Studio 4 Pilates Success Story

MINDBODY spoke to Amy Hoffmann to find out exactly what Studio 4 Pilates implemented from MBU to see such awesome growth during an economic downturn.

MBU: Tell us a little bit about Studio 4 Pilates. Amy Hoffmann: Studio 4 Pilates is a single-location Pilates studio located in Half Moon Bay, California. We offer floor and equipment classes, private appointments, teacher training, workshops and a studio boutique. On average, we see between 200-400 clients per week, many of which are repeats. We've been in business for almost 6 years and using MINDBODY for just over 1 year. We signed on with MINDBODY in May of 2008.

MBU: When did you attend MINDBODY University? Amy Hoffmann: We attended MINDBODY University right after we signed up for the software, in October 2008.

MBU: Why did you originally attend MBU? What were your hoping to gain by attending the intensive? Amy Hoffmann: We were looking for everything MBU had to offer, including hands-on training and a better understanding of the software system, business theory and best practices to increase profitability, and one-on-one time to address areas specific to our business. The topics we were most interested in were Accounting & Payroll, Getting our Clients Online, Marketing, Scheduling, Client Retention, and Trend Analysis/Financial Reporting. We were also looking for the opportunity to get away from the teaching part of the studio to focus on how to better run the business part of the studio.

MBU: How did MBU help you change your business and take it to the next level? Amy Hoffmann: We implemented the following strategies and software functionalities after learning about them at MBU:

• We created and circulated a simple postcard from Vistaprint that advertised 50% off of an introductory private session. Just ordering the postcards forced us to do much of the following...
  • Get out into the community. We scheduled monthly time at the local farmer's market, we started going to Chamber of Commerce events, and we carried the new post cards with us to pass out.
  • Systemize our introductory session procedure. We outlined a specific 55-minute session that is essentially the same for every person that walks through the door. It is written up and laminated and our teachers use it for each intro session. Intro offer sales have increased 51% over the last 3 months!
  • Create a segue from intro session to consistent Pilates practice. We give each client a discount on anything purchased the day of their intro session. Usually, people opt for the starter series (which is our step 2), three private sessions and three group classes.
  • Create another introductory path into the studio that doesn't require a private session. We reinstated our Pilates 101 class as a 3-week workshop (again, totally systemized).
• We were not using the integrated merchant account processing system. But shortly after seeing its benefits at MBU, we added that feature to our system. This changed our lives dramatically! Having a merchant account enabled us to fully automate our memberships with AutoPays. It was all so easy! We have also encouraged many of our frequent and consistent clients to sign up for AutoPay which has created hassle-free payments at the end of their series. AutoPay sales have increased by 100% since February 2009. This has definitely contributed to increases in revenue.
• I am now using the Constant Contact Integration to send a monthly newsletter. I can't believe it took me this long to use this!
• We redesigned our website based on recommendations from MBU. I have refined it since then, but the basic idea was born during MBU, in the motel bed on the laptop! We use all of the following: call to action on front page of website, sign up for e-mail list, allow online booking, encourage online booking, clear and concise pricing on website and Google Adwords.
• We use Auto Emails to remind clients of expiration dates or sessions remaining. Appointment confirmations are great too.

MBU: What do you find are the major challenges as a business owner? Amy Hoffmann: All of the following are major challenges:

"Our business has done amazingly well in this economic climate and very often people ask me how we are possibly doing it. I reference MBU and the seeds that we planted back in October. We are certainly reaping the benefits!"

• Making my business financially viable/profitable
• Increasing net profit
• Time management
• Teacher/"talent" management
• Marketing
• Client retention
• Systemizing overall operations
• Using MINDBODY to its fullest

MBU: Do you feel like MINDBODY University has helped you surpass some of these challenges? Amy Hoffmann: YES! I feel like MBU gave us a roadmap to meet these challenges. The experience also just gave us space away from the daily work of teaching and putting out fires to get a clear perspective on the business and make specific plans to achieve our goals.

MBU: Is there any advice from MBU that isn't well known or that you would recommend to other business owners? Amy Hoffman: Well, for us, I think the critical thing was integration. Our intro program is a perfect example. We used the marketing advice we received at MBU to get new people to sign up online, which we refined with the advice on making the online system work for us. Next, we used the business advice of SYSTEMIZE (through the recommended reading from MBU) to create a formal, step-by-step process for keeping these folks. Then, they usually sign up for membership where we use our savvy AutoPay system. A lesson learned from MBU was that being amazing at marketing doesn't really help unless we had the other pieces of the puzzle in place. It works better to take it one project at a time and see it through to the end, perfecting each small piece of that project. That takes integration of all the system pieces, which improves your grasp of the system and enhances your overall business each time you have a project.

MBU: What lies in the future for you and Studio 4 Pilates? Amy Hoffmann: We just opened our Studio 4 Pilates Boutique, so I'd like to really focus on making that a shopping destination for local folks (we have no other workout wear clothing in town). We're working on our presence in the Bay Area as a go-to studio for continuing education. And, of course, we would love to be at maximum capacity and maximum efficiency in our privates and classes. With another trip to MBU, I'm sure we'll get there!