5 Quick Tips For Long-lasting Client Relationships

In this episode , I'm sharing five quick tips that will help you master the art of client nurture and build relationships that drive retention and referrals . Well , hi there , I'm Sarah . In Glenfield , I'm a business and marketing strategist just for boutique fitness studio owners like you .

If you're ready to be inspired and make a bigger impact , you're in the right place . All you need are a few key strategies , the right mindset and some support along the way . Join me as I share the real-life insights that will help you grow a sustainable and profitable studio . This is the Pilates Business Podcast . Welcome back to the Pilates Business Podcast .

This is the place to be for you teachers , studio owners and even aspiring studio business owners . This is where I'm going to share all of my insights and inspiration to growing a successful boutique fitness studio business .

If we've not met before , I'm Sarah , and I'm so glad that you're here and so grateful that you've taken just a few minutes out of your day to listen into this podcast , but also because I'm so grateful for you for investing in your own business skills .

I know that for so many of us , it's not necessarily where we are drawn to when it comes to how we want to spend our time , but it is something that is so incredibly important if we want to be able to share the love of movement that we all have with others . Investing in your business skills is incredibly important .

If you can just take just a few minutes every week here with me to pick up some tips and insights , then you are doing yourself a lot of good . Today , we are talking all about client nurture . Why , well , the key to a successful studio is really down to the relationships that you have with your clients .

Building strong and lasting relationships with your community . Those types of relationships that go way beyond just how good a single class is is what keeps people coming back . We're talking about connecting on a deeper level , perhaps even on a more personal level , about understanding your client's needs and making them feel like they are part of your fitness family .

Time and time again , when I work with studio owners , we spend a lot of time especially when I'm going through my marketing intensive program with my amazing studio owners inside we spend a lot of time talking about what makes your studio unique Over and over again , it really comes down to , often one of the things I should say that makes each of your studios so

special is that sense of community that you have inside of your studio . That is all about the way that you take care of your clients and the experience that you provide with them provide them with , I should say , and when they are inside of your studio , but also what you make them feel a part of , even when they are not in the falls of the studio .

So let's dive in . In this episode , I'm going to spill the beans on how you can on really on the art of nurturing your clients , and these are the little gems that will fuel your loyalty and bring in more and more referrals to your studio . Okay , so , if you're ready , the tip number one it's right here .

One of the most powerful ways to nurture your clients and to show them that you care is by actively listening to them . We know how important it is in this world of busy , busy , busy , busy , busy , to take the time to listen to each other . This is how meaningful connections are created , when your clients feel heard and they feel understood .

That's when they begin to feel that connection with you and your brand and your business and your studio . It's really important that you look for ways to create space and opportunity for you to be able to hear your clients and understand them and to be able to ask them the questions about how they're doing , how their day is going .

You can take the time to hear their answers and listen One of those things that I think when we start to start out in business , we do very naturally , because every client that walks through the door of your business in that first year is just like gold to you .

As you get busier and as you have more going on in your studio and your time gets perhaps a little bit more stretched , this is often the time that gets pulled and placed elsewhere . It is an important habit to get into to carve out the time in your schedule , to carve out some space in your schedule to connect with your clients .

This is not a waste of your time at all . In fact , what you will find is that this is really one of some of the most precious moments that you can spend in your business is with your clients , talking to them , understanding them before and after class .

I know it goes against everything that you've been told , perhaps , about how to run a business , which is that you should be super efficient with your time and get everybody in and out . It's dollars and money , and time is money and all of that .

The reality is that when you're building relationships and you're building a business based on relationships , those connections are so incredibly important . Take the time in your schedule as little or as much as you can to dedicate to your client relationships , because of the fact that your business is a relationship business .

This is something that I encourage you to not overlook . It's incredibly valuable for your business .

What you learn about your clients during those conversations will be helpful to you to build deeper relationships , not just with that one client or those two clients that you got to chat to yesterday morning , but to all of the other clients who are in a very similar situation or feel very similarly to them .

Practice during this time actively listening , trying to hear and understand what it is your clients are talking about and understand what they're trying to tell you perhaps and it's important to really make sure that you are dedicating your attention to your clients during that time as well .

Ask open-ended questions , provide empathetic responses , maintain eye contact , be present with your clients in this time to make the most of these little snippets of opportunity to get to connect with your clients . This not only helps you to build trust , but also helps you to tailor your offerings to their specific needs and their preferences .

Okay , moving on to tip number two , this is all about personalized communication and following up . If you've worked with me at all , you know how much of a fan of the follow-up I am .

I really it's the number one most important thing that you can do just to follow up with your clients , and I know that that is something that often is something you want to shy away from .

But when I work with my clients inside of the marketing intensive , I will show them , step by step , exactly how to create those follow-ups in a way that feels very , very genuine and authentic to your clients , so that you are very happy and comfortable with sending and connecting with them and communicating with them in that way .

So it's not push your salesy Now . These follow-ups should not sound like they are coming from an automatically generated email at all and if you've simply just switched on that button inside of your software that says send out this sales sequence or send out this follow-up , then you really are missing out on tremendous opportunity in your business .

There is a very specific way of following up with your clients and a very specific series of steps , or sequence , I should say , that helps your clients to develop a better sense of trust within you and to help to build your credibility .

And all of those things lead to more loyal clients and ultimately , if you continue down those follow-ups for long enough , also more referrals .

So it's really important to take the time to personalize those follow-ups , demonstrate your commitment to your clients and provide that those more personalized communications , and at a time that makes the most sense in their customer journey . So those two things kind of have to coordinate really nicely together .

One is you have to send the email at the right time , or the text message or the phone call , I should say as well , and you have to say the right thing right .

So you wanna make sure that you're personalizing those communications , otherwise your clients are gonna feel like they're being talked to by a computer , which is exactly what that is , and nobody likes that .

We are well beyond that in today's world and is no need for it at all , and so we want to make sure that all of the communication that you're sending from your studio feels like it's coming from a human being that is you and that is reflective of your brand and who you are . You wanna make sure that every piece of communication is that way .

So , whether that's a follow-up email or a reminder email , it sounds like your brand and it sounds like your tone . Whether that's the newsletter you're sending out each week or each month , whether that is the anything you're posting online , whether that's text message follow-up , you want to make sure that it is personalized for your clients .

When you take the time to do this , the impact of those communications are so much more significant . It is incredible to see the data behind it . It's definitely something I really recommend that you do . Personalize that communication and especially any of those follow-up emails or text messages or phone calls that you make . Tip number three I love this one .

This is my favorite , I think . Well , maybe the first one , I think , is my favorite , but okay , this is close . Second Surprise and delight your clients with small gestures when you have a community like you have of often a relatively small community . Often community is made up of anywhere between 50 to 200 people .

It's not thousands and thousands and thousands of people that you visit within your community . You have the opportunity to really make their day when you do that . That's a thing that is not overlooked by your clients . It's a thing that keeps them coming back . Look for ways to surprise and delight your clients with small , thoughtful gestures .

It really truly can make such a big impact on their experience in your studio .

Anything from giving them just a complimentary little gift , adding their name into a raffle prize , highlighting them even just acknowledging how far they've come or their commitment , playing their favorite song in the playlist , giving them pieces of branded merchandise as tokens of appreciation .

These unexpected acts of kindness not only make your clients feel value , but also create a sense of specialness , a sense of exclusivity . Perhaps that will set you and your studio apart from others . So look for places that you can do that . Look for ways you can make your clients feel special .

This is especially important for those clients who perhaps are your top spenders , are your most active or your most active referrers to your business . So small gestures , thoughtful gestures , are the key here . It's not about giving them a discount to their next package or discount off of their next membership . It's about acts of kindness .

Tip number four is about recognition and rewards . My goodness , your clients come to your studio each and every week . For some of you , those clients have been clients of yours for years and years and years , and so it's really vital to recognize your clients' efforts and their achievements over that time .

If you're not , you're missing out on opportunities to again deepen that connection and deepen that relationship you have with your clients . Sometimes it can be fun to implement a reward system or a milestones system that really is more a formal way to acknowledge progress and dedication .

It can be anything from a shout-out during a class , a leaderboard of some sort or a loyalty program with some exclusive perks . Either way , all of this works really nicely to show that you recognize and appreciate your clients and reward them for their dedication and commitment .

Remember , you may look to move your body every single day , but for some of your clients it might not be their favorite thing to do . So we want to make sure that we're acknowledging that and supporting them on their journey to stay active and moving , and on the inside of your studio .

Last tip for you One of the things that I see many studios completely overlook is asking for feedback .

Now , feedback is invaluable for improving the way that you do things inside of your business , but it also , when you invite feedback , you are opening the door to anything that comes in , and that can be a scary thought often right , and so we want to make sure that if we are gathered and I think that's one of the reasons why we tend to avoid it but feedback

is really valuable , especially when you ask the right people what you will find . If you ask everybody for all their feedback , you're going to get bombarded with all sorts of ideas and suggestions that you cannot act on at all .

But if you're smart about how you ask for feedback , then you will get perhaps some suggestions and insight that can really help you to shape the way that you deliver what you do or your experience inside of your studios in a way that perhaps might improve loyalty , might improve retention and engagement amongst your clients .

So I encourage you regularly gather feedback through surveys or suggestion boxes or even maybe just occasional one-on-one conversations with those clients you trust the most .

Now , if you do decide to act on any feedback , I encourage you to highlight that , because when you show your clients that you're listening , you're showing them that this is a relationship , that you care about their input and that you want to craft an experience for them that they are going to enjoy and they're going to keep coming back too .

So I encourage you to gather and act on at your feedback . So just a real quick review of those top five tips . Number one is make time to actively listen to your clients and make those meaningful connections . Number two make sure you follow up with personalized communication . Tip number three is to surprise and delight your clients with those small gestures .

Number four is recognize your clients' efforts . And number five is act on and gather feedback regularly . So mastering the art of client nurture is truly an ongoing process . It requires genuine care , attention and a commitment to delivering exceptional experiences .

By actively listening , by personalizing communication , surprising and delighting your clients , recognizing their achievements and gathering feedback , you truly can cultivate strong relationships with your clients inside of these studios , and these relationships will not only drive client retention but also inspire your clients to become brand advocates , which in turn fuels the growth

of your studio business . So go ahead , please go about implementing these quick tips and you will find that they will have an impact on your studio's success and so that the path to success really truly does lie in building relationships that go beyond about 45 or 55 minute movement session .

Creating a community of satisfied clients who are really enthusiastic about your studio's offering really does pay you back in bucket loads , so I hope this is helpful to you as you go about building your boutique fitness studio business .

If you enjoyed this episode today , I would love if you could go to wherever you're listening to this , take a quick minute and rate and review this podcast .

It would mean so much to me and would help to get the podcast out into our community so that more teachers and studio owners , just like you , can be inspired and encouraged on their journey in our industry . Thanks for listening . Did you love this episode and want more ?

Head to spring3.com and check out my free resources that will help you run a profitable and fulfilling studio business . And before you go , one last reminder there is no one way to do what you do , only your way . So whatever it is that you want to do , create or offer , you've got this .

Thanks again for joining me today and have a wonderful rest of your day .