As a Pilates instructor, you are used to working closely with your clients and providing direct instruction, tips, and feedback. Your guidance helps clients improve their form to prevent injury or better target a specific muscle group to get the results they’re looking for. You may even ask your clients for feedback post-workout to help inform your next session to keep them on track for achieving their fitness goals. But if this is where your instructor-client communication ends, you’re missing out on one of the most valuable tools for the business growth you have at your disposal.

Seeking out client feedback may feel intimidating or awkward, but without that beneficial data trying to find new ways to improve your business and draw in new clients can feel like flying blind. Client feedback can:

• Generate ideas for new services and offerings
• Identify blindspots and overlooked opportunities for growth
• Open channels for communicating concerns to retain clients
• Promote a sense of cooperation and collaboration
• Generate new client referrals

Listening to your customers and taking their feedback into consideration also benefits your business in other ways. In the health and wellness industry, word of mouth is one of the most powerful tools for building your client base and reputation. As a Pilates instructor, your practice is already deeply rooted in providing excellent customer service and connecting with your clients on a personal level. While this combination of professionalism, approachability, and charisma goes a long way in client retention, it can also help you to draw in new customers.

Gathering Client Feedback: Choosing a Platform

Implementing a client feedback system doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it can be as simple as adding a suggestion box or printing short survey forms for your clients to complete. However, online feedback platforms offer more versatility for both management and use of the gathered information. While there are pros and cons to either method, here are a few things you should consider:

Paper forms:

• The greatest amount of control over the dissemination of feedback
• Allow for immediate collection of feedback after services rendered
• Challenging to organize, store, and manage (and tons of paper waste)
• Less anonymity which may skew results

Online Forms:

• Generates content for cross-platform promotion
• Easy to organize and manage from anywhere at anytime
• Requires more active attention to stay on top of potential negative feedback on public forums
• Greater anonymity may make it more difficult to follow up

Creating Incentives for Customer Feedback

Choosing a medium for getting customer feedback is only the first step. Creating incentives for your customers to provide feedback can help you get the data you need to build your Pilates business. To help encourage your clients to provide their thoughts and feedback, consider offering one of the following incentives.

• A rewards program
• Discounted training sessions
• Discounts on shop products
• Raffle entries for a prize
• Free one-on-one sessions for referrals

Other Ways to Use Your Client Base to Promote Your Business

Happy customers are any business’ best source for free promotion. For health and wellness professionals this is especially true. Social media makes it easier than ever to gather great promotional content in the moment through video clips of classes, client progress posts, and even testimonials. Moreover, by offering incentives for your clients to follow your accounts and engage with your posts, you can ensure your brand has the furthest reach possible. Some fun ways to increase your online engagement include:

• Daily, weekly, or monthly specials unlocked by following and sharing your account
• Polls and surveys for choosing fun class themes or other offerings
• First-come first-serve online engagement specials (e.g First 10 to comment get a prize)
• New client specials for sharing a review on their social media accounts
• Social media-based contests for free sessions or waived monthly fees

Looking for more ways to engage with your audience and use your existing client base to your advantage? Join our PMA’s member-only community forum for more great ideas! Login here.