Should you cancel a class with only one person?

A late cancellation tells a customer they do not matter

A post on Reddit went viral recently. A customer pays for an unlimited membership at a Pilates studio. Again and again, their class is cancelled at the last minute, because nobody else booked it.

No one cancels a class within the hour.

We run a studio, so we understand that owner. A class for one person does not make a profit, and nobody wants to pay an instructor for that.

But look at it from the customer’s side. They made a plan. They moved other things to keep this hour free. Then they learned, one hour before, that the class would not happen. Some days nobody told them at all, and they came to the studio for nothing.

After that, the customer has no reason to stay. They have learned that the studio does not care about their day.

The post on Reddit (opens in a new tab)

People build a habit around their class time

People have their own hours to work out. Tuesday at 18:00 becomes part of their week, and after a while it is a habit.

That habit is what keeps a customer with you. You cannot start to break it because one class is quiet. Try to fill the other spots instead.

We never cancel a class for one customer

Our classes have 6 spots. We try to have at least 2 or 3 people in every class, but we have no minimum. Sometimes a class runs with one customer.

We have cancelled a class for one reason only: the instructor could not teach it, and we could not find a substitute at the last minute. Even then, we returned the credit, moved the customer to another class, or refunded the money.

People love it when you make an exception for them. They remember it, and they stay more loyal to your studio.

We are in a service business. Sometimes we have to do things that are not profitable for us, to win in the long term.

A class for one person costs less than a new customer

At our studio, a class for one person costs €30. That is the instructor’s pay for the class. The rent does not change, and neither does the instructor’s flat fee. A drop-in is also €30 at our studio, so one drop-in customer pays for the instructor.

Do not think about the €30. Think about what the customer is worth to you over time. At our studio, a customer stays about 8 months, usually between 6 and 9. Eight months of our most popular membership, 4 classes a month for €99, is €792. Some customers stay for a year or more. One long-term customer on an unlimited plan can be worth €4,000 or more.

Then look at what it costs to replace them. Our ads cost about €250 to win one new member.

You will not lose a customer over one cancelled class. You lose them when it happens again and again, as it did to the customer on Reddit. And it is very hard to find a new loyal customer.

It is much easier to keep somebody happy and lose a little bit of money.

How much a studio should spend on Instagram ads

If a time stays empty for weeks, change your schedule

One quiet class is not a problem. The same quiet class every week is.

This happened to us. For a couple of weeks, there was one class time we could not fill. So we removed it, and we trimmed the schedule a little. For the long term, that was a much better decision than cancelling on the day.

People understand this. You tell them the reason in one sentence, and they find a different time.

The time is not popular any more, so we just change it.

There are no hard feelings, because you told them early and you gave them a reason.

If you have to cancel, give 24 hours of notice

Sometimes you have no choice. Then decide early, and tell people early. The customer on Reddit does not only complain that the class was cancelled. They complain that they learned about it within the hour, or not at all.

At our studio, customers can cancel up to 24 hours before a class. That works for us because we are small and we can act quickly. If you ask your customers for 24 hours of notice, give them the same.

Early notice can also save you money. At our studio, if we cancel before the instructor leaves home, we do not pay for the class. If the instructor is already at the studio and a customer is booked, we pay it. So a cancellation in the last hour can cost you the customer and the €30.

• Write to the customer yourself. A short, personal message shows that you know this is a problem for them.
• Give them a choice. Return the credit, offer another class, or refund the money.
• Write your rule down. If your classes need a minimum number of people, say so in your FAQ and your terms, and say when you decide.

When this is not right for you

• Your instructor costs much more. The numbers above use €30 a class. At €100 a class, one quiet class costs more than a €99 membership pays you in a month, so do this less often.
• You would open the studio only for this class. Then you also pay for the heating and the person at the desk. Add them to the cost.
• The same customer gets a private class every time. Then you are selling a private class at the price of a group class. Offer them a real private class instead.

Changing and cancelling classes in TimiTomi

When you change or cancel a class, TimiTomi does the rest in one step. You do not write to each customer, or return each credit by hand.

• Fewer quiet classes. TimiTomi writes to customers who have no booking for the week, so more people book before a class stays quiet.
• A substitute in one step. When an instructor cannot come, put a substitute on that one class. Customers are told, and the pay goes to the substitute.
• Schedule changes with no phone calls. Remove a class time, and TimiTomi shows you which bookings it touches before you save. Then it returns the credits and the money, and tells each customer.
• One step cancels a class. Every booking is cancelled, credits return to the pack or membership, card payments are refunded, and the class leaves your booking page.
• Everyone is told. Each customer gets an email with your reason. People on the waiting list get an email and their credit back.
• You choose if the instructor is paid. It is one box on the same screen, and the instructor’s pay follows your choice.
• Your time limits. Choose the last time to book, change or cancel, for the studio, one class or one instructor.

Set it all up for free. You pay only when you go live.

How class scheduling and booking rules work in TimiTomi