As a fitness studio owner, effective communication is critical to retaining clients and growing your business. But with so many touchpoints and so much on your to-do list, how do you decide when to rely on automated messages and when to make personal contact? Here's a guide to help you navigate the balance between automation and individual outreach.

When to Use Automation

Automations are perfect for routine contact points to ensure no important communication slips through the cracks. If the point of the communication is to educate, inform, remind, or guide, consider allowing automation to keep those off your plate. Here are some scenarios where automation can save you time while maintaining a high level of customer service:

1. Initial Response Email: A warm welcome email sent immediately after someone inquires sets the tone for their experience with your studio. Plus, research shows that your conversion potential is eight times higher just by responding to an initial inquiry within the first five minutes.

2. Welcome Series: An email series that introduces new clients to your studio's offerings, showcases your story, highlights client testimonials and answers FAQs is perfect with automation. This series is so important to help acclimate new clients without overwhelming your team (or yourself) with unnecessary tasks.

3. Milestone Notifications: Celebrate clients' achievements, such as their 10th class or 3-month anniversary, with automated celebratory messages.

4. 60 and 90-Day Check-In: Automated check-ins can help ensure new clients are on track and feeling supported when they're at the highest risk of losing their newfound momentum. A simple "Look at you! Hitting your goals and creating new habits!" goes a long way when a new client is trying her best to become a new, healthier version of herself.

5. 3-Month and 6-Month Winbacks: Re-engage inactive clients with automated win-back campaigns offering special incentives to return.

6. End-of-Term Renewal Notification: Don't leave renewals to chance. Remind clients of their membership expiration, highlight some past and future events at the studio, and encourage them to stay committed.

7. Class Reminder Notifications: Help clients stay on track with automated reminders for their upcoming classes.

8. Review Request: An automated email asking for feedback or a review can provide valuable insights and testimonials while boosting your SEO.

9. Birthday Wishes: Celebrate clients' birthdays with a special message or offer.

10. Booking Confirmation and Follow-up: Decrease no-shows by sending a confirmation email automatically.

11. Referral Program Invitations: Encourage loyal members to bring their friends with automated referral program invites.

12. Lapsed Member Outreach: This is slightly different than the winback. Lapsed members have active packages but haven't been in for a period of time. I like a three-week notification to catch clients before they completely fall off the wagon and want to cancel.

13. Membership Anniversary Celebrations: Celebrate a client's membership anniversary with a special message or offer.

When to Reach Out Personally

Personal outreach is absolutely crucial for building deeper relationships and handling more sensitive or complex interactions. Here's when to pick up the phone or write a personal email:

1. Anything Asking for a Sale: Whether it's selling a brand new intro or upselling a new membership tier, if it involves someone sending their payment information, personalized communication is required in my book. Asking personally makes a significant difference. Hubspot found that personalized interactions can increase response rates by up to 33%.

2. When you want to make a significant impact: Personal check-ins, especially with new or struggling clients, can show that you care about their individual progress and well-being. No one wants to feel like their attendance goes unnoticed, so make an effort (and reach out personally) to show you care.

3. Handling Complaints or Issues: Always address complaints or issues personally to show empathy and a commitment to resolving the problem. Try not to rely on ChatGPT for this one; you can tell the difference.

4. Personal Milestones or Significant Achievements: "But, didn't you just say to use automations for milestones?" Yes. You can use automations, and for 100 classes, that might be the right move. However, a personal note or call for significant achievements can make clients feel genuinely valued.

5. Customizing Programs or Services: When tailoring programs or services to fit a client's specific needs, personal communication is key to understanding and meeting their expectations.

Striking the Balance

Your goal as a studio owner is to blend the efficiency of automation with the warmth of personal interactions. Here are a few tips to strike that balance:

Segment Your Audience: Use data to segment your clients and tailor both automated and personal messages accordingly.

Personalize Automated Messages: Incorporate personalization tokens in your automated emails to address clients by name and reference specific details about their engagement with your studio. This will increase your read rate by about 70%!

Monitor and Adjust: Regularly review the performance of your automated campaigns and the feedback from personal interactions to refine your approach.

Empower Your Staff: Train your team to recognize when a personal touch is needed and equip them with the tools and scripts to handle these interactions effectively.

‍While automation software has revolutionized many industries, boutique fitness is one where the human touch holds immeasurable value. Person-to-person sales interactions foster genuine relationships, provide tailored guidance, and build thriving communities. By effectively leveraging both automation and personal outreach, you can ensure that your clients feel supported, valued, and motivated to continue their fitness journey with your studio without requiring you to send 500 emails a day.