DAVID GUNTHER: How do we convert prospects to clients in a clinical Pilates studio? We define the issues and brainstorm how we go about converting that prospect to a client and how we can do that better as a team.
When does a prospect become an actual client?
When they book for the first time?
When they buy their first pack or become a member?
We do a really deep dive in this episode.
Join us and learn from our many years of experience converting prospects to clinical Pilates clients.
Welcome to the Pilates business podcast. This is episode six of series six, which is ‘Replicating the Stars’ in your business. Our episode six is ‘Converting Prospects to Clients.’
We have with us once again, Tara, our sales and marketing manager at Pilates Can, and Claire, lead instructor and owner at Pilates Can, the same business that I am part owner in with Claire.
We'll be using Pilates Can again as an example of what to do and sometimes what not to do in a clinical Pilates studio setting, particularly, converting prospects to clients, being our topic for today.
Welcome, Claire, to the podcast once again,
CLAIRE GUNTHER: Good afternoon. Thank you for asking me to join you.
DAVID: And welcome, Tara.
TARA SMITH: Hi, it's great to be here again, David.
DAVID: Excellent. So, we're keen to get started with a review of the strategies for activating change or maintaining business as usual with your team of instructors and admin people. Everyone's on the team, and, of course, everyone's got an important role. Firstly, before you make a change or you think about or decide to do something with maintaining your business as usual with your team, it's good to prepare with a fair bit of strategy and thinking beforehand. These podcasts certainly help us to go through that thinking process and strategy process, which is what we'll be doing today.
That'll help us clarify the why and the how for these standard operating procedures and variations in the standard operating procedures as we discuss the topic and work out what might work a little bit better to improve things for us.
Then we'll look at how we can repeat the exact same messages because it is about repeating the same messages with the team so everyone's on target for the same thing, the same objective, and getting there in a very similar way.
In this process, of course, there's a lot to do with taking on constructive feedback. And so, we'll be giving ourselves some constructive feedback between the three of us, and how our processes have been working up until now, and what we've been doing differently and why we've done that over the last few years, and how we can work together.
Perhaps (we will) make some changes as discussed, and therefore take that constructive feedback and use it in some sort of constructive way. It does, as we've mentioned previously, take a significant (ammount of) time to replicate yourself, Claire. In this circumstance, we're talking about replicating what you might do in the studio with converting prospects to clients.
But of course, the big ‘why’ is why would you replicate that with your team? And the answer, of course, is that it saves 10 times the investing of effort with the outcomes that you'll get from that, probably more than 10 times. Certainly, it multiplies the effectiveness of the business.
So that's our little introduction. Any thoughts on that review there?
CLAIRE: As David said, it's important to replicate yourself because it's impossible to do everything yourself. It depends on the scale of your business, but for us in a quite large studio, commercial studio, it requires not just the owner, it requires our whole team. So yes, the duplication is extremely important.
DAVID: So, we have been using the 5-star Google review process to look at replication in the team. The 5-star Google review process, of course, is very handy for creating credibility online so that our prospective clients see us online to start with and then decide that we're probably a good option.
Once they read those reviews and see the sort of things that clients have been achieving with our help at Pilates Can, they might decide to inquire. And that inquiry usually, manifests in terms of either an online inquiry through the website, where they may or may not leave their email or their phone number.
And then we will either email them back to answer any questions that they may have had in that inquiry or we might call them back if there's a phone number there to discuss those questions with them and see if they would like to progress further with anything that we do offer. Or indeed, if we identify that they're really not interested, they're not really a clinical Pilates client. They want perhaps something else a little bit different to what we provide. So that can be discussed there.
Typically, though, the core business that we're looking for, that we offer, is that semi-private. We have lots of semi-private sessions on our websites weekly timetable, and that really is our core business.
But to get to semi-private, we have a process with, two private sessions, two one-hour private sessions with a studio instructor who can do quite a bit in those two private sessions before we would progress the clients on to semi-private sessions where they can thrive, to create their excellent Pilates exercise habit within those, following semi-private sessions.
In the initial private session with the new clients, we’ve discussed how they got to that stage. They've come through with an inquiry, through one of our online assets: SEO, the website, 5-star reviews, those sorts of things. We also have a very good, mobility health score system, where people can take a quiz and get some answers on where they're sitting, so that opens the discussion with that prospective client.
With that core offering, when the prospective client does purchase a two-pack of privates, are they still a prospect?
CLAIRE: Yes, in some sense they are, because it really is an introductory couple of sessions to find out about the client, how we can help them, what they need or want, to find out if we're both the right fit in our studio setting. Then during those two privates, we need to be indicating what the next process is.
As we're teaching them exercises appropriate for them, letting them know that this will be part of what we'll be creating for them when they're ready to go on to semis.
So yes, in that respect, there's still a prospect until they commit to having that continuing benefits for their health through Pilates on a regular basis in the semi-privates.
TARA: I think especially for clients who haven't done any Pilates before, or prospects who haven't done any Pilates before, if they've been, say, referred by like an allied health professional or something, they don't actually know what Pilates is.
They just know that they've been told what they need to do is to fix up whatever issue they've got with them, like some injury or condition they might have. It also gives them the opportunity to try Pilates before they're making that more ongoing commitment, which is what we want to get them doing anyway. But it allows them to be like, "Oh, is this going to be the right kind of exercise for what's going on with me as well?" So, it gives them that opportunity to try us out while we're also getting them ready to progress if that ends up being what they want to do.
DAVID: Very pleased to hear your responses there on that. It's important that we recognize where the client is coming from and how therefore to best look after them. And I'd also point out that we don't really make any money essentially from those private sessions, that whole onboarding process with admin and just getting them to that stage, in attracting them to make an inquiry and letting them know that we're here so that they,.... unless they've been referred directly, as was mentioned, either by Allied Health or one of our clients, which does happen quite often, we're happy to say. But often they will be also coming from the internet where they've been searching and researching to find out what best the options are for them. So yes, we're not really making any money as a business at that stage.
And of course, Pilates Can is a business and for all of the Pilates studio owners out there around the world that are thinking, "Yes, we've got a business here, we've got to make money," so, what is the next step? For us, it is those semi-privates.
CLAIRE: When we get clients started in privates, we're finding out from them what it is that they want to achieve, what brought them to Pilates, as much as they can tell us about themselves and their bodies, and we're exploring ways to help them achieve those goals, teaching them about not just Pilates, but how to feel it in their body, how to benefit these ways of moving and benefiting their everyday life in all their activities.
So yes, the first session in the private is very much an assessment and information gathering, but definitely exercises (and) giving the client some home exercises, I should say. Homework doesn't sound so great. Sometimes that turns people off, but we explain how little bits at home make a huge difference to when they come to see us. And then the second private, we continue that assessment and particularly through the exercises, finding out more about the client.
Prior to that, we've already gone through all our notes and identified ways where we want to go to in that second session and looking at how we can help the client achieve their goals and getting them ready to go into semis. And explaining that gradually, as we go through the privates and finding out, as I said earlier, if we are definitely the right fit for them and this is what they're looking for.
It takes a while to feel that private (client) is, what's that term, testing the waters, putting your toe in the water, checking out if it's too cold or you really want to be there. So it's a great learning for both the client and the instructor.
DAVID: Throughout the sales process and even through the initial inquiry there, and perhaps attracting the client to our website to consider our services, we're always letting the client know that they've got the opportunity to opt out.
We really want to work with people that really want to work with us, because that helps us help them get a result.
And so that is part of our process, and that message is given to the client. Usually, in 99 percent of the cases, it means that they do want to continue on because we're giving them the opportunity to take that decision to opt out anytime they want to. They feel comfortable with that.
We've taken away that fear from the client that we're going to try to pressurize them into coming on board with us. It's anything but that, because we certainly need to work with people that want to work with us and have the most chance of getting a great result.
So what is it in the sessions there with the studio instructor, in that private environment, with those two one-hour privates that tells you Claire, that the client, the prospective client, who we've said is a prospect still, even though they're doing a couple of privates with us, what is it that tells you that they definitely do want to go ahead into the semi-private sessions?
CLAIRE: Their engagement during the sessions. Sometimes it's hard to tell if people are enjoying things cause some people don't like to,....their personality may not show it in their voice or their face or how they're moving. But on the whole, you create a rapport.
I have to say from my point of view, and this isn't just as an owner, this is as an instructor doing the privates, I guess subconsciously I actually assume people are going to go on to semis because they've come to us with a need they're trying to find the solutions to that need. And so, in some respects, I personally find it quite a challenge, a fun, a great challenge, that I enjoy exploring ways to help them and to put all those puzzle pieces together. And so, when I'm teaching them, I am referring to that next stage just as a natural progression, but I'm certainly not making them go there.
It's really when we get towards the end of that second private, it's then up to them to make that decision. And we present the options, but I am Assuming that's where they're going because they've already explored and come to us and committed to those first two privates. But as David said, that's not necessarily for everybody.
DAVID: It is a safe assumption though to make, and a good assumption to make because it does give us that understanding that we probably will be progressing that client. We don't want to be spending our time there with clients that are not going to progress if we can help it. We'll do our best to encourage them with great private sessions and, give them a good orientation to what we do and how we do it, so that even if they're there under sufferance because they feel they have to do this to address some sort of issue with their body, some sort of, possibly a mobility issue, or a pain issue that we can help them with, then they might get a pleasant surprise in that it's not as difficult a task and it is actually quite pleasant working with, yourself, Claire, or any one of your team to help them with their objectives.
What is it that tells you that they've actually confirmed that they are wanting to go ahead with semi-privates?
If you're the instructor, how do you know that they're definitely going ahead?
CLAIRE: When we've identified days and times that they'd like to do for their semis, they might commit at the end of that second session, they might buy their first, for us it's a 12-pack of semis.
Some people choose to go on the debit option, but when they've given that commitment, and it's particularly when you can identify, you can feel when they're keen.
And when you identify the times and days that work for them and that we've got space available as well. And then we either sort that right there and then at the end of the session, or sometimes we might need some administrative assistance from our great admin team to get that bit finalized.
Even if we have done the payment for the semis at the end, there is still an onboarding side, isn't there, Tara, from the administrative team, which is very important part of the whole process. So, the client knows how to access their sessions, what to do and how to make it the best possible intro and start their excellent exercise habit.
TARA: Yeah, I think it depends on the instructor. Also, someone like yourself will usually know which sessions and times available. You can have more of that discussion with the client versus some of our other instructors who maybe only teach a couple of days a week. They don't know which days or times necessarily have space available and we're a little bit less confident in doing that sort of last stage of moving the client on.
And I think that's what this process that we're trying to come up with now is about: everyone being as confident as you, or David, or some of our other instructors, to be all at that level where they can also be doing this.
Because at the moment, with some instructors, they will just pass it on to me as the salesperson, be like, "Okay, this person has finished their two private sessions." They'll have had the discussion about what the next stage would be, but they haven't done that step of taking a payment, getting a form signed, deciding on a time. I might get like, "This person would prefer something on a Thursday afternoon," but not any sort of specific time or anything. That will be for the sales team to figure out.
And then once they have actually made that commitment, they bought that package, or they've signed the form for their direct debit, then it's passed on to the admin team, like the client service part of the admin team, for them to do the onboarding with some education, the bookings that they've made, and a bit more information about how to change their own (sessions).
DAVID: Yes, it seems to me that in terms of that confirmation of them progressing into semi-privates, it's a continuum of levels of commitment, if we can think of it in that way. The first part is, okay, yes, they seem positive. They haven't run out of the session screaming, or not turned up to the second session, or said, "I don't want to do the second session, give me a refund on that second session," which is an option that we offer, again to help the client feel comfortable, that we're not just after their money, where after helping them to get a result that they will be involved with.
So yes, they might be seeming positive. That's one level of commitment, but it's a little bit like bacon and egg breakfast on the farm where the pig says to the chicken, "I've got a lot more commitment in this breakfast than you have," because the pig's going to have to provide the bacon, whereas the chicken might provide the egg.
So that's a terrible story to tell in this context, and we'll probably edit that out. (But we didn't) But what I'm trying to say is that we've got levels of commitment there. So, the next level would be the client saying, "Yes, I would like to continue." Now that's great and that's terrific, but there's no actual business commitment from them.
They haven't put down any money. They've said they want to go ahead. That's great. That's words, but as we always do, we listen to what people say, but we look at what they do. And the doing in this case is paying their money for their package of semi-private sessions.
And that is, as I understand it, and this is what we need to discuss in some detail, the trigger for us to say, "Okay, we can write that program." Because one of the other things that we say, always in all of our media and all of our sales processes, is that we will write that personalized program once the client has decided they are continuing on. And that decision comes with payment, so that we know that they're committed.
Now, one of the things that we've identified here that we have to deal with and work with is that if the client says, "Yes, I want to go ahead," but doesn't make a commitment on the times they're going to come in because perhaps the instructor doesn't know those times, or because they don't know their (the client's) own times, or they haven't made a commitment with their payment, to put down a monetary commitment there as part of the business deal. Because we're going to provide our part of the deal, which will be to write a program.
And it's best that we write that program as soon after those sessions as we possibly can. So, it's that delay in time. If this prospect has to be followed up by our salespeople, our admin people, to then become a real client. And so it's that loss of time between the end of their second private and what happens in trying to follow them up. And everybody's busy.
Their lives are busy and we as a business are also busy with other things.
Now bringing in a new client is a priority for us, obviously, but if we have to then get in contact with them again, and actually nail down parts of the things that we should have nailed down, perhaps, on the spot, then that does become an issue because it means that we could lose that client two other pressures in their life.
Because we can't get back in touch with them so easily, eventually, they just drop off the notice board there in terms of, moving them along.
CLAIRE: Yes, our processes have changed over the years. We did have, prior to COVID, administrative support in the studio. We now have administrative team remote.
The administrative team was there to be able to do that conversion from the privates to semi-privates. And so, it was sorted fairly quickly one way or the other. And as David's saying now, if it's not done by the instructor, with the student in the private, there's a time lag sometimes just purely getting in contact with the client when they've got time to talk, when we've got time to talk.... We are looking at changing that.
And I do quite a few of the private or have been lately. So as Tara said, I just naturally do that and organize it. But sometimes I have checked as well with Tara beforehand to make sure I'm pretty sure where we've got regular time slots. So, try to have that process done because really, as David said, I want to do that program while it's quite fresh in my head, because once I do more privates and then I have to come back to a program that, you know, a week or two later for somebody, but I've seen several other people in between, it's hard to visualize that person. You know, when that body's in front of you, and I know they're a person, but when I say body, I look at how they move.
And so, I visualize that when I'm doing the program as well. So, it's a very important part for us having that initial program done and that commitment from the client so we can commit to them to do that. Because that takes time.
As David said, you're not really making money out of the privates. You've got that sales side behind it, or the administration, the instructing, and plus you've providing homework outside the home exercises outside of the session and doing the program outside the session. So, all that's coming out of that initial payment.
So, it is quite a commitment from the business, and that's why we actually don't do the programming until we have that definite commitment from the client. And as I said, that was a long way of telling you that, yes, we're looking at changing our processes a bit now that life for everybody has changed quite a lot since COVID and in everyday life and in studio settings. So, we need to keep evolving.
DAVID: And of course, to be fair, you are taking notes in the sessions, about the client. So, it's not as if we'll forget them altogether. If there's some sort of delay, we do have the ability, but it is better to be able to get onto that quickly.
And one of the really important points that you mentioned there, Claire, that we need to focus in on is that information about what sessions, semi-private sessions are regularly available in a week or two from the end of their second private session so that we can get that program written, but also so they can actually book into something that they can come along to.
So, I think that's a real thing to focus on here right now. How are we best going to achieve that if we're going to replicate that amongst the team?
So, it's not just yourself doing that, or Tara doing that in admin, or even myself doing that in admin.
How are we going to replicate that, getting that information and being aware that you need to have that information as another instructor on the team? Claire, do you have any thoughts on that?
CLAIRE: We've got SOPs. I'm joking, we’ve got to keep up on standard operating procedures. And as I said, everything's evolving, things change, life changes. SOPs, they're there to evolve, to change as needed as the business changes. So that is something that we need to have. So, it's easier for the instructors, but to go into all that now is too much, but other than to say, we need to be quite clear, brief on the new changes.
DAVID: So, we've been defining our current processes and finding out the current weaknesses in our process. Now, we can start to work out how we can strengthen our processes for everyone involved: client, instructor and clinical Pilates business.
Join us next week as we dive further into how to streamline and improve our processes to convert prospects to clients.
And of course, until then, stay awesome.
