Effectively Managing the Customer Sales Journey from Lead to Close

No matter what industry your business is in, acquiring and retaining customers is always at the top of your list. Even if you are operating at 100% capacity, you must deal with customers leaving for no fault of your own. As regulations ease and life gets back to “normal," having and communicating an effective customer sales journey will help your entire staff build your studio membership. Understanding the key touchpoints with your customers will help you to handle any issues before they ever arise.

Almost every fitness studio follows the same basic pattern to acquire and retain customers. You acquire the lead from advertising on the internet, word of mouth, mailers, etc. Your goals are to get them to come into the studio to take their first class and to provide them with the ultimate experience and culture of everything your studio encompasses. You’ll try to sell them an intro offer to get them to come back. Hopefully, at the end of the intro offer, you can convert them into a full monthly membership. Then, you and your staff will do your best to make them happy, showing value so they don't cancel their membership.

During this whole process, you are talking about your brand, your culture, and why your studio is the perfect fit for them. If they do not like the class or your studio vibe, there is little that can be done to convert this customer. Studioease has developed specific tools that can make the entire customer sales journey easy.

Let's dive in.

1. Lead acquisition 

First impressions matter, especially when you are paying for leads from Facebook, Google, or mailing postcards. Being able to quickly capture a lead into Mindbody and book a class is critical to keeping the interest of that potential customer. Studioease web tools provide a simple form that allows the lead to fill out a minimal amount of information and book a class in two easy steps. 

We all know that our teachers are the best source of leads, Studioease has created a QR referral code system that allows potential customers to scan your teachers’ personal QR codes, enter some basic contact information and then, lets the customer see a list of classes for that specific teacher. This makes the booking process fast and easy.

2. New customer anticipation 

Your lead has just booked a class and is ready to see what your studio is all about. Communication is critical, a simple email about what to expect when they arrive will get them excited about your studio.  This is also a great time to talk about the check-in process, as well as provide a link to share with a friend to take the same class. This makes the process even easier as the friend simply fills out the basic contact information, and the class is booked automatically.

We only capture minimal info when they sign up, so now you can ask them to complete their profile, upload a picture and sign their liability waiver. If they do not complete these steps right away, Studioease will send an automated SMS message with a personalized link to their phone, one hour before class.

We all know that going to a new studio for the first time can be difficult and every studio gets a lot of no-shows from their first-time customers.  Our automated emails will reach out to these students, so they can instantly book a new class; keeping these leads hot and potentially in your studio.

3. First contact 

Today is the day. Your new customer is scheduled to come into the studio in two hours. Now is a great time to send them an SMS message, telling them how much you look forward to seeing them and maybe offering a free bottle of water. Your staff needs to keep that excitement up; this is a great time to confirm whether your new customer is planning on coming in or give them an opportunity to reschedule their class if needed.

Having a completed profile with a picture before they arrive means your front desk staff can greet them by name and know they are a VIP. The Studioease front desk app allows you to easily identify these VIPs by their picture and ensure they are all set and ready for class. Our staff app allows teachers to see these VIP clients on their phones before class starts and give them the extra attention they might need.

4. Awareness and intro offer

Class is over and it is time to sell those new students that intro offer. The front desk app will notify the front desk five minutes before class is over with a special page showing the images of all your VIPs so you can reach out and engage with them before they leave. Connecting with them about their first impression and creating that personal relationship is the difference between converting or losing that customer.  If they had a great time and they are ready to move forward, your front desk can sell them your intro offer and help them book that next class.

Maybe your new customer took a class that was too hard, or they did not enjoy the teaching style of that specific teacher. Give your front desk staff the opportunity to give them a do-over, and book them into a new class right away. If now is not the right time to sign-up, your front desk staff can take notes and follow up in a few days.

5. Post-visit follow-up 

The most common solutions for that post-visit follow-up is through automation: email, SMS, automated surveys, etc. These are critical to your success and quickly get information about your studio, classes, and events to all of your customers; but a phone call and voicemail from the studio thanking them for coming is a wonderful touch.

Our front desk app automatically provides this call tracking and enables your front desk staff to quickly make these calls to follow-up, creating the opportunity to take more notes and complete their conversion. This continues after their first visit; we automatically add customers to the list before their intro offer is up, after it expires, and after 30 days.

6. Conversion analytics 

Building a personalized sales journey takes time and each one is unique to your studio.  Once you have mapped out your journey and tested it for a few months, you are able to make tweaks and changes to improve your results.  Tracking your results is critical to making the right decisions, and having the data to know where your process is breaking down is easy; when everything is handled in the Studioease platform.

Here’s how to get started:

Check out Studioease’s website and book a demo. Our customer success team will guide you through the different components of the Studioease system and you can try out our solutions risk-free for 30 days.