nymphdancer started this discussion ·
what is your favorite way of paying for classes? In 4-6-8 week sessions? Punch Cards? Monthly memberships? Drop Ins? Why do you like that way of paying? Studio's feel free to weigh in too!
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sessions get realy hard for people-- my studio does them and if someone is going to be missing 3 weeks of a 6 week session bc of travel or whatnot, they won't sign up... it's hard to commit! i think the best way is to have unlimited monthlies especially for beginners, and then also offer punchcards for busier students.
Monthly memberships are hard to price and difficult for the client espeically if youa re running specials and your classes are full. It also has drawbacks that people will sign up for multiple classes and then not show without any repercussions to them. I kind of like drops in and either punch cards or some type of package system. Price drop ins higher than packages. There are good and bad to sessions. If you have enough instructors ok, but if not then it can get really hectic crazy with scheduling. Also the same thing as what Amy stated. I was just talking to my sister and she is not signing up for her next session because it is ski season and she knows she will be missing classes. On the other hand it is easier for an instructor to have all people in the class at the same level. Also I ahve found that with pole peopel are fickle....by the time they have the balls to get to a class they want to go NOW...not have to wait another month before the next session starts.
This topic has been on my mind lately because I've been thinking of trying to go to a studio for the new year. I'm going to be all honest and blunt. I travel a lot for work and it's whenever they need me to so it's random. I know I can't sign up for x-week sessions because I might not make it to any of them. I don't like limited monthly memberships, where they say its montly, but you can only go to like 4 classes a month. To me that's not a monthly membership. I hate having to pay in advance for a bundle of classes. If I've never been to your studio before and never seen you teach I'm not paying for 4 classes right away! Just let me buy 1 test class or atleast sit and watch one class first. I don't understand the mentality behind bundled classes from the begining. If I go to 1 class and it's great I'm hooked like crack and I pour my $$ into your studio. If I buy 1 class and it sucks I simply don't come back. But if I buy 4 classes and the first one sucks I'll be mad, even if I go to the other 3 classes I'm going to be mad you made me pay for classes that suck and I'll go write horible reviews about your studio to make sure other people don't pay for a bundle of suck classes. Maybe thats just me, I'd appreciate a studio owner explaining this one from their side. I really like punch cards and real monthly memberships. Drop ins are ok, but it usually means your sharing poles and I'm a pole hog lol. I moved over a year ago and there are 3-4 studios around me I could go to, but because of their payment methods or online videos showing bad teaching, I don't go. I could have poured a years worth of class money into a studio, but didn't.
Sadly ...what customers want and what works best from a business perspective are often two different things Nymph. However there is a whole bunch of info about this in your ETED certification program ;presented from an experienced perspective. ;)
I think the best pricing is always: the highest price for 1 class. A discounted rate for 5 classes. An even bigger discount for 10 classes. An even bigger dicount for 20 classes, etc. Memberships and sessions are too complicated. You get girls like me who have lives and illnesses that can get in the way and the get screwed, but bundle packages are great cuz then they can go when they can, but it gets you a clients coming back.
As a new studio we offer a 1 time drop in or class punch cards with expirations dates. 1 class is the most expensive then it gets cheaper the more classes you put on the punch card. Believe it or not, I'm not legally allowed to offer monthly or yearly memberships. To do that the studio is requireed to have an insurance company write a surety bond in case you it is to go out of business and leave all those memberships hanging. (The punch cards seem to be a loophole around this.) On occasion we offer a session that has a specific focus for 4 or 6 weeks, but they are a special offer so the student commits for a few weeks then goes back to a regular schedule.
I keep buying punch cards at my studio. I would have loved to get the monthly unlimited pass instead, but there's just not enough classes in the evening (I work 8:30-5), so it wouldn't pay off..:)
Hey Nyph...for me personally while I love the idea of session classes...you form bonds with the other classmates etc - it was always hard for me to get to them. In general for me I like singles or punch card/packs etc...as long as the expiration dates aren't to short. At our studio we are doing singles and 10 packs. We will have been open for 2 weeks this Saturday and I have had roughly 3 inquiries regarding monthly memberships - but honestly as a studio owner I can't seem to make the financials work on that so I doubt we will offer it.
Hey Nyph...for me personally while I love the idea of session classes...you form bonds with the other classmates etc - it was always hard for me to get to them. In general for me I like singles or punch card/packs etc...as long as the expiration dates aren't to short. At our studio we are doing singles and 10 packs. We will have been open for 2 weeks this Saturday and I have had roughly 3 inquiries regarding monthly memberships - but honestly as a studio owner I can't seem to make the financials work on that so I doubt we will offer it.
I can write from a perspective of a consumer and an instructor- I have worked at studios that offer both drop-in classes and pole series classes (8 week sessions)- the studio that offered only drop-ins has since changed to offering pole series now as well. The pros of having drop in classes is you generate more clientele as students don't have to make a huge financial commitment up front and can take classes based on their own schedule. The real drawback here for a client is a lack of progression. You're taking a class where the same things are being taught repetitively. It's great when you're beginning and want to have a chance to keep working on the same thing but when you've mastered that next move, this really hinders your ability to move on. You eventually get to a point where you're in a class you've taken four times now with a bunch of people taking it their first time. The time it takes the instructor to teach all the new people takes time away from you learning new material. This can become quite chaotic as well and can turn people off of pole. Not to mention your class time (60 minutes is typical) can also hinder the learning experience- you should be incorporating a warm up and cool down- I found this was really hard to do in drop-in classes because there just was never enough time in this situation. I really like the pole series idea. Studios will offer a series and price based on one up front fee of a single class price for each 8 week class- hence the phenomenal and unappealing up front prices. Consumers don't think of the price as being broken down and the price can be scary and deter people away. You also run into people who can't commit to a given day and time every week for 8 weeks. In this case it's great to have your series running consecutively on another day/time that if students miss or know they're going to miss- they can arrange to take the class with the other class series to learn the material. I've taught series classes and our curriculum is easy enough where I as an instructor have been able to catch people up without a problem. If my students miss, it's not a big deal because I always incorporate a review of last week- the students that were in class like this too because they want to be able to review again and they often have new questions they'd like addressed. I think what it really comes down to is cost. Consumers don't want to pay a lot to work out. I personally agree with this. I am more willing to take a class if it's $10 than if it's $20. I want to see a great deal and knowing I'm going to benefit from it makes a huge difference. But when prices are up there, I can't rationalize the benefits- no matter how good exercise is for my body, I'm not going to see it that way if the price isn't right. But like everyone else said- great deals don't pay the bills. That's why you have pole parties. 🙂
thanks everyone for your input. Just trying to decide which way I want to go when I open the studio...
