiring text or motivational quote, maybe handwritten notes telling them about their progress.
Ask them questions, take their input, and make them feel included in their whole fitness journey. Once you get their feedback and act on it.
Host special courses and workshops or hold workout challenges to keep them spirited and excited about working out.
Allow them to choose the music sometime. Vibe together. Build memories together
Celebrate birthdays. Party. Work extra hard on each customer. Encourage your members to push their fellow mates.
Build a studio that feels like a welcome space and allows customers to be themselves and work towards their goals. Help them make a positive change in themselves and add value to their life.
Investing in your customer’s experience = Investing in your business’ success.
Treat your customers like they deserve to be. Be appreciative. Inclusive. You might find your business booming over weeks. In the end, you’ll have not just lifelong customers but strong friendships and an even stronger community!
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