Pricing Misconceptions: Why Your Fitness Studio Shouldn't Compete on Price Alone

Or maybe you're in a spot where you already feel like you're trapped in the race to the bottom when it comes to pricing your offers . Today , we're going to dive into this topic . We're going to be talking about why competing on price alone is actually detrimental to your growth and instead I'll share alternative strategies for your success .

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 . I'm Sarah and I'm so thrilled that you're here with me today . I'm diving into one of my favorite topics pricing .

Now , when we talk pricing inside of my marketing intensive program or my Thrive business accelerator program . I have a multi-faceted approach , and what that means is that I come up pricing from so many different angles . But one thing that I am absolutely firm on with all of the people that I work with is that lowering prices is usually not a good thing .

For most people Most people it's not a good idea , and oftentimes I see studio owners using price as a reason for why their business is not growing , and so , because of that , they're often led to believe that lowering prices is the key to attracting clients and getting some sort of a competitive edge .

But the problem with that strategy is that 99% of the time for the boutique fitness studio industry , it's actually detrimental to your long-term success .

Because I mean I'm just going to give it to you straight competing on price is kind of like a limbo dance , and the only way to win is to keep getting lower and lower and lower , and at the end of it all , it will probably just fall flat , and so I want to see you instead flip that .

I want to see you stand tall and proud of your studio , and I want to see you compete on value , on quality and on the incredible experience that you offer inside of your studio business , and not only will doing this elevate your brand , but it will also make your business more sustainable in the long run .

So I want to share with you today some of the biggest misconceptions that I hear around pricing , specifically around lower prices , and talk a little bit about why you shouldn't be competing on price alone . Instead , we're going to look at alternative strategies that focus more on value , on differentiation and on building those also important strong client relationships .

I'm going to start with the most common myth I hear , which is that lowering prices guarantees more clients . This is a really common misconception that the lower your price point is , this will automatically just bring new clients into your studio .

I see it often this is the first thing that we use , the first tool we often turn to when we want to get new clients or when we want to generate additional revenue . We turn to price . Maybe some part of our brain is saying , yes , drop those prices , more clients will buy . Here's the thing about doing that .

A lower price point might generate some interest , but we have to be thoughtful about our long-term goals . When you drop your prices or you do deep discounts , you often attract very price sensitive people , people who are more concerned about the price point than they are about the value or the results or the experience that you offer .

They may also be so price sensitive that they may not be as committed or loyal as you would want your clients to be . Typically , our goal as a boutique fitness studio business is that we want clients that are loyal to our business , that stick with us for the long term , that refer their friends to us . We don't want people really .

We want to be a little bit selective about who we are attracting into our business and we want to be careful about bringing in people who are so price sensitive that they start to perhaps studio hop .

If you bring in people who are price sensitive , you may find that they are not as committed or loyal , and this can lead to a client base that is perhaps constantly looking for the cheapest option , perhaps even undermining your profitability as well as , obviously , that long term sustainability of your business . So what should we do instead ?

While you've heard me say this before , and if you've worked with me in any capacity at all , you know that I'm a huge fan of focusing on value and differentiation . Right and so , instead of competing on price and using price as the only thing that makes your studio stand out .

I would love to see you focus on what makes your studio unique and that unique value that you offer , and differentiating your studio from competitors by emphasizing , for example , the quality of your instructors , their experience , perhaps , the variety or the effectiveness of your classes , the incredible experience you give to your clients , the community you have , and so

on . Highlighting these and knowing how to present these in position your studio in a way that just actually distinguishes you as separate and unique from your competitors . Well , help move , or what move , and shift the focus away from price and help to bring in clients who perhaps might be more focused on some of those things as well .

Okay , so it's a complete myth that lowering prices guarantees more clients . In fact , what it often does is leave you feeling a little bit empty and it leaves you feeling with feeling a little bit perhaps frustrated with the profit level of your studio . So we don't want that . Instead , let's focus on value and differentiation .

Okay , now I will also want to address the another misconception that I hear often , right , and this is around what price represents to people , and often time , we often associate higher prices to better quality and value , right , and it does influence . It does influence perceived value . Pricing truly does .

Many people , I will say , and I don't think this is true for everybody , and I , you know , I think , when it comes to pricing , we also kind of opening up the door to everyone's money story , right , and what money means to you , and and all of that , and that's a whole of the topic and conversation .

But for some people , pricing influences the perceived value , but it is usually not the soul determining factor , right ?

Because what we found , what I've seen from working in marketing messaging in the boutique fitness studio space for 10 years now , is that clients evaluate value Based on their experience , on results , on customer service , and all of that combined , and what I find the biggest issue is that there is perhaps a lack of communication around some of these unique features

and some of the benefits that your studio Offers your clients , right , in order to perhaps give a little bit of context to your price point . Does that make sense ? So it's all about how you position and how you message what your pricing is , and so what we want to do is we want to educate your clients , right ?

We want to have clients that are informed , and so we want to educate them on the value that they will receive by choosing your studio , and so there's lots of different ways you can do that .

I teach every single one of them inside of my marketing intensive program , which has just kicked off , and I'm so thrilled for all of the studio owners inside who are gathering all of this information and actually putting it into action immediately with messaging that actually works , and so we want to make sure that we're using that messaging in the right way to

show your value to your clients and to show your clients why your price is the right price point for what they are getting in your studio . Now , the other problem with competing on price is that it does not create sustainable growth .

So what I mean by that is that what we see is that , yes , you know , there is often a huge spike in revenue when you do a huge discount . You might get a lot of people coming in and buying that deep just deeply discounted package or membership , and that might make your numbers for that month look fantastic . Right , you might see that huge spike in revenue .

You feel really good about that , but the problem is it really leads to long-term growth , so we don't see people coming and buying at that rate over and over and over and over again , in a way that leads to increased profit levels in your business .

So what we find is that often , when you are competing on price and there are times when you might do it , for example , during a Black Friday sale or a holiday sale or anniversary sale you might see big spikes in revenue as a result .

Great , these are short-term gains , and when I work with studio owners , I'm not looking for short-term gains 100% , but I'm also looking to make sure that we are setting up this business for a long-term success , which means that we want to make sure that we aren't shooting ourselves on the foot when it comes to using discounts and promotions to drive revenue .

And it might sound great to have made this much money or that much money or five figures or six figures on Black Friday , but the rest of the year might be a little bit slow and a little bit quiet and you might be setting yourself up perhaps for not so much success long-term , because in a price-driven market , what happens is those clients who might have bought

your promotion , your deep discount , during that event are also more likely to switch to a cheaper alternative when it becomes available as well , which means that you might end up having a higher churn of clients , which makes it really hard to build that very loyal and very engaged community .

So just a little word of warning there as we head into the holidays and thinking about what we might want to do to create some buzz in our studio or generate additional revenue , just be thoughtful about the precedent that you are setting for your clients .

So what I found is that competing on price doesn't usually create long-term sustainable growth , although it doesn't often give a little bit of a boost in revenue .

So instead , what I recommend if this is something that you've seen and that you are concerned about in your studio is that you focus on building strong relationships with your clients , and you know how to do this better than anyone else , because if you have founded your business and you have been the one working with them and you have built the relationship with

them , then you know how to create a supportive and inclusive community that fosters a sense of belonging . There are many different ways .

You can do this through offering rewards and loyalty programs and incentives to encourage attendance and retention and referrals , and so by nurturing these relationships , you can foster client loyalty , increase retention rates and therefore create that very sustainable foundation for long-term growth , which is what I wish for all of you .

Okay , and I kind of want to just cover one other . I don't see this come up as much in this industry , but every now and again someone will come along and say , hey , but wait a minute , if I have price lower , then more people will buy and then I might make more money .

And this is a common assumption , in that lower prices will actually result in more income for you because of an increase in volume of the number of clients that come into the studio . And I will say a couple of things about this .

Number one is this is a business model that works in , a business that is able to scale and leverage its costs , its operational costs , leverage its staff costs and all the other costs , in that , for every client that you add , you may not be adding more expenses , right , but typically in the Boutique Fitness Studio , you are limited by the number of clients that

you can have in your studio at any one time , and you are often seeing an increase in costs with an increase in clients often not always , but often and so lower prices doesn't necessarily mean that you're able to create enough volume that might then lead to that increase in profit or revenue that you might be looking for .

So , instead of just using lower prices as a potential way or a way that you might want to use lower prices to get perhaps more money in your pocket , I would instead I would focus on optimizing your pricing strategy and I would think about how you can structure your pricing model , and there are many ways to do that .

There is not just one way to price your offers . There is not just one way to price offers successfully , but there is probably a pricing model that will work best for the way that you work with your clients and the packages that you sell , and it will look different from studio to studio .

So , rather than lowering prices , I would say , focus on your pricing strategy .

So perhaps , look around at the pricing landscape , look at your pricing model , look at the way that you're working with your clients , look at your data and think about how you can present your pricing and optimize it so that it creates as few bumps in the road for that customer journey as possible .

So you want to make sure that you are able to provide a purchase path for your clients that is seamless and as easy as possible , and that means that from the minute they find you to that time , they bought their 50,000th session or package or class from you , in whatever shape or form .

That looks like that , every step along that journey , their ability to buy from you is as easy as possible .

So I hope that helps to clear up , adjust , a few things for you when it comes to pricing and specifically when it comes to considering lowering pricing and I want to , instead of thinking about your price as the only tool you have in your pocket to market your business and get new clients in the door , I want you to use these other tools that actually are

better for your business . So , focusing on value and differentiation , educating your clients on this and building those strong relationships , and then , behind the scenes , making sure that you are refining and optimizing your pricing model and strategy . So there you have it . Competing on price alone is a myth .

Truly it is , and it does 100% undermine the long-term success of your boutique fitness studio .

Many people come to me when they have been using price and it has not worked , and we get to work immediately on transforming their marketing strategy , their pricing model and everything in between to make sure that their entire business is optimized and that they are optimized for more profit and more success and more fulfillment .

And when you shift your focus to value , to differentiation , to client relationships and to that optimized pricing strategy , you will build a thriving studio business that attracts clients who really appreciate the unique benefits of what you have to offer .

Success in our industry , especially in the boutique fitness industry , is not about being the cheapest Remember , everyone can work out for free but it's about delivering exceptional experiences , exceptional results and exceptional value .

So I encourage you to consider these alternative strategies and use them to pave the way for more sustainable growth , more long-term growth , more stable growth and profitability for your studio . So I hope this is helpful to you as you go about building your boutique fitness business .

If you enjoyed this episode , please take a minute , go to wherever you're listening to this and rate and review this podcast . It really would mean so much to me and would help to get the podcast out there to our community so that more teachers and more studio owners can feel encouraged and supported on their journey in our industry , just like you do .

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 .