My new website is helping on so many levels. It’s streamlining and improving client experience – especially when it comes to bookings. It’s helping to build my brand in the most professional way and to get word out there on the transformative form of Pilates I teach. As importantly, it’s freeing me up from admin around bookings so I can concentrate on what I love – helping my clients experience the joy of movement without pain!
Background
SW Pilates is a fully equipped Romana’s Classical Pilates Studio in Alderley Edge, Cheshire. Owner Saskia Ward set up the business in 2022. Hers is the only studio in the North West to teach the original work of Joseph Pilates.
“In 10 sessions you’ll feel the difference, in 20 you’ll see the difference and in 30 you’ll have a new body.” Drawing on her own experience and that of her clients, Saskia can vouch for Joseph Pilates’s claim that the benefits of this practice are for the long term. It was important, therefore, that her online booking system reflect the needs of returning clients.
Building a client base in the most profitable way
When Saskia took the decision during lockdown to move from London to the North West and set up a business, it came with a challenge: how to build up a loyal client base from scratch?
Over the first months of operation, all bookings were accepted either by text or phone call –a process that would become unsustainable as word spread and Saskia’s clientele grew.
Saskia knew she needed to find a more effective way of working so that she could spend less time on admin and more on teaching, improving profitability as a result.
Determining functionality for the new website
Saskia had a very clear idea of what her website needed to do. Firstly, it needed to include an online booking system which would remove the need for her to process bookings one by one. Secondly, it needed to provide clients with important information about this specialist form of Pilates before they embarked on practice. Previously, this information would have been covered during the first part of a session; time that can now be put to better use on the practice itself, thereby increasing value for clients.
Saskia’s view on website design was much less certain.
Even though I knew how my new website needed to function, I really struggled to articulate how I wanted it to look. The team at Zync took the time to find out what my business is about, and came up with a design that perfectly captures my business brand and ethos, and how I want to present myself.
Benefits of an ecommerce website for SW Pilates’s clients
As Saskia’s business grows, it is often the case that she is in class for the entire day. It is not always possible, therefore, to respond immediately to a client who wishes to book over the phone or by text.
The new online booking system gives clients the freedom to choose which timeslot most suits them, and whether to pay online or simply book. It also provides them with the certainty that the booking is confirmed there and then. Better still, they are able to submit block bookings which benefit from a discount.
Simon and his team developed my online booking system in such a way that makes it really low maintenance. I certainly don’t have a technical mind so I love the fact that it’s super easy for me to manage.
Looking to the future
Saskia now intends to extend her range of services from private sessions to group classes. The website has been built in such a way that gives her and her clients the flexibility that works.
