Covid-19, the dirty ‘C’ word, has wreaked havoc on your studio. You managed to keep your head above water during the most difficult time, mandated closures, BUT now that your studio has re-opened its doors, you’re finding it difficult to make it back to dry land – that dry land being, of course, profitable margins.
You might be noticing that you are not getting as many new leads contacting your studio as you had in years past, and the leads who are contacting your studio may seem a little hesitant to commit. If this is the case for your studio, I am here to tell you that you do not need to rely solely on new leads coming through your doors in order to generate new revenue.
Today, I am going to outline five ways to generate new revenue inside your studio WITHOUT depending on new leads walking through your doors.
1. INACTIVE CLIENTS
An inactive client is any client that has utilized your studio’s services in some capacity but has not utilized your services within the past 30 days or longer. Thanks to Covid-19, your studio’s list of inactive clients is likely long, but don’t let this discourage you. The longer the inactive client list, the more opportunities you have for generating new revenue.
Think of your inactive client list as a gold mine of hot leads. These people are already familiar with your studio, already trust you, and are likely to purchase from you again. All you have to do is re-engage them.
You may have already been trying to do that, but if you’ve only used mass emails, you’ve been missing an important step. The best way to re-engage inactive clients is through personal contact either via text, private messages on social media, or phone calls; Skip the mass emails for this one as people are being bombarded by them on a daily basis.
Nothing replaces actual personal contact, and the great news is, things like phone calls are working now better than ever before, because people are actually answering their phones while sheltering in place. And believe it or not, your inactive clients will be eager to connect with you, human-to-human. Regardless of the method of contact, be ready to make a personal connection with your inactive clients.
Position this point of contact away from sales, too: do things like conduct mini-consults to find out what they enjoyed about your studio, why they left, what challenges they have been experiencing since leaving, what their goals are, all of which will remotivate them to return to your studio.
Once inactive clients are remotivated, offer them your studio’s Trial Offer. Giving inactive clients the chance to return to your studio on your Trial Offer, almost as if they are new clients, not only gives them a fresh start – and who doesn’t love a fresh start?! – but it also allows you to funnel those clients through your studio’s Client Flow.
(Don’t know what a Client Flow is? I explain this in detail during my Masterclass.)
Once you funnel these clients through your studio’s Client Flow, you are able to convert them to new packages. By doing so, you just added new revenue to your pot in two ways: First, with Trial Offer sales. Second, with new membership sales.
2. EXISTING CLIENTS
Your existing client list is one of the easiest ways to generate new revenue, because these people are already hot for your services. They’ve been with you for the long-haul; stood by your side during your studio’s closure, and they are invested in your studio’s success.
But if these clients are already using your studio’s services, how in the world are you going to generate new revenue from them? That’s easy! Renewals and Upgrades.
Renewals: Assuming your studio is on a recurring membership model (if not, let’s talk!), then each month, there will be existing clients whose packages are due to expire. This means that one of two things is going to happen. They are either going to renew their existing memberships, OR they are going to drop off. Obviously, your goal is to renew as many of your existing clients as possible (your studio’s client retention rate is a whole topic unto itself), so tracking expiring memberships is crucial to generating new revenue. Each month, compile a list of client memberships that are due to expire, and start planting the seeds for renewals. Schedule mini-consults, as mentioned above, with each client whose membership is due to expire to reconnect them with their goals and motivate them to continue. This will allow you to preemptively renew memberships BEFORE they expire and prevent existing clients from dropping-off. By renewing existing client memberships, you are adding new revenue to next month’s pot.
Upgrades are another great way to generate new revenue from your existing clients. Most likely, your studio offers more than one service; if not different modalities (pilates, yoga, HIIT, etc.), then different session types (groups, semi-privates, privates. etc). Clients who continue with the same routine month over month, year after year, risk losing interest and leaving your studio, so it is imperative that you offer periodic adjustments to your clients’ individualized training programs. These adjustments equate to upgrades. Upgrades come in many different shapes & sizes. You can upgrade clients to additional service modalities or session types. You can upgrade clients by increasing the frequency with which they take sessions. You can even upgrade clients by the length of their training programs at your studio. Regardless of the method of upgrade, your existing clients are primed and ready to spend more money at your studio. All you have to do is ask.
3. REFERRALS
As I mentioned during the introduction, the number of new people seeking out brick and mortar studios is drastically less this year than in years past. Is that really shocking though? Not really, considering that the threat of Covid-19 is still looming, and people are extra cautious about entering businesses with which they are unfamiliar. However, if a person has a friend or family member who has safely returned to your studio, they are more likely to give it a try. This is why having a referral program in place is crucial right now.
An effective referral program (one that converts!) not only encourages new leads to give your studio a try, but it also motivates your existing clients to continue. Studies indicate that existing clients stay longer at your studio and have better results when they train alongside a buddy, so encouraging your existing clients to refer their friends and family is a win-win. Plus, referrals who get started via your studio’s Trial Offer, and subsequently are funneled through your studio’s Client Flow, convert into long-term packages at rates over 80%!
If you don’t have a referral program in place, NOW is the time to implement one to generate new revenue.
4. PROSPECTS
A prospect is any person who has initiated contact with your studio, expressed interest, or requested more information, but, for whatever reason, did not purchase or did not come in. If you’ve been consistently tracking leads (Don’t worry if you haven’t. I can help you with that), you will already have a list of prospects who can easily be converted into new clients. All you need now is a lever (i.e.,incentive to act now) and a high-converting script to entice prospects to finally give your studio a try.
(Receive a free copy of my high-converting phone script when you attend my Masterclass).
Most likely the prospect is already familiar with your studio’s Trial Offer, so offering it again may not be enough to motivate the client to act now. However, a discounted Trial Offer or a freebie with purchase of the Trial Offer both work well. Discovering what lever works for your studio is an evolving process, so if one is not working right away, don’t give up. Simply tweak the lever until you find one that works!
5. RETAIL
Lastly, another way to generate new revenue is to sell products and studio merchandise to existing and returning clients, not just in-studio but also online. Brick and mortar retail sales saw a massive decline as businesses were forced to close during Covid-19, but that led to a huge spike in online retail sales. Now that brick and mortar businesses are reopening, in-person retail sales are steadily starting to rise. What does this all mean for your studio? Clients ARE buying, and there’s no reason they won’t buy your studio’s products and merchandise, too.
Whether you offer a special discount on branded studio apparel, run challenges that require a specific product in order to participate, or sell items that allow clients to maximize their at-home workouts via your virtual-studio (think thera-bands, magic circles, yoga mats, etc.), generating new revenue through retail sales can have a huge impact.
CLOSING COMMENTS
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
In closing, just because new leads aren’t seeking out your services the way they used to prior to Covid-19 doesn’t mean that growth isn’t possible. It just means it’s time to get creative. It’s time to leverage what (and who) is already there. It’s time to look for new revenue opportunities WITHIN your studio. If you feel stuck and need help, register for my FREE Masterclass where I walk through all of this and more (6-Steps to Peak Profitability – to be exact) to help you get on the road to making MORE MONEY!