DAVID GUNTHER: Welcome to The Pilates Business Podcast. series six, episode eight, transforming your prospective Pilates client into a real client.  And after a couple of episodes where we've discovered the problems and we've come up with various alternative solutions, we now think that we've got some really good solutions ready for trial. So, we're going to share those with you. 

It's a pleasure to get together again to share these things with other Pilates business owners, so that they can save some time, and some heartache, and have a smooth process. 

It seems like that we've been perhaps, doing a few things wrong, like not reflecting actually what happens in our schedule. We're not providing perhaps the right resources, at the moment, for what we'd like to do. And now, we're going to rectify those things. So, let's jump straight into it and talk about how we're going to change the schedule. 

What we've decided after various discussion, not just in the podcast, but outside the podcast, that we're going to create some new events on our scheduling management system. 

So, I'm going to introduce Tara, our sales and marketing manager at Pilates Can. Welcome, Tara.

TARA SMITH: Hello, David. Thanks for having me back.

DAVID: Pleasure. And we've also, of course, got Claire, the lead instructor and one of the owners, along with myself, of Pilates Can. Welcome, Claire.

CLAIRE GUNTHER: Hello, David and Tara. 

DAVID: We're going to start off by throwing the mic over to Tara, who's going to jump straight in and talk about scheduling platform changes that we've decided we're going to make,... Tara.

TARA: Thanks, David. We've decided to make some changes to the way that we set up both our initial private sessions, as well as adding a new option for prospects who want to come in and have a look at the studio, and having that actually scheduled, on our system. 

For the clients who have booked their private sessions with us already....(sorry) for the prospects who have booked their private sessions with us, we have decided to make changes to the length of our second private session. Normally, we would have two one-hour sessions that people would do with our instructors, and that was just in our schedule as starts at 11 a.m. finishes at midday, 60-minute session. 

What we've decided to do is make some changes to reflect the extra time it takes for the instructor to have the discussion with them about transitioning them into becoming an ongoing client, identifying the regular session time that works for them, and also taking the payment and letting them know about the options for payment. 

Now our plan is that we've changed the second of those two sessions to be a 75-minute session, which gives 15 minutes for the transition of the private into the semi-private client. This also reflects the time that the instructor will need to take in the studio. 

Mostly, this will be done by the instructor who's done their second private session. But sometimes, of course, we have multiple sessions that are running, and the instructor might be teaching right after the private session. 

So, we also have the option for Claire or David or even another instructor, if neither of you are there to be available to do that transition for them. In those cases, we'll have a (extra) 15-minute booking for the prospect, after the 60-minute booking of the private, but mostly it'll be a 75-minute private session with the instructor, if they don't have anything else directly afterwards.

DAVID: So, Tara, we're finally going to reflect reality, is the way I see it. We've been, not kidding ourselves, but we've been doing things in a way where we were being hopeful that we can get all these things done, perhaps in that hour session, when, really, the instructor wants to focus on the client, their health and well-being, and putting together what they need so that they can have a personalised written program.

The client wants that as well. What we're helping through this change, is setting the expectation for the client, the instructor and the business, that we are spending time on this very important process of transitioning somebody from being a prospect, just doing privates, to being a client, doing the semi-private sessions, which are our core business and the type of activity that's going to help build their Excellent Pilates Exercise Habit. 

It's a big sort of change for us. We've not ever had a session that long, I think, on the schedule before, other than a workshop, but it does reflect reality. Any thoughts, Claire, on this change?

CLAIRE: I mean, as you said, it's reflected in reality. So, it literally does take that time. We need to allow that hour that we give for a session, an equipment session, and then the admin is separate. But the biggest change is that now the client particularly expects that extra 15 minutes for the transition period, and the instructors know they have that time, and we're not trying to squash everything in. So, it should be an excellent result for everybody.

I'm sure it will work because I've done quite a few of the recent privates, and I've found it needs about 10 to 15 minutes to help the person transition from there into the semis, to go through the appropriate information. So, I'm sure it will be quite successful, particularly if the clients then expect that 75 minutes.

DAVID: That's right. That's why we're putting it in the schedule, aren't we? And putting it into all of our processes to reflect exactly what is going to happen and also to reflect what has been happening. I think we've been struggling in the past to try and get that done either within the one hour or at the end of the one hour as quickly as we possibly can.

It may be that the instructor has to go on to another session, the client has to go to a dental appointment or go and have lunch or whatever it is that they're doing after their one-hour private. So, the expectations are all incorrectly set. And it's one of the most important, pivotal times in our interaction with the client.

So, we're recognizing that and we're saying, okay, let's change that. Let's put that on the schedule. Let's create that expectation for the instructor, for the client, for everyone else that's involved with that session. 

And the next one, Tara, is for the new transition clients, the brand new prospective clients that are coming in, haven't even done a private session yet.  They're just maybe want(ing) to take a look at the studio and check out what's happening. Can you tell us a little bit about that change?

TARA: Yeah, so the other option, or the other new type of session that we're adding to our schedule, is something that we also offered, but we didn't use to schedule it formally on the system. This is a 15-minute private consultation with David, or Claire, or even again, another instructor, if neither of you are available, to discuss what happens in our sessions, the type of things that we can offer them, the type of times that we have available. 

Allowing them to come into the studio and get more of a feel for exactly what our sessions entail. Normally of course, as salespeople, we try and do a good job of that over the phone, and giving them the full story of what they can do. But sometimes it's better for them to see it with their own eyes.

Previously, we would just book these on our own personal calendars, and mostly David would have a chat to these people in the studio. One of the advantages of formally booking it, on the schedule is that our scheduling management system can send reminders to the client (prospect), as well. So, the idea is that we talk to them about it as a 15-minute discussion, but we give ourselves half an hour for that time. If it doesn't take that whole half an hour, that's completely fine but it's better to have more time in there, and not be having to rush through it. 

If you've got another booking for another consultation with another client (prospect) afterwards, you don't want them coming in and interrupting if you were just about to make the sale with that new person. So, yeah, it's free of charge. And also in order to book those, we just need the client's (prospect's) full name and email address. Normally, we'll also have their mobile number because often they've called us to make this, but for our scheduling management system, we only need their name and email to book it. 

DAVID: I find this very effective because if a prospective client is serious, then they will often want to see the studio first, see what's going on, and bring up their own objections, things that they're really not quite sure about. When they do come into the studio, and the studio is beautiful, and the activity that's going on at that time, we usually schedule these in for when there are sessions that are on, so that prospects can see what goes on.

They can see themselves in those circumstances. They can compare to, perhaps what they've experienced at a gym or at some other reformer studio or something like that. They can go, "Yeah, this is what I want. I want this personalised, precision-based Pilates where I will have a personalised program and I'll get lots of great attention from these really experienced, qualified instructors." It just puts all of their concerns about spending money to rest.  Because it is going to cost them more for their small group personal training, semi-private personal training in Pilates. It's going to be more expensive than going to a gym, of course. But they're going to get the better value out of it, and they can see that if they're half serious. So, if they're half serious, they're going to make that appointment, and then it's not going to be very difficult at all for them to take that next step.

Ninety-five percent, ninety-eight percent of the prospective clients (prospects) coming into that situation will certainly transition to becoming still prospective clients, but prospective clients who are now doing those private sessions. So, this allows us to put together those programs for them and transition them then into the semi-private sessions.

DAVID: We'll move on then to the changes on the assessment form. And again, this is a pretty big change for us. We haven't made a change like this for a little while, and there's implications in terms of bringing it more into the realm of the instructor and under their attention and responsibility by including some changes on the assessment form that the instructor is filling in with those private clients.

Can you tell us about those changes, Claire?

CLAIRE: I've done quite a few privates lately, and I realised we need to update the form because I just do not have enough space for the injuries, conditions, concerns. So, I needed to create more space there by changing things around. It's a good time to add the other bit in. I'm pretty sure we can still keep it on the two-page double-sided. Taking out a few things, readjusting them, and adding in a section where we capture the semis, days, times preferred by the client.

So, by capturing this information, this will help the instructor to complete that second session of the 60-minutes of the equipment session and 15 minutes of marrying up what the instructors already been provided with, what is currently regularly available in semi sessions on days and times, what the client is after.

Hopefully, we can actually directly match it, but often those very popular times are busy and full with regular clients. It's important for the instructor to let the prospective client know, that it's "first in, best dressed," so to speak, you need to book into the session. 

So, you can always waitlist, and people do change, they go on holidays, they might change their regular day and time, and so eventually, they probably will get their preferred day and time.  Or they might even get it quite often, and then we'll have a regular spot for them as people change around. 

So, we're trying to marry up both sides so everybody's happy, but the biggest change is that the instructor needs to be aware of that side of it, not just purely capturing the information we need to do the program. 

DAVID: In the circumstance where the instructor finds that the client isn't committing to definitely go ahead, what happens then, Claire?

CLAIRE: Well, then if they're not committing to going ahead, we let them know, then at this stage, we won't be preparing a written personalised program and that we will assume they're not going ahead at this point. We'll let our admin team know that, but we will let them (the prospect) know that they will get a follow-up the next week, in case they need any assistance, because sometimes people need a little bit more time. And that will be handed over at that point to the admin side. 

TARA: In terms of the people who are not continuing, where Claire has mentioned that they're being passed on to the admin team, we do have some automated emails as well that will be sent to them. If they're not continuing or they may be continuing, but we haven't set up something correctly in the system, then we will send an email to them.  Which means they can bring it to our attention that something's gone wrong there in that process. 

Hopefully, that won't be missed because the admin team will be so on top of it, that we would never make a mistake. But obviously, very occasionally, such things happen. But if they're actually not continuing, it'll also give them that sort of one last, "Hey, this is what you're missing out on," which might have some effect, or we might just not be able to help that particular person, for whatever reason, and then they would get that email and just ignore it. But we have some automated processes in there for people who are in that sort of situation.

DAVID: And yes, we do have nurturing sequences of automated emails that help us to keep in touch with prospective clients who have maybe not decided to continue, and also prospects that haven't even gotten to that private type session yet and haven't tried that out. 

Those nurturing automations, ...that goes back to our CRM series, if you want to go back and have a listen to that series about what we do with our CRM, Customer or Client Relationship Management software, that helps us with these automations so that we don't have to remember to follow up or keep in contact with people. 

It is valuable to do so because whilst it might not have been the best time for them, something may have changed in their life in the few weeks they're getting into the privates. They might not have thought about that continuing process very well, and any number of things could happen. Whilst most people do continue, some don't, and if they don't, it's always good to be able to keep in touch. That's what that's designed to do. 

Okay, we'll move on to what happens with our in-studio pricing. We found in our discussions that we weren't very good at presenting the pricing in the studio because a lot of that has been done via the phone through our salespeople, through Tara, or myself, getting involved with actually quoting to the client what's going to happen with semi-privates, as they move along from the privates. Then the client might forget, and the instructor doesn't necessarily know.

So, we've decided with assets that will help us, processes that will help us, to have a one A4 laminated and colored page with prices that the instructor can have with very basic pricing. The one session per week is the way we recommend for people starting. 

They can either do that as a package or a direct debit, but a package is better from our point of view, because it's less commitment for that client to have to make. We don't want to be setting them up in a direct debit if they're not going to be wanting to continue for at least six months.

So, the package gives them three to four months of activity with us so that they really will know if they want to continue. In most circumstances, that's exactly what they do. But back to the pricing, the instructor needs to know that because the instructor is becoming more involved with reminding the client, the prospect, (what) they may have been told previously in the sales process. This will also be reflected in some emails that we'll talk about later on.

The actual ability for the instructor to go to that basic pricing, have that on their clipboard underneath their assessment form, also have it in a folder that has more extensive information on pricing. Hopefully, they don't need to go to (that) or unless that client is then progressing further, later on, and they want to do two or three sessions a week, or they want to progress from packages to direct debits, which we call "pay-as-you-go" direct debit. 

And that's really a membership, in terms of other language that might be out there in our industry. So, when they make those transitions, that's not necessarily the start that people make. Hopefully, they start with a pack of 12 that will last them for about four months. They'll have the ability to extend that pack if they go away on holidays or if they're sick, as long as they notify us about that.

So, there's conditions involved with that, but it's a really good way of getting someone started on their Excellent Pilates Exercise Habit, which is exactly what we're trying to help them achieve, because that's good for them, good for the instructor and also good for the business. 

The client may want to look at that basic pricing.  It'll have some of the benefits on it, like that it lasts for four months. Sometimes, you get all of these package offers in these other studios, that I've seen where they'll say, "Oh, you can have six sessions, but you've got three hours to do those six sessions in." And that's in the fine print. 

Well, we're trying to create a habit. We don't have "sleepers" in our sort of business in the clinical Pilates studios like ours and (like) the listeners of this podcast own. We have people who we're trying to help to create an Excellent Pilates Exercise Habit, and with that, it's important to be able to have a next stage all the time, that is going to be suitable for where that person is at with their Pilates journey. 

Any other thoughts on that?

CLAIRE: Only that one of the really essential parts of this is that prior to this point, the client has already received an email with the information about the pricing, so when the instructor is talking to them, it really is just reconfirming that. So there's no surprise for either party. And that makes the transition so much easier.

DAVID: Yes, and that also brings us to other areas where we're making the pricing more transparent and easy for prospective clients, and instructors to get hold of. We're going to clarify that more on our website pages, and there'll be links from those emails to the website pages as well.

These are important changes to help make it smooth for the instructors and the clients because we're not ashamed of our prices. Maybe we have been in the past because we are more expensive. Because it is a personalised service. Maybe we've been wanting to hide that, put that on the back burner a little bit, focus on the benefits and features of the packages.

That's probably correct, but clients will often want to know, 98, 99, 100 percent of the time, they will want to know the price. So, It's best that they learn that earlier on in any case and not have to go too far down the track before they find that it's possibly not in their budget to have this small group personal training, semi-private equipment Pilates, that they can have on a regular basis.

So, that's another change we're making. Any thoughts on the website pricing, Tara?

TARA: I think, like you said, in the past, we've tried to focus more on the benefits of our sessions because some of the other sorts of Pilates that are around us have tried to sell on price. And I think that it was a way to differentiate ourselves and the sort of service that we offer, in comparison to them, by really focusing on that small group, personalised, tailored Pilates session that we offer, as compared to what other people offer. And I think you're right, people just want to know how much money they're going to have to spend. If some people are just looking for the cheapest option, we're not going to be the right place for them.

But, I think, often people just want to know how much money they're going to have to spend. Like, they don't mind spending that money if they're getting a service out of it that is really good, that's personalised, that's exactly what they need for their particular situation that's happening. They just want to know how much, so they can be prepared,...right?

DAVID: Exactly. We're not selling on price, but we're also not hiding our price because we don't want to speak to the people who don't want our services, who want a different type of service, a different type of Pilates than we provide. 

We're quite happy to filter the prospective clients out to have the clients that will recognize that this is the price that you should be paying for semi-private or personalised small group, very small group Pilates with a personalised written program.

This also takes the pressure off the instructor because the instructor doesn't have to be the one who will quote that price. And that's the important part we've identified because we are getting the instructor more involved with this transition. 

CLAIRE: It's not the best way to leave it till that stage, to be having that conversation. It creates more pressure for the instructor and for the client involved as well.

I definitely agree about the pressure, because it's almost a surprise to both parties. The client hasn't heard, the instructor  doesn't know. So, it is very hard to do that transitioning there at the time, and it's another barrier because they (the instructor) feel the client needs time to absorb that as well.

So, there's, another delay and the possibility of being followed up separately outside that time, the following week.  Whereas, to really feel the benefits of the Pilates, it is to get that all organized at the end of that second session, in that 15 minutes. So, the client knows they're all booked in, ready to go. We know we've got to prepare the program, and we're all able to develop that Excellent Exercise Pilates Habit.

TARA: We have definitely been quoting prices to them. They get pricing information sent to them in automated emails that are sent to them after their first session and before their second session. 

However, because it's not linked directly on our website, it's reliant upon the client to have actually checked that particular email and to have followed the links in that email. So, if they haven't followed the link in that email, then that's where you're getting to a stage where the instructor has to quote that pricing. 

Because what we're looking at now is having a more public pricing section on our website. Previously, we had particular pages that we link from our automated emails that we send people, but those weren't publicly linked via our website. The client couldn't check them in advance or from anywhere except via that email.

DAVID: So there you have it. We'll be trialing all of these various processes with Pilates Can, our studio in Canberra, to see what we can do to improve the experience for clients, the business and the instructors, for converting prospective clients into real semi-private clients, our core business. And we'll share those results with you. 

We'll share the failures, we'll share the tweaks. We'll share the hopefully big successes in this process. in one of our future episodes. 

And until then, Stay Awesome.