What should you do when a customer misses a class?

Do not stay silent after a missed class

A customer misses their class. If you do nothing, the credit is gone, and nobody writes to the customer. That is a missed chance.

Everyone is human, and everyone misses things: traffic, work, a sick child. At our studio we have a rule for this. We call it everyone deserves a second chance.

Offer a free reschedule

When someone misses a class, we send them a short message. We tell them we noticed, and we offer to move the class to another time, free of charge.

We have done this for three years. About one in three people we write to love it. They love the message, and they love that someone cared. Because of that, they are more likely to stay and become members.

Write the same day

You will know quickly when someone misses a class. Either you see that they did not come, or the instructor tells you. Write to them straight after the class, or the next day at the latest.

Do not wait. The message works while the missed class is still fresh for the customer. After a few days, it is only a reminder that they lost a class.

The owner should send it, not the instructor. The instructor has nothing to do with the missed class, so the message is better from the owner. You can also remind the customer that they already paid for the class, and that it would be a shame to lose it.

One message can keep a customer for a year

One of our customers missed a class early on. We offered her a free reschedule, and she said yes. She then came to our classes for almost a year, and she became a member.

You have to take care of your customers. This is true for a small studio and for a medium one, because it pays off over time. A free reschedule can look like money lost today. You win it back in loyalty.

Not everyone deserves a second chance

Look at who the customer is before you offer it. Sometimes people are rude, and in that case you have to decide yourself. Every studio owner knows this type of customer.

We usually try to stay away from this type of customer, because they prove not to be good long-term customers.

They usually bring more hassle, issues and demands than the money they spend at the studio.

Offer the quiet times

A free reschedule should not take a spot that someone else would pay for. So offer the classes that are not full, at the quieter times of the week. Keep the busy classes for your regular members.

Everyone wins. You fill a quiet class, and the customer still gets their class. It is also a good moment to invite them to a new class, or one they want to try.

At our studio, we usually move them to the same class at another time. Adapt this to your own classes.

When this is not right for you

• Your classes are full almost every time. Then a free reschedule can take a spot that someone would pay for. Offer it only when a class has spots left.
• You run a big gym, not a studio. Where hundreds of people come every day, nobody notices one missed class, and the owner cannot write to everyone. This rule is for studios that know their customers.

Missed classes in TimiTomi

In TimiTomi, you can move a booking for a customer yourself, into any class. It lands on their own page, and they get the same confirmation as when they book.

You also choose how much notice customers need to cancel or move a booking on their own. After that point, the studio keeps the money for a missed class, unless you decide to give the customer a second chance.

How booking and cancellation rules work in TimiTomi