March 24, 2025 • 24 mins
Relying on word-of-mouth and the occasional social media post to bring in new clients? That’s not a strategy-it’s a gamble. In this episode of The Pilates Business Podcast, host Seran Glanfield dives into the essential topic of lead generation and why it’s the key to consistent, sustainable growth for your boutique fitness studio.
Listen in as Seran uncovers:
✅ The biggest mistakes studio owners make when trying to attract new clients
✅ Why your marketing might not be working as well as you’d like
✅ Smarter strategies that actually work to bring in a steady stream of leads
If you’ve ever felt frustrated by slow growth or inconsistent bookings, this episode is for you. It’s time to take control of your marketing, stop relying on luck, and implement a proven system to grow your studio with ease.
If you’re ready to stop relying on luck and start building a proven system for attracting and converting new clients, Thrive is where you need to be! 🎯
Join us here: www.springthree.com/thrive 🚀
Got a question for Seran? Add it here 👉
~~~
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📲 Follow Seran on Instagram @seran_spring_three
❤️ Loved this episode? Leave a review - your review helps spread the word about the show and I read each and every one!
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Work with Seran:
🌟 Join the Thrive Business Coaching Program and get smart strategies that drive growth (and profit) in your boutique fitness studio
🌟Enroll in the Marketing Intensive and get everything you need to finally master your marketing and stand out from the competition
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
If your studio relies on word of mouth and maybe the
occasional social media post tobring in new clients.
We need to talk Because, let'sbe honest, just crossing your
fingers and hoping that newpeople walk through the door is
not a strategy.
It's more of a gamble, andthat's why, in today's episode,
(00:21):
I'm diving into lead generation.
This is the engine that reallyfuels your studio's growth, and
I'm going to be sharing some ofthe biggest mistakes that I see
studio owners making when itcomes to trying to get new
clients in the doors, why yourmarketing might not be working
as well as you'd like and whatyou should be doing instead.
(00:43):
And if you're thinking I'vetried everything and nothing's
working, don't worry, I've gotyou.
Let's dive in.
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 inspiredand make a bigger impact, you're
in the right place.
(01:03):
All you need are a few keystrategies, the right mindset
and some support along the way.
Join me as I share thereal-life insights that will
help you grow a sustainable andprofitable studio.
This is the Pilates BusinessPodcast.
Pilates Business Podcast.
(01:30):
Well, hey there, and welcomeback to another episode of the
Pilates Business Podcast.
I'm Saren Glanfield and ifyou're new here, welcome.
I'm so glad you're listening in.
This is the podcast where wetalk about all things business
and marketing for boutiquefitness studio owners like you.
This is our 210th episode, youguys, so if you want to learn,
(01:51):
then I suggest you go back andhave a little listen in to some
of the prior episodes, because Italk about everything from
pricing to productivity, toorganization, to hiring, leading
, management and everything inbetween.
The thing I don't talk about isteaching, because that is your
expertise.
That is where you know what youare doing, right there and then
(02:12):
.
But business side and marketingside is often where there are
some gaps, and this is a worldthat is evolving rapidly.
Our industry is changingconstantly and what worked just
even two or three years ago isvery, very different to what
we're seeing working today, andI've been coaching and
consulting the studio ownerssince 2013.
(02:32):
So a long, long time, and I'veseen how the studio business has
really evolved over that time,how the industry has shifted and
evolved over that time, and Ithink there's this tremendous
amount of opportunity in ourindustry today.
But it does mean that you needto be a little bit more
sophisticated, often from abusiness and marketing
perspective, and today we'retalking about something that
(02:56):
truly is paramount to thesuccess of your business, and
that is lead generation.
Because the thing is is that ifyou do not have a steady stream
of new people coming into yourstudio, then your growth will
always feel like a bit of anuphill battle.
You can have the best classes,yes, the most dedicated
(03:20):
instructors, the most beautifulstudio, but without a reliable
system, a reliable way toattract new clients, you're
going to find that growth isslow, perhaps unpredictable and,
most importantly for you,something I want you to avoid
feeling, which is a feeling ofcomplete frustration.
So I get it, and many studioowners will tell me you know,
(03:43):
I'm posting to social media asmuch as I can, but I don't think
it's working.
Or tell me, you know I'mposting to social media as much
as I can, but I don't think it'sworking.
Or people say, you know, I feellike I'm constantly marketing,
I feel like I'm constantly doingsomething, but it's not really
working.
Or I hear studio owners tell methat their clients love their
studio, but despite that, theyare still struggling to fill
their classes and to fill theirschedule.
And if that is something thatis familiar to you, then know
(04:07):
that it's not you.
But it might be that we need toperhaps spring clean that little
bit the marketing strategiesand tactics and tools that you
are using, because what we knowis that there are some tactics
that are outdated.
The changes, and the rapidchanges in are not just
(04:27):
marketing tools, but the waythat people purchase what
they're looking for when theypurchase has just shifted
tremendously and has shiftedmultiple times very quickly in
the last few years especially.
But also as a studio owner, Iknow that you are probably
spread quite thin and you may bejust trying to get by and do as
much as you can, but there maynot be a true strategy to it.
(04:49):
Or, you know, there are somethings that I see studio owners
doing that actually ultimatelyrepel clients, which is not what
we want at all.
So today I'm going to break itdown and I'm going to walk you
through a little bit more aboutwhat lead generation is and what
it means for your business.
I'm going to talk about some ofthe biggest challenges and the
mistakes that I see studioowners making, and then I want
(05:12):
to share with you some of thesmarter strategies that actually
work.
Now, of course, inside Thrive, Itake my studio owners
step-by-step through that exactprocess of building out a
marketing system, one that trulyis designed to bring in that
very consistent, steady streamof clients, because this is such
a fundamental part of growing asuccessful business.
(05:35):
And I'll add that every studiohas a slightly different plan,
because every studio isdifferent and every studio owner
you listening, your skills andtalents and interests and goals
and resources are all differentto the next studio owner and
teacher.
So we need a plan that worksspecifically for you.
(05:55):
So let's talk a little bitabout why this is such a
critical focus point for you asa business owner, especially if
you're looking to grow.
Maybe you want to grow rapidly,maybe you want to grow more
organically.
Either way, lead generation iscritical to your studio's growth
.
Because, number one, it doesn'tmatter how good of a teacher
(06:18):
you are or how fabulous yourclients are or how fabulous you
are as a teacher, client churnis real.
So, even if you have a solidclient base, people do move,
your schedules do change andlife does happen, and so what
that means is that if you aren'tactively bringing people into
(06:39):
your business on a regular basis, your studio will start to
plateau in terms of growth andrevenue or perhaps, even worse,
decline.
And if you're not investing inyour marketing efforts, we also
start to see some gaps appear onthe schedule, and when that
happens, it may take a littlebit of extra effort to fill
(07:03):
those gaps on the schedule atthat time.
So we want to be consistentwith our lead generation.
Now, what we also know is thatnot everybody who learns about
your business, who sees yourstudio signage on the street,
who drives by, who hears aboutyou, is going to become a client
.
But the more that you interactwith your community, the more
(07:24):
leads that you generate, themore chances you have of
converting them into long termmembers.
So we want to make sure that weare being active about
visibility and about acquisition.
Then I think the big, mostimportant reason why I'm a big
fan of doing this on a veryconsistent basis is because for
(07:45):
me to be able to give to you a,to support you in building, I
should say, and give to you somestrategies that work to grow
your business, I also want totake away some of the stress and
overwhelm and scrambling andhustling that often comes with
running any business, and sowhen you've got a steady
(08:06):
pipeline of new clients, you canfeel very confident that you
will always have the opportunityto grow.
And so we want to think of leadgeneration a bit like watering
a plant If you stop watering it,it doesn't do so well, it
starts to wilt right, andeventually it will kind of wilt
a little bit more and the leaveswill start to brown.
Sadly, many of my plants dolook like that, but that's
(08:28):
because I'm here with youtalking about this, and so I
know too well that when you thentry to overwater to perhaps fix
the problem, it doesn't workquite as well as you might like.
And so it really is aboutconsistency in terms of focus
when it comes to lead generationand client acquisition.
And so there's a few mistakesthat I do see studio owners
(08:50):
making, and these aren't badmistakes.
These aren't necessarily thingsthat you should stop doing
completely, but the first one Ido want to highlight, as I think
a more traditional approach togetting new clients, and that is
word of mouth.
Now, I think word of mouth is aphenomenal tool in your
(09:10):
marketing toolkit.
If your clients speak highly ofyou to their friends and refer
people to you, this is awonderful thing and only a good
thing for your business.
However, it does leave you outof control of your growth
because you're waiting forclients to bring in their
(09:30):
friends, and so you're leavingthat growth up to chance.
Now there's many things you cando to encourage word of mouth
and referrals right.
But if you're not doing any ofthose things and you're relying
on your clients to just, perhaps, whenever they feel like it,
have that conversation withtheir friends, then it is not a
strategy, and so we can't relyon word of mouth as a marketing
(09:54):
strategy.
It's a really nice thing tohave and obviously is a huge
compliment to you and yourbusiness for sure, and yes, they
often are the best clients, butword of mouth alone is not a
strategy.
The second thing I see manystudio owners mistakes that they
make is inconsistent marketing,which is, you know, we see this
(10:15):
happen because, like we know,life happens where things come
up, where you know you'redealing with these fires that
happen in the studio that youneed to put out and only you can
, and so one week you may startout really strong and feeling
really good about your marketingand you are consistent with it,
and then the next week, oh boy,you know lots happen.
(10:35):
You're subbing classes, you'redealing with some rent issue,
perhaps with your landlord, oryou know, if you're not
consistent with your marketing,it doesn't build that momentum.
And so what we know is thatpeople need to see and hear
about you, perhaps not justmultiple times, but in multiple
different ways before they takeaction.
Perhaps not just multiple times, but in multiple different ways
before they take action.
(10:56):
Now the third mistake I seestudio owners making quite
frequently in their marketingwhen they do market and this is
really common, actually and so Ialways want to applaud you for
marketing your business andputting yourself out there.
It's a good thing.
But when you're marketing andyou're talking only about the
features of what you do, so thatmeans that you're talking about
how long your classes are, whatequipment you have, where
(11:18):
you're located.
These are things you offer inyour business.
Right, we have reformer classesor we have got bar and yoga and
strength, and you know theseare features of what your
business does.
But what we know is that yourclients come to you looking for
something more.
They're looking for anexperience or they're looking
(11:41):
for a change, and so we want toshift the focus of our marketing
to yes, there are some thingswe absolutely have to inform our
clients about, like the lengthof a class, but we also want to
highlight to them the impact ofa class.
But we also want to highlightto them the impact of your work
on their lives.
So how does a client feel whenthey come into your class versus
(12:01):
how they feel when they leave?
What change or impact shouldthey expect when they've been
working with you for, say, sixweeks or six months?
How will they feel after theirclass?
Will they feel alive andenergized and ready for the day?
And these are the sorts ofthings that are often left out
of marketing materials andmarketing content.
(12:24):
That actually has a far moresignificant impact on
encouraging people to takeaction, to book a class, and
this is what we really want withour marketing right we want
people to take action and book aclass.
We need to shift from talkingabout features and instead focus
on the benefits and theoutcomes.
(12:44):
And finally, in addition tothat, when I often see folks
marketing their business ontheir studio, sometimes on
social media or email, andoutside of the studio, inside of
the community, I also see thatthere is no call to action, and
this is really important andit's such a tiny detail.
It really is just that clickthis button to book now, or why
(13:09):
don't you come and take anintroductory session with us?
Is all it takes, and if thatnext step isn't there, guiding
them forward, then they willsimply move on without even
considering taking an action.
The more encouraging you can beabout guiding your clients
forward, the better it will befor your business.
Now, these are really commonmistakes, and I would say that
(13:31):
pretty much 99% of studio ownerswill do one or more of these,
which is not a big deal.
It means that, guess what?
There is an opportunity herefor us to do a little better,
and that is a very positivething, because if there was none
, we would be in real trouble,right?
So if you are thinking, oh gosh, yes, I am a bit inconsistent,
or maybe I do focus a little bittoo much on the features and
(13:53):
not the benefits, then don'tworry.
Let's talk about how to fix itright now.
So let's talk a little bitabout some of the strategies
that we want to make sure thatyou are doing in your business.
And so I mentioned earlier thatcall to action, that next step,
and so the first thing youcertainly want to do is you want
(14:14):
to be able to offer them thatfirst step in your business.
Offer them something that isinteresting for them, is
exciting for them as they'reconsidering becoming your client
.
That makes it a very easy yes.
So for many of you, that isgoing to be an introductory
offer, and this introductoryoffer should be something that
(14:37):
it is sort of an in-between stepbetween them where they're at
right now and them becoming thatloyal long-term client.
And ideally, you've designedthe experience in your studio
for your new clients so thatthey are guided throughout those
early days as part of theirjourney in your business, so
(14:58):
that you can guide them forwardand manage their expectations
and really have the opportunityto showcase what it is you're
all about.
Because what I know fromworking with so many studio
owners is, once you have them inthe studio, they are all in
right.
You know that what you do works.
You know that you can help themfeel better in their bodies and
(15:20):
their lives and feel strongerand confident all of those
things.
And so what we want to makesure we're doing is we want to
make sure that we're giving themsomething very easy to say yes
to, and that is that very firstthing that they buy from you as
part of the customer journey.
The second thing is, youabsolutely need to optimize your
website.
Your website is like the frontdoor the digital front door to
(15:43):
your studio, and you should bedesigning it for new clients.
So you want to make sure thatyour website it conveys very
clearly and articulates thevalue of what you do in your
business.
It showcases your brandmessaging, what you're all about
, who you are, who you're for,and then you want to make sure
(16:05):
you've got that very clear callto action.
Okay, so optimizing yourwebsite for conversions is a
really important part of yourmarketing strategy overall, and
this is something that you don'thave to do every single week.
It sort of can help you foryears, but you do certainly want
to review it on a regular basis.
So if it's been a little whilesince you had a little bit of a
(16:26):
website audit, then I encourageyou to do that.
This is something that we doinside of Thrive for our studio
owners as we work through theirmarketing intensive work, and
this is really powerful.
They can be small tweaks thatcan have really profound impact
on the conversion for theirwebsite.
(16:48):
The third strategy is going tobe local SEO and that means that
you want to make sure that yourwebsite, but also all of the
profiles for, say, googlebusiness and Apple business, are
up to date and relevant to whatyou do and your local community
.
So you certainly want to spendsome time and again, this is not
(17:10):
necessarily something you needto do every day, but you want to
make sure that when peopleGoogle Pilates near me, your
studio is showing up, and thatis linked to the way that you
set up your website for SEO onthe backend, as well as what the
copy that you put up yourwebsite for SEO on the back end,
as well as what the copy thatyou put on your site.
But there is also this littlething called Google Business
(17:31):
Profile, which is where you goto add your business to show up
on the Google Maps.
This is also where you canshare more information about
your business.
People can add reviews and soon, and as much as you can
optimize that profile, thebetter you positioned you will
be for showing up in search.
And when you do it well, italso helps you to perhaps avoid
(17:56):
the need to spend money ondigital advertising, right, and
that's kind of helpful, becausethat is money back in your
pocket.
So a huge difference for yourbusiness is when you start to
think about your local SEO, howyou're showing up online and
then making sure that that nextstep on your website is really,
really clear and powerful.
(18:16):
Now the other strategy that Iwould recommend to everyone,
regardless of the stage ofbusiness and size of business,
is that you have a follow-upprocess in place to keep in
touch with anyone who hasexpressed an interest in working
with you or joining yourclasses, and so that means that
(18:36):
there are some people who maycome along and make an account
in your booking software andthen never book a class.
Or there may be someone whoreaches out to you and sends you
an email, and then you neverhear back.
Or there may be someone whoreaches out to you and sends you
an email, and then you neverhear back.
Or there may be someone whocalls the studio and you let
them know about what to do nextand where to book and so on, and
then they never come in.
And what we want to make surewe're doing at this stage of the
(18:58):
customer journey, where someonehas actually reached out to you
and expressed an interest inbeing your client is that we are
being so proactive aboutguiding them forward that there
is no way that they can simplyperhaps forget about it or put
it on their to-do list and it'sstill there three months later,
right?
So that means that you want tohave a follow-up process in
place, and inside of Thrive andthe Marketing Intensive, I take
(19:20):
the studio owners inside, stepby step through exactly how I
recommend you reach out and stayconnected with people who are
what we would say, perhaps warmas a lead, but perhaps aren't
quite ready to take the nextstep, and usually what is needed
is a little bit ofencouragement, but also some
(19:41):
very specific information thatmay be missing from your
marketing messaging at thatmoment.
So we certainly want to makesure that you're nurturing those
leads early in that customerjourney and so you're not losing
them through.
You know, perhaps just somegaps in your communication.
And then finally, from time totime throughout the year, but
(20:02):
perhaps not all year round itcan be really helpful to run
some promotions, and a promotiondoesn't necessarily mean a
discount, but it does mean thatyou are creating an opportunity
to perhaps connect with newclients, to drive interest in
your business, and this can looklike anything from a challenge
(20:23):
to an open house, to acollaboration or even a new
client special, and when you dosomething like this, what it
does is it creates a lot of buzzfor you in your studio but also
gives you something to sharewith folks outside of the studio
.
So perhaps there's people whoare on the fence will actually
make the jump and make the leapand book and come and try a
(20:46):
class and then, with youramazing experience that you
offer in the studio, with thefantastic teaching that you have
and those follow-up processesin place, you will have a
fabulous new client on yourhands who will stay with you for
a long, long time.
So let's recap Lead generation,yes, is absolutely fundamental,
(21:10):
essential for keeping yourstudio growing and thriving, and
we talked a little bit aboutsome of the mistakes that I see
studio owners making, and thatis just to be honest is relying
perhaps overly too much on wordof mouth without a bit of
strategy behind it, perhapsbeing inconsistent, which I know
(21:30):
we're all guilty of, myselfincluded.
It is a challenge, but when wehave a kind of a baseline plan
in place, it really, reallyhelps, and then maybe not having
a sort of a bigger picturestrategy for how to talk about
your business, how to invitepeople into the studio and then
how to position yourself in yourlocal market.
(21:52):
Now, smart strategies likehaving a well-designed
introductory offer and newclient experience, website
optimization and local SEO canreally change the game for your
studio.
These are the exact things thatI show you how to do when you
join Thrive and the MarketingIntensive, because, yes, you may
(22:13):
know all this already, butactually coming to implement it
in your business with what youhave is going to be unique to
you, and you're going to havequestions and you're going to
want some guidance.
And so, inside Thrive, I walkstudio owners, just like you,
through the step-by-step processof building a marketing plan
and a strategy that actuallyworks.
(22:35):
We map out ways to create newleads and to acquire new clients
in your business in a way thatfeels good for you.
We optimize your brandmessaging and then we set up
systems so that you do this on aregular basis and you're not
constantly scrambling for newclients.
So if you're ready to finallyhave a clear and repeatable
(22:58):
system for attracting andconverting leads for to finding
people who really are theperfect client for your business
, then come and join us insideof Thrive.
Let's stop relying just on luckalone and start taking control
of the growth of your businessand really tapping into the
opportunity that exists.
So you can find out more atspring3.com forward slash Thrive
(23:22):
.
I'm going to link to it in theshow notes as well, and so, if
you love this episode, take aquick screenshot, share it on
Instagram, tag me sarin,underscore spring, underscore
three, and let me know which ofthese resonated with you most.
Thanks so much for listening.
I'll see you on the nextepisode.
Did you love this episode andwant more?
(23:50):
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.
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
(24:11):
of your day.
If your studio relies on word of mouth and maybe the
occasional social media post tobring in new clients.
We need to talk Because, let'sbe honest, just crossing your
fingers and hoping that newpeople walk through the door is
not a strategy.
It's more of a gamble, andthat's why, in today's episode,
(00:21):
I'm diving into lead generation.
This is the engine that reallyfuels your studio's growth, and
I'm going to be sharing some ofthe biggest mistakes that I see
studio owners making when itcomes to trying to get new
clients in the doors, why yourmarketing might not be working
as well as you'd like and whatyou should be doing instead.
(00:43):
And if you're thinking I'vetried everything and nothing's
working, don't worry, I've gotyou.
Let's dive in.
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 inspiredand make a bigger impact, you're
in the right place.
(01:03):
All you need are a few keystrategies, the right mindset
and some support along the way.
Join me as I share thereal-life insights that will
help you grow a sustainable andprofitable studio.
This is the Pilates BusinessPodcast.
Pilates Business Podcast.
(01:30):
Well, hey there, and welcomeback to another episode of the
Pilates Business Podcast.
I'm Saren Glanfield and ifyou're new here, welcome.
I'm so glad you're listening in.
This is the podcast where wetalk about all things business
and marketing for boutiquefitness studio owners like you.
This is our 210th episode, youguys, so if you want to learn,
(01:51):
then I suggest you go back andhave a little listen in to some
of the prior episodes, because Italk about everything from
pricing to productivity, toorganization, to hiring, leading
, management and everything inbetween.
The thing I don't talk about isteaching, because that is your
expertise.
That is where you know what youare doing, right there and then
(02:12):
.
But business side and marketingside is often where there are
some gaps, and this is a worldthat is evolving rapidly.
Our industry is changingconstantly and what worked just
even two or three years ago isvery, very different to what
we're seeing working today, andI've been coaching and
consulting the studio ownerssince 2013.
(02:32):
So a long, long time, and I'veseen how the studio business has
really evolved over that time,how the industry has shifted and
evolved over that time, and Ithink there's this tremendous
amount of opportunity in ourindustry today.
But it does mean that you needto be a little bit more
sophisticated, often from abusiness and marketing
perspective, and today we'retalking about something that
(02:56):
truly is paramount to thesuccess of your business, and
that is lead generation.
Because the thing is is that ifyou do not have a steady stream
of new people coming into yourstudio, then your growth will
always feel like a bit of anuphill battle.
You can have the best classes,yes, the most dedicated
(03:20):
instructors, the most beautifulstudio, but without a reliable
system, a reliable way toattract new clients, you're
going to find that growth isslow, perhaps unpredictable and,
most importantly for you,something I want you to avoid
feeling, which is a feeling ofcomplete frustration.
So I get it, and many studioowners will tell me you know,
(03:43):
I'm posting to social media asmuch as I can, but I don't think
it's working.
Or tell me, you know I'mposting to social media as much
as I can, but I don't think it'sworking.
Or people say, you know, I feellike I'm constantly marketing,
I feel like I'm constantly doingsomething, but it's not really
working.
Or I hear studio owners tell methat their clients love their
studio, but despite that, theyare still struggling to fill
their classes and to fill theirschedule.
And if that is something thatis familiar to you, then know
(04:07):
that it's not you.
But it might be that we need toperhaps spring clean that little
bit the marketing strategiesand tactics and tools that you
are using, because what we knowis that there are some tactics
that are outdated.
The changes, and the rapidchanges in are not just
(04:27):
marketing tools, but the waythat people purchase what
they're looking for when theypurchase has just shifted
tremendously and has shiftedmultiple times very quickly in
the last few years especially.
But also as a studio owner, Iknow that you are probably
spread quite thin and you may bejust trying to get by and do as
much as you can, but there maynot be a true strategy to it.
(04:49):
Or, you know, there are somethings that I see studio owners
doing that actually ultimatelyrepel clients, which is not what
we want at all.
So today I'm going to break itdown and I'm going to walk you
through a little bit more aboutwhat lead generation is and what
it means for your business.
I'm going to talk about some ofthe biggest challenges and the
mistakes that I see studioowners making, and then I want
(05:12):
to share with you some of thesmarter strategies that actually
work.
Now, of course, inside Thrive, Itake my studio owners
step-by-step through that exactprocess of building out a
marketing system, one that trulyis designed to bring in that
very consistent, steady streamof clients, because this is such
a fundamental part of growing asuccessful business.
(05:35):
And I'll add that every studiohas a slightly different plan,
because every studio isdifferent and every studio owner
you listening, your skills andtalents and interests and goals
and resources are all differentto the next studio owner and
teacher.
So we need a plan that worksspecifically for you.
(05:55):
So let's talk a little bitabout why this is such a
critical focus point for you asa business owner, especially if
you're looking to grow.
Maybe you want to grow rapidly,maybe you want to grow more
organically.
Either way, lead generation iscritical to your studio's growth
.
Because, number one, it doesn'tmatter how good of a teacher
(06:18):
you are or how fabulous yourclients are or how fabulous you
are as a teacher, client churnis real.
So, even if you have a solidclient base, people do move,
your schedules do change andlife does happen, and so what
that means is that if you aren'tactively bringing people into
(06:39):
your business on a regular basis, your studio will start to
plateau in terms of growth andrevenue or perhaps, even worse,
decline.
And if you're not investing inyour marketing efforts, we also
start to see some gaps appear onthe schedule, and when that
happens, it may take a littlebit of extra effort to fill
(07:03):
those gaps on the schedule atthat time.
So we want to be consistentwith our lead generation.
Now, what we also know is thatnot everybody who learns about
your business, who sees yourstudio signage on the street,
who drives by, who hears aboutyou, is going to become a client
.
But the more that you interactwith your community, the more
(07:24):
leads that you generate, themore chances you have of
converting them into long termmembers.
So we want to make sure that weare being active about
visibility and about acquisition.
Then I think the big, mostimportant reason why I'm a big
fan of doing this on a veryconsistent basis is because for
(07:45):
me to be able to give to you a,to support you in building, I
should say, and give to you somestrategies that work to grow
your business, I also want totake away some of the stress and
overwhelm and scrambling andhustling that often comes with
running any business, and sowhen you've got a steady
(08:06):
pipeline of new clients, you canfeel very confident that you
will always have the opportunityto grow.
And so we want to think of leadgeneration a bit like watering
a plant If you stop watering it,it doesn't do so well, it
starts to wilt right, andeventually it will kind of wilt
a little bit more and the leaveswill start to brown.
Sadly, many of my plants dolook like that, but that's
(08:28):
because I'm here with youtalking about this, and so I
know too well that when you thentry to overwater to perhaps fix
the problem, it doesn't workquite as well as you might like.
And so it really is aboutconsistency in terms of focus
when it comes to lead generationand client acquisition.
And so there's a few mistakesthat I do see studio owners
(08:50):
making, and these aren't badmistakes.
These aren't necessarily thingsthat you should stop doing
completely, but the first one Ido want to highlight, as I think
a more traditional approach togetting new clients, and that is
word of mouth.
Now, I think word of mouth is aphenomenal tool in your
(09:10):
marketing toolkit.
If your clients speak highly ofyou to their friends and refer
people to you, this is awonderful thing and only a good
thing for your business.
However, it does leave you outof control of your growth
because you're waiting forclients to bring in their
(09:30):
friends, and so you're leavingthat growth up to chance.
Now there's many things you cando to encourage word of mouth
and referrals right.
But if you're not doing any ofthose things and you're relying
on your clients to just, perhaps, whenever they feel like it,
have that conversation withtheir friends, then it is not a
strategy, and so we can't relyon word of mouth as a marketing
(09:54):
strategy.
It's a really nice thing tohave and obviously is a huge
compliment to you and yourbusiness for sure, and yes, they
often are the best clients, butword of mouth alone is not a
strategy.
The second thing I see manystudio owners mistakes that they
make is inconsistent marketing,which is, you know, we see this
(10:15):
happen because, like we know,life happens where things come
up, where you know you'redealing with these fires that
happen in the studio that youneed to put out and only you can
, and so one week you may startout really strong and feeling
really good about your marketingand you are consistent with it,
and then the next week, oh boy,you know lots happen.
(10:35):
You're subbing classes, you'redealing with some rent issue,
perhaps with your landlord, oryou know, if you're not
consistent with your marketing,it doesn't build that momentum.
And so what we know is thatpeople need to see and hear
about you, perhaps not justmultiple times, but in multiple
different ways before they takeaction.
Perhaps not just multiple times, but in multiple different ways
before they take action.
(10:56):
Now the third mistake I seestudio owners making quite
frequently in their marketingwhen they do market and this is
really common, actually and so Ialways want to applaud you for
marketing your business andputting yourself out there.
It's a good thing.
But when you're marketing andyou're talking only about the
features of what you do, so thatmeans that you're talking about
how long your classes are, whatequipment you have, where
(11:18):
you're located.
These are things you offer inyour business.
Right, we have reformer classesor we have got bar and yoga and
strength, and you know theseare features of what your
business does.
But what we know is that yourclients come to you looking for
something more.
They're looking for anexperience or they're looking
(11:41):
for a change, and so we want toshift the focus of our marketing
to yes, there are some thingswe absolutely have to inform our
clients about, like the lengthof a class, but we also want to
highlight to them the impact ofa class.
But we also want to highlightto them the impact of your work
on their lives.
So how does a client feel whenthey come into your class versus
(12:01):
how they feel when they leave?
What change or impact shouldthey expect when they've been
working with you for, say, sixweeks or six months?
How will they feel after theirclass?
Will they feel alive andenergized and ready for the day?
And these are the sorts ofthings that are often left out
of marketing materials andmarketing content.
(12:24):
That actually has a far moresignificant impact on
encouraging people to takeaction, to book a class, and
this is what we really want withour marketing right we want
people to take action and book aclass.
We need to shift from talkingabout features and instead focus
on the benefits and theoutcomes.
(12:44):
And finally, in addition tothat, when I often see folks
marketing their business ontheir studio, sometimes on
social media or email, andoutside of the studio, inside of
the community, I also see thatthere is no call to action, and
this is really important andit's such a tiny detail.
It really is just that clickthis button to book now, or why
(13:09):
don't you come and take anintroductory session with us?
Is all it takes, and if thatnext step isn't there, guiding
them forward, then they willsimply move on without even
considering taking an action.
The more encouraging you can beabout guiding your clients
forward, the better it will befor your business.
Now, these are really commonmistakes, and I would say that
(13:31):
pretty much 99% of studio ownerswill do one or more of these,
which is not a big deal.
It means that, guess what?
There is an opportunity herefor us to do a little better,
and that is a very positivething, because if there was none
, we would be in real trouble,right?
So if you are thinking, oh gosh, yes, I am a bit inconsistent,
or maybe I do focus a little bittoo much on the features and
(13:53):
not the benefits, then don'tworry.
Let's talk about how to fix itright now.
So let's talk a little bitabout some of the strategies
that we want to make sure thatyou are doing in your business.
And so I mentioned earlier thatcall to action, that next step,
and so the first thing youcertainly want to do is you want
(14:14):
to be able to offer them thatfirst step in your business.
Offer them something that isinteresting for them, is
exciting for them as they'reconsidering becoming your client
.
That makes it a very easy yes.
So for many of you, that isgoing to be an introductory
offer, and this introductoryoffer should be something that
(14:37):
it is sort of an in-between stepbetween them where they're at
right now and them becoming thatloyal long-term client.
And ideally, you've designedthe experience in your studio
for your new clients so thatthey are guided throughout those
early days as part of theirjourney in your business, so
(14:58):
that you can guide them forwardand manage their expectations
and really have the opportunityto showcase what it is you're
all about.
Because what I know fromworking with so many studio
owners is, once you have them inthe studio, they are all in
right.
You know that what you do works.
You know that you can help themfeel better in their bodies and
(15:20):
their lives and feel strongerand confident all of those
things.
And so what we want to makesure we're doing is we want to
make sure that we're giving themsomething very easy to say yes
to, and that is that very firstthing that they buy from you as
part of the customer journey.
The second thing is, youabsolutely need to optimize your
website.
Your website is like the frontdoor the digital front door to
(15:43):
your studio, and you should bedesigning it for new clients.
So you want to make sure thatyour website it conveys very
clearly and articulates thevalue of what you do in your
business.
It showcases your brandmessaging, what you're all about
, who you are, who you're for,and then you want to make sure
(16:05):
you've got that very clear callto action.
Okay, so optimizing yourwebsite for conversions is a
really important part of yourmarketing strategy overall, and
this is something that you don'thave to do every single week.
It sort of can help you foryears, but you do certainly want
to review it on a regular basis.
So if it's been a little whilesince you had a little bit of a
(16:26):
website audit, then I encourageyou to do that.
This is something that we doinside of Thrive for our studio
owners as we work through theirmarketing intensive work, and
this is really powerful.
They can be small tweaks thatcan have really profound impact
on the conversion for theirwebsite.
(16:48):
The third strategy is going tobe local SEO and that means that
you want to make sure that yourwebsite, but also all of the
profiles for, say, googlebusiness and Apple business, are
up to date and relevant to whatyou do and your local community
.
So you certainly want to spendsome time and again, this is not
(17:10):
necessarily something you needto do every day, but you want to
make sure that when peopleGoogle Pilates near me, your
studio is showing up, and thatis linked to the way that you
set up your website for SEO onthe backend, as well as what the
copy that you put up yourwebsite for SEO on the back end,
as well as what the copy thatyou put on your site.
But there is also this littlething called Google Business
(17:31):
Profile, which is where you goto add your business to show up
on the Google Maps.
This is also where you canshare more information about
your business.
People can add reviews and soon, and as much as you can
optimize that profile, thebetter you positioned you will
be for showing up in search.
And when you do it well, italso helps you to perhaps avoid
(17:56):
the need to spend money ondigital advertising, right, and
that's kind of helpful, becausethat is money back in your
pocket.
So a huge difference for yourbusiness is when you start to
think about your local SEO, howyou're showing up online and
then making sure that that nextstep on your website is really,
really clear and powerful.
(18:16):
Now the other strategy that Iwould recommend to everyone,
regardless of the stage ofbusiness and size of business,
is that you have a follow-upprocess in place to keep in
touch with anyone who hasexpressed an interest in working
with you or joining yourclasses, and so that means that
(18:36):
there are some people who maycome along and make an account
in your booking software andthen never book a class.
Or there may be someone whoreaches out to you and sends you
an email, and then you neverhear back.
Or there may be someone whoreaches out to you and sends you
an email, and then you neverhear back.
Or there may be someone whocalls the studio and you let
them know about what to do nextand where to book and so on, and
then they never come in.
And what we want to make surewe're doing at this stage of the
(18:58):
customer journey, where someonehas actually reached out to you
and expressed an interest inbeing your client is that we are
being so proactive aboutguiding them forward that there
is no way that they can simplyperhaps forget about it or put
it on their to-do list and it'sstill there three months later,
right?
So that means that you want tohave a follow-up process in
place, and inside of Thrive andthe Marketing Intensive, I take
(19:20):
the studio owners inside, stepby step through exactly how I
recommend you reach out and stayconnected with people who are
what we would say, perhaps warmas a lead, but perhaps aren't
quite ready to take the nextstep, and usually what is needed
is a little bit ofencouragement, but also some
(19:41):
very specific information thatmay be missing from your
marketing messaging at thatmoment.
So we certainly want to makesure that you're nurturing those
leads early in that customerjourney and so you're not losing
them through.
You know, perhaps just somegaps in your communication.
And then finally, from time totime throughout the year, but
(20:02):
perhaps not all year round itcan be really helpful to run
some promotions, and a promotiondoesn't necessarily mean a
discount, but it does mean thatyou are creating an opportunity
to perhaps connect with newclients, to drive interest in
your business, and this can looklike anything from a challenge
(20:23):
to an open house, to acollaboration or even a new
client special, and when you dosomething like this, what it
does is it creates a lot of buzzfor you in your studio but also
gives you something to sharewith folks outside of the studio
.
So perhaps there's people whoare on the fence will actually
make the jump and make the leapand book and come and try a
(20:46):
class and then, with youramazing experience that you
offer in the studio, with thefantastic teaching that you have
and those follow-up processesin place, you will have a
fabulous new client on yourhands who will stay with you for
a long, long time.
So let's recap Lead generation,yes, is absolutely fundamental,
(21:10):
essential for keeping yourstudio growing and thriving, and
we talked a little bit aboutsome of the mistakes that I see
studio owners making, and thatis just to be honest is relying
perhaps overly too much on wordof mouth without a bit of
strategy behind it, perhapsbeing inconsistent, which I know
(21:30):
we're all guilty of, myselfincluded.
It is a challenge, but when wehave a kind of a baseline plan
in place, it really, reallyhelps, and then maybe not having
a sort of a bigger picturestrategy for how to talk about
your business, how to invitepeople into the studio and then
how to position yourself in yourlocal market.
(21:52):
Now, smart strategies likehaving a well-designed
introductory offer and newclient experience, website
optimization and local SEO canreally change the game for your
studio.
These are the exact things thatI show you how to do when you
join Thrive and the MarketingIntensive, because, yes, you may
(22:13):
know all this already, butactually coming to implement it
in your business with what youhave is going to be unique to
you, and you're going to havequestions and you're going to
want some guidance.
And so, inside Thrive, I walkstudio owners, just like you,
through the step-by-step processof building a marketing plan
and a strategy that actuallyworks.
(22:35):
We map out ways to create newleads and to acquire new clients
in your business in a way thatfeels good for you.
We optimize your brandmessaging and then we set up
systems so that you do this on aregular basis and you're not
constantly scrambling for newclients.
So if you're ready to finallyhave a clear and repeatable
(22:58):
system for attracting andconverting leads for to finding
people who really are theperfect client for your business
, then come and join us insideof Thrive.
Let's stop relying just on luckalone and start taking control
of the growth of your businessand really tapping into the
opportunity that exists.
So you can find out more atspring3.com forward slash Thrive
(23:22):
.
I'm going to link to it in theshow notes as well, and so, if
you love this episode, take aquick screenshot, share it on
Instagram, tag me sarin,underscore spring, underscore
three, and let me know which ofthese resonated with you most.
Thanks so much for listening.
I'll see you on the nextepisode.
Did you love this episode andwant more?
(23:50):
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.
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
(24:11):
of your day.
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