Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You've probably heard
that testimonials and reviews
are so important, but do youknow why they work so well?
Well, quick hint for you.
It's not just about havingstars on Google or lovely words
on your website.
It's about how we makedecisions, who we trust and what
(00:20):
gives us the confidence to buyand commit as consumers.
So in today's episode, I'mgoing to talk you through why
client reviews are one of themost powerful forms of marketing
you can use to grow your studiobusiness and how to make sure
you're getting the right kind oftestimonials to drive
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conversion and retention.
Well, hi there, I'm SarenGlanfield.
(01:08):
To drive conversion andretention strategies the right
mindset and some support alongthe way.
Join me as I share thereal-life insights that will
help you grow a sustainable andprofitable studio.
This is the Pilates BusinessPodcast.
Welcome back to the PilatesBusiness Podcast.
I'm so glad that you're here.
Business Podcast I'm so gladthat you're here.
I'm Sarah Glanfield.
(01:28):
I am the founder of Spring 3Studio Business Consulting and
for over a decade now I havebeen helping studio owners to
build and grow and thrive asbusiness owners, and over the
time, there are some things thathave come and gone when it
comes to marketing and growthstrategies, and there are some
things that have stood the testof time, and what we are talking
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about today is one of thosethings that is always going to
be a key, critical componentwithin sort of your marketing
tool kit.
Now, if you're like most of thestudio owners that I'm very
fortunate to work with, you knowthat your studio delivers
incredible value.
You hear it all the time fromyour clients.
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They feel stronger, they feelmore confident, they feel more
connected to their bodies and somany other amazing outcomes,
and they love what you do.
They love the experience theyhave within your studio.
But what we often find is thatit's quite challenging and often
impossible for many studioowners to really be able to
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share that value beyond the fourwalls of the studio.
How do you capture thatincredible energy that your
clients feel when they get thoseamazing results?
And the question I often haveand one of the things that we
break down when I work with myclients is how you can make that
value visible to the people whodon't yet know you Are your
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prospective clients, the peoplewho perhaps are in your orbit
but are not yet fully committedor even have even stepped foot
inside of the studio yet arethey seeing proof that your
studio delivers some incredibleresults for your clients, things
that they're actually alreadylooking for.
So I want to talk a little bitmore today about what I consider
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to be often one of the mostunderrated and underutilized
tools in studio marketing, andthat is client reviews and
testimonials.
And this topic is so importantbecause we live in a world today
where buying decisions areshaped by trust.
People don't just want to knowwhat you do, they want to know
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if it works, they want to knowif others love it, they want to
know what others get out of itand, most importantly, they want
to know if it's also going towork for them.
And I will be quite honest withyou we can spend hordes of time
perfectly crafting yourmarketing copy, but that really
doesn't quite compete anywherenear as well when it comes to
(04:06):
genuinely sharing clients sorry,clients, genuinely sharing
their success stories.
So why I want to talk aboutthis today?
Well, again, it's somethingthat is often overlooked, and I
see that they are so essentialfor building credibility amongst
those people within your worldwho are perhaps not quite
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convinced, or not quite asconvinced as you'd like them to
be, that this is the place forthem, because I've seen time and
time again that thosetestimonials, those reviews,
truly do influence conversionsand retention in your business,
and I want to make sure thatyou're using them in a way that
actually moves the needle.
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So let's start off with talkinga little bit about the
psychology behind whytestimonials work.
I'm a big believer in not justtelling you the strategy, but
also in giving you the reasonswhy it works, so you understand
what you're doing in yourbusiness.
When I work with studio owners,I'm not here just to give you
the toolkit.
I'm also going to show you howto make the most of all of the
(05:12):
tools in the toolkit right,because your studio is different
to all the other studios outthere.
I know that to be 100% true,which means that some of these
tools are going to be used inslightly different ways in your
business compared to in someother businesses.
So most studio owners think oftestimonials as nice to have
things.
It's something that they post.
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When they post can't think ofanything else to post something
that perhaps you put on atestimonials page on your
website.
You collect them very randomlywhenever you hear someone say
something nice about you, andmaybe there is not even a
process there at all.
But in reality, testimonialstap into something much, much
deeper, and that is social proof.
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As humans, we are hardwired tolook to others for guidance,
especially when it comes tomaking decisions in areas where
they feel a little bit uncertain, which might be like trying a
new studio or perhaps joining anew membership.
So when potential clients seereal people just like them
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getting results, it bypasses theskepticism and instead builds
trust, which is what we want.
And this is really why itmatters so much that we are
focused on reviews andtestimonials and so on is
because people don't typicallytrust businesses outright.
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Then we are all more likely totrust other people, right, and
we are more likely to trustother people who've had
experiences similar to us thatfeel relatable and that feel
authentic and feel real.
And so people want reassurancethat if they commit their time,
their money, their energy, thatthey will get what they're
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looking for in return.
So if you want to increaseconversions and you want to
increase client retention, wehave to lean into this what we
know to be true about us ashumans, right, and so we want to
make testimonials and reviews avery intentional part of your
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marketing strategy.
Now, what I often find is thatstudio owners feel pretty stuck
when it comes to their marketingbecause they're feeling like
they're perhaps shouting into avoid.
They're posting, they'rerunning ads, even they're
sending emails, but they're notseeing sort of an instant impact
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of those, of all thoseactivities, and often what's
missing is is not that there isnot the quantity of marketing
that is being done, but oftenthe the quality of it.
Right, and you can send emailafter email and post after post
about perhaps that promotion andthat discount and that new
offer and that bundle, and thatyou know, whatever it might be,
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but if you are not sharingcontent that is also building
trust you shouldn't expectpeople to take action.
So if they don't believe thatyou deliver, if they don't trust
that what you're saying is true, if they don't really know you
deliver, if they don't trustthat what you're saying is true,
if they don't really know youand you're not sharing with them
anything about who you are andwhat you're doing, then you
shouldn't really expect thoseemails that are simply perhaps a
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promotional email to really getthe results that you're looking
for from your marketing efforts.
And what we know is that thesereviews and these testimonials
are trust building.
This is your trust buildingcontent.
And when people who are in yourworld, who perhaps are warm
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leads, perhaps even cold leads,see proof on a regular basis
that your studio creates anincredible experience, delivers
an incredible experience,delivers an incredible
experience but also createsincredible results, what will
happen is people will start torecognize you as the authority
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in your town for what you do.
That's called credibility.
That's called knowing that whatyou do works and that people
are aware that what you do works.
And so when we see this type ofcontent shared on a regular
basis, very consistently, yourcredibility will improve.
And when credibility improves,what we see is conversion rates
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follow.
So, instead of thinking oftestimonials as that thing you
post when you have nothing elseto post, think of it as perhaps
one of the core pillars of youroverall marketing content
strategy will move from perhapslooking or that in that
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introductory period or thattrial, they convert at a higher
rate into that next cell, intothat package, into that
membership and so on.
And sometimes we know that evenwhen people convert into that
next cell, we also find that atsome point clients often leave.
And that's really where westart to look at retention data,
and often retention can feelquite elusive to studio owners
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as well.
It's something that we talkabout a lot, but what does it
really mean and how can wereally impact that?
And when we see members dropoff after a few months and maybe
you're not sure why, it couldalso be down to perhaps not
knowing about what's possible,not feeling a sense of value or
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belonging.
And this is again where we canuse reviews, testimonials and
success stories in our marketingstrategies.
So we're going to use them atthe top end of the funnel, and
we're going to use them at thetop end of the funnel and we're
going to use them in theconversion stage of the funnel
and we're going to use them inour retention efforts at the
bottom end of the funnel as well.
And so what we know is thatretention is fueled by a few
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different factors.
Number one is results.
People get results.
They're going to stay, but it'salso fueled by a sense of
belonging and a continued senseof belief and hope that this is
going to continue to deliverresults right.
And so what we know is that weneed to be focusing on all of
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these different elements toreally make sure that your
retention is maximized andoptimized for your business.
So what we know is that when wesee clients and those clients
see other clients celebratingsuccess in your studio, it often
reinforces their own sense ofcommitment to results and
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re-inspires them to continuemoving forward and staying part
of your business.
So testimonials don't justattract new clients.
They remind your currentclients why they chose your
studio in the first place.
So when your clients feel proudto be a part of your amazing
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community, where you get thesegreat results, you feel
fantastic, you make greatfriends and you have fun doing
it, they're more likely to stayengaged and continue on with
their memberships.
So we don't want to just usetestimonials in external
marketing to our cold audiencesat the top of the funnel to get
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new leads, but also inside atthe studio as well, to maintain
that high level of motivationand consistency.
So be sure to not ignore thatpart of your marketing efforts
as well.
Now you know I want to alsohighlight a bit of a mistake
that I see popping up when itcomes to testimonials, because
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not all testimonials are createdequal and not all testimonials
will get you the marketingresults and performance that you
want for your marketing efforts.
So the generic praise likegreat instructor or great class
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or love this class, might notquite move the needle, and what
works and what we see more ofworking more often than not, is
a story driven testimonial, onethat speaks to a change or an
impact or results that isrelatable to many of your
clients.
So this is why, you know, welook at traditional sort of
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marketing in the fitness andhealth and world.
We often see those before andafter pictures because they are
quite powerful and that's whatmost people are looking for.
Is that?
Here is where I am today andhere's what I want to get to.
And when people other people,maybe not us share those
pictures, it's so impactful,right, and that's why they work
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so actually very well to capturepeople in that moment, and so
I'm not suggesting you do thatat all, but I do want you to
think about this in sort of abefore and after story.
So perhaps the before is thatyour client may have struggled
with back pain or may havestruggled to find a movement
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practice or a workout that theyenjoy and can keep coming back
to and have fun with, but afterperhaps a couple of classes or a
few months of taking classes orsessions at your studio, that
changed for them and then beingable to describe a little bit
about what that change lookslike.
These are the types oftestimonials that are gold for
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marketing, because they speakdirectly to the hopes and the
fears of people across thecustomer journey.
So you want to be veryintentional about how you ask
for and how you use testimonials, and this is exactly what I
show my studio owners how to doinside of Thrive.
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I teach them and show them howto gather the right testimonials
in the right places and thenhow to use them very
strategically throughout thecustomer journey, from the top
end of the funnel all the waythrough to the conversion and to
your ongoing retention andengagement efforts as well.
(15:36):
And step by step by step, wegive you the templates on how to
do that and then talk youthrough how to utilize that and
how to leverage that within yourspecific marketing strategy for
your studio business.
And we do that each week insideof our coaching calls.
So if you want to learn a bitmore about how Thrive works and
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how it might help your studio,you can go to the link in the
show notes or go to spring3.com.
Forward slash thrive, alrighty.
Let's recap so client reviewsand testimonials are not just a
nice to have, my friend.
They are one of the mostpowerful levers you can pull to
really build credibility,increase conversions, drive
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retention and ultimatelystrengthen your brand presence,
and all of that will lead tobetter retention and stronger
revenue growth.
And they work so well becausewe people trust people and
because that kind of level ofproof is actually what sells,
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and so what we know is that youneed to be very intentional.
You need the right kind oftestimonials, used in the right
places, to really create thattrust and to ultimately drive
the action, which is what wewant them to do.
Right, we want them to takeaction.
We want to book a class, checkout your website, pick up the
phone, make a call, whatever itis that you.
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However, you want them to bookthat next class.
So if you're wondering how todo that, like I said, without
adding one more complicatedthing to figure out on your own,
this is what we do inside ofThrive.
So I hope this episode gave youa little bit of insight and
value as you go about buildingyour boutique fitness studio
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business, and if you reallyenjoyed what you heard today,
I'd be so grateful if you couldtake a quick minute to rate and
review this podcast.
Studio owners and teachers justlike you, to feel supported and
get the encouragement that weall need from time to time on
this journey as a business ownerin this industry.
(17:46):
Thank you so much being hereand I'll see you in the next
episode.
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
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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
of your day.