6 Ways Mindbody Retains and Wins Back Enterprise Brands

We get it. Sometimes, the grass looks greener on the other side. But, more often than not, we see customers try other software providers and then return to Mindbody. We love feedback on what our returning customers experienced with the other providers and what they loved about Mindbody that brought them back “home.” Here are 6 common themes that we've learned:

The conversion process was a huge obstacle

The most commonly heard takeaway from brands who return to Mindbody is that transitioning to the new software was far more complex than they expected (and were led to believe). It’s easy for a sales rep to promise a smooth transition, but migration is more complicated than that.

The experience ends up being painfully time-consuming and costly—and the software truly wasn’t worth the hassle of switching over.

They didn’t account for the revenue loss

A big component of working with us is the Mindbody app. It’s got over a million monthly active users who book more than 7.9 million classes a month*. And it’s consistently growing.

This is how people find you easily, and these are the visitors you’ll convert into recurring members.

Losing that app means losing a significant source of revenue. You’re no longer visible to people who book with you or people who potentially find your business within the app. Many of our customers didn’t account for this loss when leaving Mindbody.

There might also be additional revenue loss during migration due to issues with moving credit card data over to the new software. Getting people to put their card numbers in a second time is easier said than done. Many of them simply won’t do it.

They promised, but never delivered

It’s human nature to always look for the next best thing. However, when software promises you an all-in-one, beautifully customized solution that can magically do everything you want it to, take note: This doesn’t exist.

There is no software that does it all. Every business is too unique for this to be feasible.

However, this doesn’t have to be a bad thing. What you should be getting is software that gives you room to adapt and scale, plus the support you’ll need to go with it.

And that brings us to…

The customer support didn’t come close to Mindbody’s

Our customers went to another software with the promise they’d be supported. They weren’t. What they got was a random person who was available by email only during business hours. They didn’t think to ask about what kind of support they would get because they assumed what Mindbody provides is the norm. It isn’t!

We’ve built out a large team of people who are both industry experts and Mindbody experts. They’ve worked with us for years, becoming intimately familiar with our software and businesses like yours.

When you partner with us, you know how to reach your designated support staff member. You know their name. When you call, they pick up.

This is the deep level of support that businesses need from their software in order to thrive.

The real-life experience was nothing like the demo

Getting a software demo is a good start, but it’s not enough. Sales reps can actually make demos based on what you’ve told them you want.

You need a better idea of what the software is going to look like day-to-day, which is why you should always ask for a pilot. Unfortunately, when they switched to another software, a lot of our customers didn’t.

For our enterprise brands, we actually require a pilot. We won’t ask you to invest in us until we’re both sure that it’s a great fit and we can help you meet your goals.

Another related pattern we’ve noticed is that a sales rep will tell a potential customer that a feature they’re interested in is in the works and should be available in the coming months. Unfortunately, it never comes to fruition.

Promises like these should be put in writing so you’re protected. If your software doesn’t deliver, you should receive some sort of reimbursement or have the option to terminate your contract early.

They traded one set of problems for another

It’s easy to get used to the parts of the software you love—and assume that you’ll get those same parts with new software. But this isn’t always the case.

Many of our returning customers have told us that they never anticipated that in switching to new software to get what they felt like they were missing, they lost things they loved.

And because they didn’t anticipate these losses, they had no plan for addressing them or compensating for them. When considering transitioning to new software, you should first consider what’s a nice-to-have versus what’s a dealbreaker. This will help you understand what you are and aren’t willing to part with.

Some of the best lessons we’ve learned as a company have come from customers who left and later returned. We’ve used this insight to not only create incredible software but to make for a far better experience for our customers.

We’d love to talk more and see how we might be able to help you. Schedule a demo today and tell us about your goals.

*Data reflects monthly average Mindbody app usage from Looker data reporting through July 2021