Whether you’re the type to buy into the New Year’s Resolution hype, or (like us) you’re more into a rolling approach to goal-setting, there’s no denying that New Year’s resolutions are A Thing that humans have been doing for thousands of years. Various surveys and studies show that the number of modern humans who make resolutions every year hovers around 40%, and a little under 40% of those folks set health-focused goals (source)… which is why wellness businesses like yoga studios brace themselves for an influx of newbies every January.
Scaling up your operations to meet that demand is no small feat for small business owners, especially in the current employment climate – but it’s even more difficult to scale back once demand dies down. So, while your current and new clients are focusing on their new wellness goals, you should be focusing on your goals for sustainable growth. In one of our recent masterminds, we discussed strategies for turning new clients into loyal customers, and the conversation ended up being one of the most motivating experiences we’ve had in a while — so much so, that we wanted to share some of that hive-mind wisdom here.
5 tips from wellness professionals for new client retention
1. Focus on building a community
As amazing as you, yourself — and your brand — may be, if you really want to grow your business, it’s got to be about more than just you. Your customers are the heart of your business, so focus on keeping that heart healthy, strong, and supported!
Start by figuring out where your existing and potential clients hang out on line – is it in instagram comments? On TikTok? In facebook groups? On a discord server? Making sure that you have a strong and consistent presence on the platform where the bulk of your clients hang out is key. Your presence should come from a place of participation and enthusiasm; focus on being a good conversationalist and a good neighbor. Some of the suggestions brought up in our mastermind included:
- Never let your channel “go dark”: make sure you’re posting as consistently and frequently as you can muster. The more you post, the more the algorithm will “like you” and reward you with reach. Mastermind attendee Jill Fishburn (@defineoakley (instagram)) pointed out that posting daily will result in your account starting to be “sticky” at the top of people’s feeds (and therefore the top of their minds).
- Encourage reactions & participation: always consider ways to position your content to encourage your followers to interact with your content. Ask pointed questions, set challenges, make templates, hold giveaways… anything that calls your followers to action and gets them involved in a conversation rather than one-way content consumption.
- Ya gotta give to get: it almost goes without saying that you should make a habit of responding to comments on your own posts, but going a step further and interacting with or playing off of content that others create will get you in the habit of participating in the big, never-ending conversation that is social media. It can help you to establish your voice, get ideas for what content to post in the future, and bump up brand awareness.
- Don’t forget to tag people: tagging other accounts isn’t about just identifying someone who’s in a photo. Tagging lets viewers easily meet and connect with the tag-ee… and it allows the tag-ee to easily share your content to their own profiles — and at a certain point, that means your reach starts to get exponential. Plus, it’s generally just flattering when someone else posts about you doing something awesome!
- It’s not selling, it’s marketing and brand awareness: Keep in mind that what you’re doing on socials isn’t sales-focused, it’s relationship-focused. Let people see the personality/ies behind your brand, speak your truth, and let your awesome vibe come through in all you do. Solid business growth isn’t going to be found in gimmicks, it’s found in authenticity, so set your P&L worries aside and just be authentic.
- Get help if you need it: If you’re not super into social media (ahem… D’nelle… we see you avoiding making reels…), this might be one of the places you’d benefit from bringing in outside help. Consider what you do like about the channel and delegate the rest. (Can’t afford to pay someone? Consider an in-kind trade with a client!)
Bonus points: as you’re making content and participating in discussions, keep notes. What challenges are people in the group facing? Can you solve any problems that they’re mentioning, or can you empathize with their struggle? This can help you to identify places where you could create new products or services… or even set you down a path to building an On Demand Library or an online course!
2. Make memberships the easy option, but not the only option
Whether you’re the type to buy into the New Year’s Resolution hype, or (like us) you’re more into a rolling approach to goal-setting, there’s no denying that New Year’s resolutions are A Thing that humans have been doing for thousands of years. Various surveys and studies show that the number of modern humans who make resolutions every year hovers around 40%, and a little under 40% of those folks set health-focused goals (source)… which is why wellness businesses like yoga studios brace themselves for an influx of newbies every January.
Scaling up your operations to meet that demand is no small feat for small business owners, especially in the current employment climate – but it’s even more difficult to scale back once demand dies down. So, while your current and new clients are focusing on their new wellness goals, you should be focusing on your goals for sustainable growth. In one of our recent masterminds, we discussed strategies for turning new clients into loyal customers, and the conversation ended up being one of the most motivating experiences we’ve had in a while — so much so, that we wanted to share some of that hive-mind wisdom here.
Recommended Reading
from the BIPi Blog
Transforming Your Homepage With StoryBrand™
Making the switch from an informative, “here’s who we are and what we do” home page to a “we’re the perfect folks to help you solve your problem” home page can transform your understanding of your own messaging. Reposition yourself as the guide that will assist your client, the hero, in completing their epic quest.
3. Follow up and follow through
Just like with creating content for and participating on social platforms, this point is all about community and relationship cultivation. New clients will often feel lost and a little daunted when they first join in on your programming… while, at the same time, you’re probably feeling daunted and overwhelmed by the influx of new clients into your programming!
Creating a structured approach to follow up can ensure that no one gets lost in the shuffle. You might do this through creating an email drip campaign that sends regular messages with helpful information that supports the new client through their first 30, 60, or 90 days. You might use a task manager or calendar item to remind you or someone on your team to follow up personally. You might create a mentorship program, where seasoned clients take a newbie under their wing for a set number of classes. Whatever you choose, be consistent and be communicative.
4. Don’t put off getting testimonials from happy clients
It’s so easy, in the middle of the chaos, to forget to ask for feedback. For some of us, asking for help is akin to getting teeth pulled; for others, it’s just super easy to forget. Establish a system now for getting testimonials from happy clients and use it consistently.
Whether it’s written reviews on Google or Facebook, or video testimonials you can post to instagram or YouTube, create a structure that allows you to capture the feedback and post it in a consistent format. For example, here at BIPi, we recently hired a graphic designer to create templates we can use to drop in snippets of text from written reviews & testimonials. That way, our followers will see that format repeatedly and start to recognize that content type before they even read. Our friends at Novo Fitness Studio use instagram story highlights to collect testimonials in one place, and they add new posts to that highlight whenever one comes their way.
Bonus points: Our mastermind attendees all had great advice on collecting video testimonials, but Tierra Turnage (@mytiifit (instagram)) pointed out that collecting video testimonials right before or after a class or session can result in really excellent in-the-moment content. If you prepare your client ahead of time for a post-workout video shout-out, you can get happy and enthusiastic feedback that shows others just what kind of awesomeness they’ll get when they work with you!
5. Video is king, so capture it and capture it now!
Let’s face it – video is daunting for pretty much all of us (for those of you who love it… tell us your secrets!). One of the biggest challenges our masterminders face, across the board, is a combination of “imposter syndrome” and the fear of “if it’s on the internet, it’s forever”. Combine that with making videos, and the perfect becomes the enemy of the good pretty much immediately. Marcus Thurston (@areufromdc (instagram)) called it “analysis paralysis”, and noted that the only way for him to get past it is to stop aiming for perfection.
Nike’s admonition to “just do it” reeeeeally applies here. Just. Start. Recording. Don’t worry about how good it is, how (un)skilled you might be at editing, or how much you hate being on camera. What’s important is to record… and record… and record. You can always delete videos you hate later (and you might be surprised to find that what you dislike actually ends up being popular)! Meanwhile, you’re out there, participating in the fray, and showing folks the messy, authentic, charming, and true experience of working with you and your business.
If you have no idea where to begin, the masterminders had some great advice:
- Capture things as they’re happening, even if you don’t know what’s gonna happen: short clips snipped out of longer videos can perform really well on socials and captivate followers. If you don’t know what to create, just start filming and see what you end up with
- Answer basic questions: pointed answers to niche, common questions potential or current clients might have are great prompts to get you started. Create yourself a list of questions and then start answering those questions on camera. You don’t have to make a feature-length film, be in full makeup, or show off your genius. Starting with something as simple as “how do you hold a kettlebell” can result in great content!
- React as an expert: One of the ongoing trends on TikTok that’s made its way over to instagram is the “expert reaction” video. So, what’s your expertise? From that perspective, find videos that inspire your inner expert to react, and capture that reaction. If you see a viral video of someone doing an absolutely textbook downward-facing dog, react to that video with praise or additional information. This will bolster you and your brand as an expert in the field as well as take advantage of the virality of the original video.
- Let trends inspire you: there are tons of ways to participate in trends without having to embarrass yourself doing a TikTok dance. Trending audio, topics or hashtags are a great place to start if you’re staring blankly at the camera. Browse through trends on your favorite social app and brainstorm ways that you can participate. Our client, author Maci Welch (@maciwelchauthor (tiktok)), is really great at this (and tbh, way braver than we are) – check her out for inspo!
Many thanks to our December 2022 mastermind attendees for the ideas, advice, and motivation!
If you’re curious about how Berry Interesting Productions can help you build systems and tools to support you in your client retention and business growth goals, Drop us a line or book a consultation directly with our fearless leader, D’nelle. You can also sign up to get emails from Berry Interesting, and we’ll keep you in the loop.