June 30, 2025 • 24 mins
In this episode of The Pilates Business Podcast, host Seran Glanfield tackles a hot topic for boutique fitness studio owners: late cancel and no-show fees. If you've ever felt awkward charging these fees — especially to your loyal clients — you’re not alone! With cancellation policies now becoming the norm in the industry, how you structure and communicate yours can make a huge difference to your studio’s revenue, retention, and community culture.
Seran shares what’s working at top studios across the U.S., how to balance fairness with accountability, and the simple steps you can take to protect your revenue while keeping your clients happy. Whether you run a Pilates studio, barre, or yoga business, you’ll walk away with practical ideas to streamline this tricky area of operations.
Tune in and discover how to confidently implement a cancellation policy that supports your brand and strengthens client relationships — without the stress!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Have you ever felt awkward about charging a no-show
fee when a loyal client cancelslast minute or, worse, just
doesn't even show up at all?
Well, you are not alone.
In fact, late cancel andno-show fees have quietly become
the norm in boutique fitness.
But the way you handle them canmake or break the relationship
(00:23):
that you have with your client,as well as your studio's bottom
line.
So today I'm diving into what'sreally happening behind the
scenes at top studios in NewYork, la and across the US and
beyond, and what you can learnfrom them.
Now you might be surprised atjust how strict some studios are
(00:46):
and how others strike a balancebetween policy and grace.
Well, hi there, I'm SarenGlanfield.
I'm a business and marketingstrategist just for boutique
fitness studio owners like you,if you're ready to be inspired
and make a bigger impact.
Owners like you If you're readyto be inspired and make a
(01:09):
bigger impact, you're in theright place.
All you need are a few keystrategies, the right mindset
and some support along the way.
Join me as I share the reallife insights that will help you
grow a sustainable andprofitable studio.
This is the Pilates BusinessPodcast studio.
(01:30):
This is the Pilates BusinessPodcast.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Pilates Business Podcast
.
I'm Sarah Glanfield and I amhere to help studio owners just
like you, to simplify yourmarketing, streamline the
operations and scale your studiobusiness without overwhelm and
without burning out, because Iwant you to integrate smart,
sophisticated and strategicactionable items into your
(01:54):
business so that you can stopspinning your wheels and
actually enjoy what you do.
Right, that's what we're hereto be on this planet to do Enjoy
it all.
Now, today's topic is one thatstirs up a lot of feelings.
Okay, and you know there's beena bit of a shift in the
industry recently in this, andit kind of came to my attention
(02:15):
when I got a call from ajournalist who was writing for
one of the largest newspublications in the country and
wanted to know my thoughts oncancellation policies, and I
kind of shared with her mythoughts and I thought you know
we should talk about this in thepodcast because I talk about it
all the time with my studioowners inside of Thrive what the
policy is, what I recommend andhow to make sure your policy is
(02:39):
aligned with your client, yourbrand and your experience, and I
also have a playbook for it forall my members as well, it is
one of the things that we justwant to make sure we have right,
we have down, and then it kindof does its job for us.
Now, if you're like many studioowners, though, you've probably
wrestled with some questionsaround that policy, around late
(03:01):
cancel fees, around no-show fees, and those questions often are
things like how strict should mypolicy be?
How much should I charge?
How should I enforce it?
Should I always enforce it?
And then, how do I communicateit without scaring clients away?
Now, the thing is that havingclear and consistent
(03:21):
cancellation policies is notabout punishing clients.
Actually, it's about protectingyour revenue.
It's about respecting the otherpeople in your business, your
other clients and their time andtheir effort to want to be a
part of your class as well, andit's about also about, to some
degree, creating a bit of aculture of accountability.
(03:44):
Now, without a solid policy,you actually risk losing
thousands of dollars a year inthose empty class spots, but on
the flip side of that, I willadd that if you're too rigid,
you could alienate your amazingclients that you love and want
to continue to work with, andperhaps even hurt your attention
(04:05):
long term.
So I thought it might be a goodidea for us to break down some
of the things that we're seeingand I did a little bit of
research ahead of this episodebecause I wanted to share with
you some data points as well butI want to talk about what's
typical, what's changing orchanged and perhaps how you can
also adapt some of theseinsights for your studio as well
(04:27):
.
So let's talk a little bitabout what we see and why this
policy even exists at all, andthe problem that I'm seeing
right now is that many studioowners may have some kind of a
policy but are perhaps hesitantto enforce it.
They're worried about upsettingclients, or maybe they feel it
feels a bit mean to them, and Itotally get it, because you have
(04:51):
built your studio onrelationships and on that sense
of community.
But the reality is is that whatwe're seeing on a bigger scale
in this industry is that thesefees are now standard.
They are a baseline.
In fact.
We're not just seeing them inboutique fitness, we're seeing
them in other industries as well.
(05:11):
I'm seeing hair salons alsorequire no-show or late cancel
fees to be paid as well, and sowe're seeing it in lots of
different places.
Clients now actually begin toexpect them, and especially if
they're booking with some morelarger franchise chains,
national chains we do see thatthis is just very much the
(05:35):
standard and clients understandthe way it all works.
Now the problem is that withouthaving a clear policy in place,
you could end up with emptyspots in your class, and empty
spots often can mean lostrevenue and, worse, if you have
a waitlist system, someone elsecould have taken that space if
(05:56):
the clients had canceled earlier.
So one perhaps missed reformerspot or a class spot here and
no-show there can actually addup fast over time.
So I want you to consider thefact that these no-show fees or
late fees are not about beingpunitive.
They're actually aboutreinforcing commitment and when
(06:18):
you position them that way andyou position them in a way that
sort of encourages commitment,and you are very clear and very
transparent with the way thatyour policy works, you'll find
that your clients actuallyrespect the boundaries.
Now some of the biggest namesin our industry have completely
(06:38):
embraced this.
It's been that way for many,many years.
They communicate the feesupfront, they automate the
enforcement and they still havereally strong loyalty.
And it's because clients valuethat fairness, they value
knowing the rules of the game,they understand how it works and
they know how to work with itand integrate that into the way
(07:02):
that they schedule theirsessions and integrate that into
the way that they scheduletheir sessions.
So, before we continue, I wantyou to just think about whether
your current policy is actuallyprotecting your revenue of your
business or perhaps leaving itvulnerable.
Okay, just have a think aboutwhether or not your policy is
protecting your business orperhaps your revenue is
(07:22):
vulnerable to a high level ofno-shows or late cancels.
Okay, so let's talk a littlebit about the trends and what's
normal in today's market.
So you know, if you've got astudio where you have a
(07:45):
cancellation, a late cancelpolicy you may have.
If you're a private sessionstudio and you're offering
private sessions, if a clientlate cancels or a client
no-shows, it's usually a loss ofthat session.
That's typically the way thatwe have seen traditionally that
work.
That's typically the way thatwe have seen traditionally that
(08:07):
work and that's often what I'mstill seeing in place and, as
long as you are transparentabout the way that that works,
it's actually very simple andstraightforward late
cancellation or no-show policy.
Now things start to get a littlebit more interesting when we
have got membership type offersin place and that's where we
(08:28):
have these sort of two tieredfees for a late cancel and a no
show.
So a late cancel fee, just toreally be really, really clear,
is where someone does actuallycancel but they are charged a
fee because they're perhapswithin the window of the late
(08:48):
cancel, the cancellation window,and they still pay a fee, but
they still can cancel theirsession.
They pay that fee.
Now there is also then aseparate fee that is called a
no-show fee, and this no-showfee is, as perhaps the
description kind of indicates,is that's when clients simply do
(09:09):
not show up to class at all.
They're not late canceling,they just don't show up at all.
See, is that we're seeing acouple of different kind of.
We're seeing quite a fewdifferent ranges across the
country and in various brandsand depending on what the price
point is for a membership and aclass, et cetera.
(09:29):
But I typically see that thelate cancel fees range from 10
to $20.
And then the no-show fees rangefrom 15 to30 or above, right,
so they can be even higher than$30, especially if it is a super
premium experience or studio.
And now these are different.
These are mostly these are forclass-based businesses.
(09:50):
This is not typically for yourprivate sessions.
Like I said, for a privatesession, typically you'll lose
that session, and the reason whyis because in a class someone
else can very easily take thatspot and be paying full price.
And the reason why it becameeven more of a problem is that
we've seen a rise of unlimitedmembership options for classes
(10:12):
in the boutique fitness space,and when we have a very limited
capacity in those classes, thenwe often then are sort of at the
whim of whether or not someoneshows up if we don't have a late
cancel or no show policy inplace.
Now what we're seeing is thatcertain brands of franchises and
studios are absolutely upfrontabout those fees, and clients
(10:36):
know the way that they work, sothey know that if they late
cancel, they're paying this fee.
They've already paid theirmembership for the month.
This fee is in addition to thatmembership price.
So this is now becoming a bitof a norm across many studios
and so clients are to somedegree expecting it in some
cases.
The degree to which people thatthe price point and whether or
(11:04):
not there is a late cancel and ano show fee, um is very much
dependent on the brand and thestudio itself.
Um, but I did want to sort oftalk a little bit about the
numbers themselves, becauseobviously, if you have a late
cancel scenario, you can stillfill that spot, perhaps with a
wait list.
If you have a no show scenario,you can still fill that spot,
perhaps with a waitlist.
If you have a no-show, you knowobviously that you you cannot
do that.
So there is.
That's why that there's thatdifference there.
(11:31):
Okay, now what is the window?
That's the next question Ithink you're wondering is like
what does the cancellationwindow look like?
Well, for a private session forPilates, you know, 24 hours is
still absolutely the minimum.
I do see some studios be alittle bit longer than that, um,
but typically 24 hours ahead oftime is still pretty much the
standard for a privateone-on-one session.
For other modalities, say forspin or for yoga or for bar, it
(11:56):
really, really ranges.
So we see everything from twohours to, you know, perhaps 12
hours, and I would say that forthose larger classes it's
usually a much shorter timeperiod so that you're able to
sort of bring people in and outquite easily.
It still is still a policy thatis has less, is less impacted
(12:19):
by a specific number of peoplein class as long as you have
enough people in the class,right, again, we start to see
these policies be integrated andimplemented because of the very
limited nature of some types ofboutique fitness studios aka
hello, my Pilates class, myequipment class, pilates studios
(12:40):
.
So these are the classes thathave anywhere between sort of
six to 12 pieces of equipmentand for that we are seeing
cancellation windows be anywherefrom that 24 hours before to
about 12 hours before, dependingon, you know, the size of the
studio, et cetera.
Okay, so if you, you know, thisis something that we're starting
(13:03):
to see and again, it reallyvaries, as you can tell.
Like I can't give you a numberfor a late cancel fee or a
no-show fee or a cancellationwindow, it does really vary
across the board.
I was trying to get you anumber, a recommendation, I
couldn't get to it.
But it is about your clienteleas well.
We have to take intoconsideration your behavior of
your clients, their expectations, you know, and also your
(13:26):
willingness to really, to reallyenforce your policy, because I
will say that the number onething is that you are willing to
enforce the policy that you set.
Okay, so you might have beenthinking a little bit about that
you set Okay.
So you might have been thinkinga little bit about will this
upset my clients?
I want you to remember that weare seeing these types of fees
(13:47):
pop up in various differentplaces and that it is becoming
more of the norm than everbefore, and so, to some degree,
the market is alreadyconditioned to this, and I would
say not having a policyprobably will hurt your business
, and not consistently enforcingit will also hurt you in the
(14:10):
long run, because it's probablygoing to put you in a very
tricky situation.
So now, when it comes to sharingyour policy, I'd say this is
where many studio owners trip up.
Right, even if they have apolicy, perhaps they don't
communicate it clearly, but thelarger big players, the big
franchises out there they arereally good at this they put
(14:33):
those fees in the membershipagreement, at the signup,
they're highlighted in bookingconfirmations and in many of
those reminders that they mayget, and so there is no missing
this policy if you are a memberof a larger chain or franchise,
and the reason why is becauseclients do forget.
In fact, they only want to lookfor that policy if they are
(14:59):
planning to cancel, but theyneed to see it in lots of places
to know that they need tocancel ahead of time first.
So what we want to avoid andwhat the worst case scenario is
that we don't tell clients aboutpolicy and then they are
surprised by a fee, becausethat's when we start to see
complaints trickle in or perhapscome in big waves.
(15:23):
So the more transparent you are, the more clients will respect
the policy and you'll face fewerconflicts, and I would say, for
the most of us, that's a reallygood place to be.
So I want you to make sure that, if you have a policy, I want
you to consider whether yourcommunication around that policy
(15:43):
is clear and consistent atevery touch point.
Or do you find that clients tryto negotiate, get surprised
when they're charged a fee?
If so, then that might be alittle bit of a sign that you
might want to be a little bitmore clear and a little bit more
consistent, want to be a littlebit more clear and a little bit
more consistent.
(16:03):
Now, one of the most interestinginsights was from the research
that I did and from theconversations that I've had over
the years with studio owners isthat even the strictest brands,
where they have got really Imean some of the research showed
that some studios are reallyreally strict and quite
aggressive with their latecancel and no-show fee structure
(16:26):
.
It actually kind of surprisedme in some scenarios.
But even the strictest brandsdo tend to build in a little bit
of grace.
And you know, ultimately, asyou've heard me say here over
and over again, we are buildinga relationship business and that
means that we do have torecognize that things happen.
(16:48):
You know our clients.
They get sick, their kids getsick, they may have to go to the
ER.
I mean, this happens to mequite often.
Where there are people in myworld, whether it's my kids or
my studio owners, friends, kids,husbands there is some medical
emergency and in that scenario Idon't know that we always want
(17:08):
to be charging people for thatin that scenario, right, and so
there is a little bit of graceto this because we are in a
relationship business and wewant to give a little bit of
grace to our clients in thosescenarios as well, because
ultimately we want that clientto continue to come back.
(17:29):
So we want to have thatstructure and that policy.
We want to be clear andtransparent around it.
We also want to incorporatehumanity into this too, right,
and so you want to give a littlebit of discretion, to offer
some flexibility when it makessense.
(17:49):
Now you're going to get therepeat offender.
You're going to get that clientwho has the unlimited
membership and books into aclass every day and then decides
which one they're actuallygoing to go to and they only
come to maybe half of theclasses they've booked.
I'm not talking about givingthat client this type of grace.
I'm talking about the clientthat comes really consistently,
(18:10):
who is very respectful of yourcancellation policy, who calls
you scrambling at the lastminute with their emergency and
why they can't come, and you say, hey, just because I know you
wished you could be here, and Iappreciate you letting me know
and I'm so sorry that whateveryou're going through you're
going through you know I willnot hold you to the cancellation
policy this time.
Okay.
(18:30):
So this is where you're able tosort of really keep that
goodwill high but alsoprotecting your credibility for
perhaps future scenarios of thesame thing, right?
So it's not about beingpunitive, it's not about being
super rigid all the time.
It's about having very, veryclear rules but also having
(18:51):
thoughtful flexibility.
Okay, so you might want to justthink about when or how you
might to waive a fee here andthere and think about when it
makes sense to strategically dothat.
Okay, I do think that's quiteimportant and I always encourage
you to think about yourbusiness in this way, because
(19:11):
you know we are, you know we arebuilding communities here,
right?
So let's bring all this fullcircle.
The big picture here is thatthis isn't just about the fee
itself.
It's actually about building abit of a culture of commitment,
of respect for each other.
Each other's time, their valueand other clients at your studio
spot in class matters and thatthey are accountable for showing
(19:44):
up.
You actually increaseengagement and loyalty and what
happens often is that clientstend to respect your studio more
.
And, from a business standpoint, automating the enforcement
really does protect your revenue.
It takes you out of theconversation as much as possible
and you can literally reclaimnot only thousands of dollars a
(20:06):
year in revenue but also a lotof admin time for you and, on
top of that, even keep yourclasses full and that wait list
moving, which is always a goodthing.
Okay, so let's do a quick recap.
Big takeaways today.
Number one is late cancel andno show fees are a standard in
(20:29):
class-based boutique fitnessstudios.
Clients know they're there,know to perhaps even expect them
.
We see the range of feesvarying between anywhere from 15
to 35 plus dollars, and thecancellation window is sort of
(20:49):
between 4 to 12 or 24 hours.
Actually, I would say for somestudios I saw Mostly most
class-based businesses between 4to 12 hours.
Okay, now, this is notnecessarily for you to then say,
okay, that's what I have to do,sarah, and said on the podcast,
that's what I should do.
Not at all, not at all.
Your cancellation policy,window and fees is going to be
(21:11):
unique to your business.
I just wanted to share the data.
Okay, now, when you have apolicy and I do think you should
have a policy then it's reallyimportant and this is a
recommendation that you areclear with that and that you are
transparent about it and thatit is shared openly with your
(21:32):
clients.
You're not hiding it becauseyou're worried about it.
You're actually open with it,and so I also want to just
(22:00):
remind you to integrate a littlebit of humanity and grace into
your policy around.
Make sure that your team hasthe power to enforce the policy
or be flexible with it as well.
So, if you've got a front deskteam, make sure they know when
they can waive the fee and whenthey can't.
All right, can waive the feeand when they can't All right.
(22:23):
Now, like I said, we talk aboutthis inside of Thrive all the
time.
In fact, I have a playbookaround cancellation fees and
late cancel fees, as well as allof the research that I did to
put this podcast together.
It's all inside of Thrive.
For my Thrive members, this isjust one of the playbooks of
hundreds that we have inside ofthe program and we talk about it
often because, like I said,your policy is going to be
(22:46):
unique to your business and Iwant to make sure that is
aligned with your brand, the waythat you work with your clients
and the experience that youdeliver as well.
So, if you want to learn a bitmore about how Thrive can help
your studio, if you want tolearn a bit more about how
Thrive can help your studio,just go to spring3.com forward
slash Thrive, or feel free toget in touch.
I'd love to chat with you andsee how we can support your
(23:10):
growth.
That's it for today.
Friends, if this episode washelpful, please share it with a
fellow studio owner and if youenjoyed the show, take a moment
to leave a review.
Studio owner, and if youenjoyed the show, take a moment
to leave a review.
It really does help us to reachmore amazing studio owners and
teachers just like you.
Until next time, keep buildingthat strong and thriving studio
business and I'll see you in thenext episode.
(23:32):
Did you love this episode andwant more?
Head to spring3.com and checkout my free resources that will
help you run a profitable andfulfilling studio business.
And before you go, one lastreminder there is no one way to
do what you do, only your way.
(23:54):
So whatever it is that you wantto do, create or offer, you've
got this.
Thanks again for joining metoday and have a wonderful rest
of your day.
Have you ever felt awkward about charging a no-show
fee when a loyal client cancelslast minute or, worse, just
doesn't even show up at all?
Well, you are not alone.
In fact, late cancel andno-show fees have quietly become
the norm in boutique fitness.
But the way you handle them canmake or break the relationship
(00:23):
that you have with your client,as well as your studio's bottom
line.
So today I'm diving into what'sreally happening behind the
scenes at top studios in NewYork, la and across the US and
beyond, and what you can learnfrom them.
Now you might be surprised atjust how strict some studios are
(00:46):
and how others strike a balancebetween policy and grace.
Well, hi there, I'm SarenGlanfield.
I'm a business and marketingstrategist just for boutique
fitness studio owners like you,if you're ready to be inspired
and make a bigger impact.
Owners like you If you're readyto be inspired and make a
(01:09):
bigger impact, you're in theright place.
All you need are a few keystrategies, the right mindset
and some support along the way.
Join me as I share the reallife insights that will help you
grow a sustainable andprofitable studio.
This is the Pilates BusinessPodcast studio.
(01:30):
This is the Pilates BusinessPodcast.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Pilates Business Podcast
.
I'm Sarah Glanfield and I amhere to help studio owners just
like you, to simplify yourmarketing, streamline the
operations and scale your studiobusiness without overwhelm and
without burning out, because Iwant you to integrate smart,
sophisticated and strategicactionable items into your
(01:54):
business so that you can stopspinning your wheels and
actually enjoy what you do.
Right, that's what we're hereto be on this planet to do Enjoy
it all.
Now, today's topic is one thatstirs up a lot of feelings.
Okay, and you know there's beena bit of a shift in the
industry recently in this, andit kind of came to my attention
(02:15):
when I got a call from ajournalist who was writing for
one of the largest newspublications in the country and
wanted to know my thoughts oncancellation policies, and I
kind of shared with her mythoughts and I thought you know
we should talk about this in thepodcast because I talk about it
all the time with my studioowners inside of Thrive what the
policy is, what I recommend andhow to make sure your policy is
(02:39):
aligned with your client, yourbrand and your experience, and I
also have a playbook for it forall my members as well, it is
one of the things that we justwant to make sure we have right,
we have down, and then it kindof does its job for us.
Now, if you're like many studioowners, though, you've probably
wrestled with some questionsaround that policy, around late
(03:01):
cancel fees, around no-show fees, and those questions often are
things like how strict should mypolicy be?
How much should I charge?
How should I enforce it?
Should I always enforce it?
And then, how do I communicateit without scaring clients away?
Now, the thing is that havingclear and consistent
(03:21):
cancellation policies is notabout punishing clients.
Actually, it's about protectingyour revenue.
It's about respecting the otherpeople in your business, your
other clients and their time andtheir effort to want to be a
part of your class as well, andit's about also about, to some
degree, creating a bit of aculture of accountability.
(03:44):
Now, without a solid policy,you actually risk losing
thousands of dollars a year inthose empty class spots, but on
the flip side of that, I willadd that if you're too rigid,
you could alienate your amazingclients that you love and want
to continue to work with, andperhaps even hurt your attention
(04:05):
long term.
So I thought it might be a goodidea for us to break down some
of the things that we're seeingand I did a little bit of
research ahead of this episodebecause I wanted to share with
you some data points as well butI want to talk about what's
typical, what's changing orchanged and perhaps how you can
also adapt some of theseinsights for your studio as well
(04:27):
.
So let's talk a little bitabout what we see and why this
policy even exists at all, andthe problem that I'm seeing
right now is that many studioowners may have some kind of a
policy but are perhaps hesitantto enforce it.
They're worried about upsettingclients, or maybe they feel it
feels a bit mean to them, and Itotally get it, because you have
(04:51):
built your studio onrelationships and on that sense
of community.
But the reality is is that whatwe're seeing on a bigger scale
in this industry is that thesefees are now standard.
They are a baseline.
In fact.
We're not just seeing them inboutique fitness, we're seeing
them in other industries as well.
(05:11):
I'm seeing hair salons alsorequire no-show or late cancel
fees to be paid as well, and sowe're seeing it in lots of
different places.
Clients now actually begin toexpect them, and especially if
they're booking with some morelarger franchise chains,
national chains we do see thatthis is just very much the
(05:35):
standard and clients understandthe way it all works.
Now the problem is that withouthaving a clear policy in place,
you could end up with emptyspots in your class, and empty
spots often can mean lostrevenue and, worse, if you have
a waitlist system, someone elsecould have taken that space if
(05:56):
the clients had canceled earlier.
So one perhaps missed reformerspot or a class spot here and
no-show there can actually addup fast over time.
So I want you to consider thefact that these no-show fees or
late fees are not about beingpunitive.
They're actually aboutreinforcing commitment and when
(06:18):
you position them that way andyou position them in a way that
sort of encourages commitment,and you are very clear and very
transparent with the way thatyour policy works, you'll find
that your clients actuallyrespect the boundaries.
Now some of the biggest namesin our industry have completely
(06:38):
embraced this.
It's been that way for many,many years.
They communicate the feesupfront, they automate the
enforcement and they still havereally strong loyalty.
And it's because clients valuethat fairness, they value
knowing the rules of the game,they understand how it works and
they know how to work with itand integrate that into the way
(07:02):
that they schedule theirsessions and integrate that into
the way that they scheduletheir sessions.
So, before we continue, I wantyou to just think about whether
your current policy is actuallyprotecting your revenue of your
business or perhaps leaving itvulnerable.
Okay, just have a think aboutwhether or not your policy is
protecting your business orperhaps your revenue is
(07:22):
vulnerable to a high level ofno-shows or late cancels.
Okay, so let's talk a littlebit about the trends and what's
normal in today's market.
So you know, if you've got astudio where you have a
(07:45):
cancellation, a late cancelpolicy you may have.
If you're a private sessionstudio and you're offering
private sessions, if a clientlate cancels or a client
no-shows, it's usually a loss ofthat session.
That's typically the way thatwe have seen traditionally that
work.
That's typically the way thatwe have seen traditionally that
(08:07):
work and that's often what I'mstill seeing in place and, as
long as you are transparentabout the way that that works,
it's actually very simple andstraightforward late
cancellation or no-show policy.
Now things start to get a littlebit more interesting when we
have got membership type offersin place and that's where we
(08:28):
have these sort of two tieredfees for a late cancel and a no
show.
So a late cancel fee, just toreally be really, really clear,
is where someone does actuallycancel but they are charged a
fee because they're perhapswithin the window of the late
(08:48):
cancel, the cancellation window,and they still pay a fee, but
they still can cancel theirsession.
They pay that fee.
Now there is also then aseparate fee that is called a
no-show fee, and this no-showfee is, as perhaps the
description kind of indicates,is that's when clients simply do
(09:09):
not show up to class at all.
They're not late canceling,they just don't show up at all.
See, is that we're seeing acouple of different kind of.
We're seeing quite a fewdifferent ranges across the
country and in various brandsand depending on what the price
point is for a membership and aclass, et cetera.
(09:29):
But I typically see that thelate cancel fees range from 10
to $20.
And then the no-show fees rangefrom 15 to30 or above, right,
so they can be even higher than$30, especially if it is a super
premium experience or studio.
And now these are different.
These are mostly these are forclass-based businesses.
(09:50):
This is not typically for yourprivate sessions.
Like I said, for a privatesession, typically you'll lose
that session, and the reason whyis because in a class someone
else can very easily take thatspot and be paying full price.
And the reason why it becameeven more of a problem is that
we've seen a rise of unlimitedmembership options for classes
(10:12):
in the boutique fitness space,and when we have a very limited
capacity in those classes, thenwe often then are sort of at the
whim of whether or not someoneshows up if we don't have a late
cancel or no show policy inplace.
Now what we're seeing is thatcertain brands of franchises and
studios are absolutely upfrontabout those fees, and clients
(10:36):
know the way that they work, sothey know that if they late
cancel, they're paying this fee.
They've already paid theirmembership for the month.
This fee is in addition to thatmembership price.
So this is now becoming a bitof a norm across many studios
and so clients are to somedegree expecting it in some
cases.
The degree to which people thatthe price point and whether or
(11:04):
not there is a late cancel and ano show fee, um is very much
dependent on the brand and thestudio itself.
Um, but I did want to sort oftalk a little bit about the
numbers themselves, becauseobviously, if you have a late
cancel scenario, you can stillfill that spot, perhaps with a
wait list.
If you have a no show scenario,you can still fill that spot,
perhaps with a waitlist.
If you have a no-show, you knowobviously that you you cannot
do that.
So there is.
That's why that there's thatdifference there.
(11:31):
Okay, now what is the window?
That's the next question Ithink you're wondering is like
what does the cancellationwindow look like?
Well, for a private session forPilates, you know, 24 hours is
still absolutely the minimum.
I do see some studios be alittle bit longer than that, um,
but typically 24 hours ahead oftime is still pretty much the
standard for a privateone-on-one session.
For other modalities, say forspin or for yoga or for bar, it
(11:56):
really, really ranges.
So we see everything from twohours to, you know, perhaps 12
hours, and I would say that forthose larger classes it's
usually a much shorter timeperiod so that you're able to
sort of bring people in and outquite easily.
It still is still a policy thatis has less, is less impacted
(12:19):
by a specific number of peoplein class as long as you have
enough people in the class,right, again, we start to see
these policies be integrated andimplemented because of the very
limited nature of some types ofboutique fitness studios aka
hello, my Pilates class, myequipment class, pilates studios
(12:40):
.
So these are the classes thathave anywhere between sort of
six to 12 pieces of equipmentand for that we are seeing
cancellation windows be anywherefrom that 24 hours before to
about 12 hours before, dependingon, you know, the size of the
studio, et cetera.
Okay, so if you, you know, thisis something that we're starting
(13:03):
to see and again, it reallyvaries, as you can tell.
Like I can't give you a numberfor a late cancel fee or a
no-show fee or a cancellationwindow, it does really vary
across the board.
I was trying to get you anumber, a recommendation, I
couldn't get to it.
But it is about your clienteleas well.
We have to take intoconsideration your behavior of
your clients, their expectations, you know, and also your
(13:26):
willingness to really, to reallyenforce your policy, because I
will say that the number onething is that you are willing to
enforce the policy that you set.
Okay, so you might have beenthinking a little bit about that
you set Okay.
So you might have been thinkinga little bit about will this
upset my clients?
I want you to remember that weare seeing these types of fees
(13:47):
pop up in various differentplaces and that it is becoming
more of the norm than everbefore, and so, to some degree,
the market is alreadyconditioned to this, and I would
say not having a policyprobably will hurt your business
, and not consistently enforcingit will also hurt you in the
(14:10):
long run, because it's probablygoing to put you in a very
tricky situation.
So now, when it comes to sharingyour policy, I'd say this is
where many studio owners trip up.
Right, even if they have apolicy, perhaps they don't
communicate it clearly, but thelarger big players, the big
franchises out there they arereally good at this they put
(14:33):
those fees in the membershipagreement, at the signup,
they're highlighted in bookingconfirmations and in many of
those reminders that they mayget, and so there is no missing
this policy if you are a memberof a larger chain or franchise,
and the reason why is becauseclients do forget.
In fact, they only want to lookfor that policy if they are
(14:59):
planning to cancel, but theyneed to see it in lots of places
to know that they need tocancel ahead of time first.
So what we want to avoid andwhat the worst case scenario is
that we don't tell clients aboutpolicy and then they are
surprised by a fee, becausethat's when we start to see
complaints trickle in or perhapscome in big waves.
(15:23):
So the more transparent you are, the more clients will respect
the policy and you'll face fewerconflicts, and I would say, for
the most of us, that's a reallygood place to be.
So I want you to make sure that, if you have a policy, I want
you to consider whether yourcommunication around that policy
(15:43):
is clear and consistent atevery touch point.
Or do you find that clients tryto negotiate, get surprised
when they're charged a fee?
If so, then that might be alittle bit of a sign that you
might want to be a little bitmore clear and a little bit more
consistent, want to be a littlebit more clear and a little bit
more consistent.
(16:03):
Now, one of the most interestinginsights was from the research
that I did and from theconversations that I've had over
the years with studio owners isthat even the strictest brands,
where they have got really Imean some of the research showed
that some studios are reallyreally strict and quite
aggressive with their latecancel and no-show fee structure
(16:26):
.
It actually kind of surprisedme in some scenarios.
But even the strictest brandsdo tend to build in a little bit
of grace.
And you know, ultimately, asyou've heard me say here over
and over again, we are buildinga relationship business and that
means that we do have torecognize that things happen.
(16:48):
You know our clients.
They get sick, their kids getsick, they may have to go to the
ER.
I mean, this happens to mequite often.
Where there are people in myworld, whether it's my kids or
my studio owners, friends, kids,husbands there is some medical
emergency and in that scenario Idon't know that we always want
(17:08):
to be charging people for thatin that scenario, right, and so
there is a little bit of graceto this because we are in a
relationship business and wewant to give a little bit of
grace to our clients in thosescenarios as well, because
ultimately we want that clientto continue to come back.
(17:29):
So we want to have thatstructure and that policy.
We want to be clear andtransparent around it.
We also want to incorporatehumanity into this too, right,
and so you want to give a littlebit of discretion, to offer
some flexibility when it makessense.
(17:49):
Now you're going to get therepeat offender.
You're going to get that clientwho has the unlimited
membership and books into aclass every day and then decides
which one they're actuallygoing to go to and they only
come to maybe half of theclasses they've booked.
I'm not talking about givingthat client this type of grace.
I'm talking about the clientthat comes really consistently,
(18:10):
who is very respectful of yourcancellation policy, who calls
you scrambling at the lastminute with their emergency and
why they can't come, and you say, hey, just because I know you
wished you could be here, and Iappreciate you letting me know
and I'm so sorry that whateveryou're going through you're
going through you know I willnot hold you to the cancellation
policy this time.
Okay.
(18:30):
So this is where you're able tosort of really keep that
goodwill high but alsoprotecting your credibility for
perhaps future scenarios of thesame thing, right?
So it's not about beingpunitive, it's not about being
super rigid all the time.
It's about having very, veryclear rules but also having
(18:51):
thoughtful flexibility.
Okay, so you might want to justthink about when or how you
might to waive a fee here andthere and think about when it
makes sense to strategically dothat.
Okay, I do think that's quiteimportant and I always encourage
you to think about yourbusiness in this way, because
(19:11):
you know we are, you know we arebuilding communities here,
right?
So let's bring all this fullcircle.
The big picture here is thatthis isn't just about the fee
itself.
It's actually about building abit of a culture of commitment,
of respect for each other.
Each other's time, their valueand other clients at your studio
spot in class matters and thatthey are accountable for showing
(19:44):
up.
You actually increaseengagement and loyalty and what
happens often is that clientstend to respect your studio more
.
And, from a business standpoint, automating the enforcement
really does protect your revenue.
It takes you out of theconversation as much as possible
and you can literally reclaimnot only thousands of dollars a
(20:06):
year in revenue but also a lotof admin time for you and, on
top of that, even keep yourclasses full and that wait list
moving, which is always a goodthing.
Okay, so let's do a quick recap.
Big takeaways today.
Number one is late cancel andno show fees are a standard in
(20:29):
class-based boutique fitnessstudios.
Clients know they're there,know to perhaps even expect them
.
We see the range of feesvarying between anywhere from 15
to 35 plus dollars, and thecancellation window is sort of
(20:49):
between 4 to 12 or 24 hours.
Actually, I would say for somestudios I saw Mostly most
class-based businesses between 4to 12 hours.
Okay, now, this is notnecessarily for you to then say,
okay, that's what I have to do,sarah, and said on the podcast,
that's what I should do.
Not at all, not at all.
Your cancellation policy,window and fees is going to be
(21:11):
unique to your business.
I just wanted to share the data.
Okay, now, when you have apolicy and I do think you should
have a policy then it's reallyimportant and this is a
recommendation that you areclear with that and that you are
transparent about it and thatit is shared openly with your
(21:32):
clients.
You're not hiding it becauseyou're worried about it.
You're actually open with it,and so I also want to just
(22:00):
remind you to integrate a littlebit of humanity and grace into
your policy around.
Make sure that your team hasthe power to enforce the policy
or be flexible with it as well.
So, if you've got a front deskteam, make sure they know when
they can waive the fee and whenthey can't.
All right, can waive the feeand when they can't All right.
(22:23):
Now, like I said, we talk aboutthis inside of Thrive all the
time.
In fact, I have a playbookaround cancellation fees and
late cancel fees, as well as allof the research that I did to
put this podcast together.
It's all inside of Thrive.
For my Thrive members, this isjust one of the playbooks of
hundreds that we have inside ofthe program and we talk about it
often because, like I said,your policy is going to be
(22:46):
unique to your business and Iwant to make sure that is
aligned with your brand, the waythat you work with your clients
and the experience that youdeliver as well.
So, if you want to learn a bitmore about how Thrive can help
your studio, if you want tolearn a bit more about how
Thrive can help your studio,just go to spring3.com forward
slash Thrive, or feel free toget in touch.
I'd love to chat with you andsee how we can support your
(23:10):
growth.
That's it for today.
Friends, if this episode washelpful, please share it with a
fellow studio owner and if youenjoyed the show, take a moment
to leave a review.
Studio owner, and if youenjoyed the show, take a moment
to leave a review.
It really does help us to reachmore amazing studio owners and
teachers just like you.
Until next time, keep buildingthat strong and thriving studio
business and I'll see you in thenext episode.
(23:32):
Did you love this episode andwant more?
Head to spring3.com and checkout my free resources that will
help you run a profitable andfulfilling studio business.
And before you go, one lastreminder there is no one way to
do what you do, only your way.
(23:54):
So whatever it is that you wantto do, create or offer, you've
got this.
Thanks again for joining metoday and have a wonderful rest
of your day.
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