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Attract New Clients with Introductory Offers

By Lauren McAlister

Intro offers bring in new clients, but, more than that, they allow you to establish relationships with these new clients and engage with them early on. We’ve crunched some numbers and found that businesses that have intro offers attract an average of 45% more clients each month than do businesses that don’t have intro offers. Bottom line? Intro offers help you get clients in the door and retain them.

Here are a few tips on creating successful intro offers:

Encourage multiple visits

The whole idea behind an intro offer is to let new clients see what it would be like to visit your business regularly. So an intro offer including unlimited classes or sessions is the most effective because it will create a habit for these customers, something that everyone can benefit from.

Put a price on it

Try offering a monthly membership or pass at a discount of around 50%. You want to make sure that your intro offer is a better deal for customers than if they just perpetually drop-in (if this isn’t the case, then you might consider raising your drop-in rate). For appointment-based businesses, an appropriate intro offer might be a three-session package at a discount of 50%, making your intro offer a better deal than your session pack. But how low is too low? Free classes or sessions can be a good idea sometimes, but with intro offers, they don’t encourage commitment.

Set an expiration date

Intro offers are all about momentum, so it’s important to get your new clients up and running from the get-go. Set up your intro offer to expire 30 days from the purchase date (or if the intervals between your services are longer—like for spa treatments or massage—try three months after the purchase date). Point is, you don't want people hanging on to your offer; the more time that passes, the less likely it is that they’ll use it.

Deliver the details

Consumers want to know exactly what they’re purchasing, as well as any terms and conditions—especially for pricier purchases. Provide as much detail as possible about which services are included in the intro offer and which are not. You can do this in your service notes or receipt notes (both under advanced options in your pricing option settings).

Sell online and in the app

With two million people searching for health and wellness services on the Mindbody app, you’ll want to make sure that your intro offer is available for purchase in just a few steps. Remember to check the “Sold Online” box when you’re setting up your intro offer, and make sure your business is listed in the app. Customers should be able to buy your intro offer at anytime, from anywhere. Another plus to selling your intro offer in the app? When a user buys one, you’ll automatically be added to their Favorites list—so you’ll be at the top of their mind the next time they open the app.

Follow up

With intro offers, the best part of the deal for you isn’t the sale itself; it’s that the offer could result in a long-term client. So don’t forget to follow through. Assign a staff member to be in charge of following up with customers who’ve purchased intro offers, and have them check-in to see what’s working for the client, or what’s not. The staff member can use the Sales by Service report, filtered for the intro offer pricing option, to get a list of all clients who have purchased it. Then, they can reach out to these clients via email or phone. If you don’t have the bandwidth for this, you can also use auto emails to follow up.

Get customers in the door with an intro offer, and let them take a test drive at your business. If they like what they see, everybody wins.

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About the author:

Lauren McAlister

Lauren McAlister

Senior Marketing Content Specialist

Mindbody

Lauren is the co-owner of a fitness studio and a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP). Born and raised in California, Lauren has a heart for fitness, travel, and baking. She's also passionate about crafting meaningful content for others in the wellness space, which makes her role at Mindbody a perfect fit.

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