Win back former members without discounting
Who to message, what to say, and when, using what your CRM already knows.
Former members are the easiest new members you’ll ever sign. They know where you are, they know your instructors and they liked you enough to join once. Yet most studios either ignore them or blast them with a discount code.
There’s a better way, and it starts with knowing who you’re talking to.
Pick the right former members
“Everyone who left” is too broad. People leave for different reasons, and the message that brings one back will annoy another. Flex integrates with Mindbody, so you can build a segment from what your CRM already knows:
- Lapsed for a while, but not forever. For example, no visit in the last 60 days. Recent enough to remember you, long enough to have noticed the gap.
- Membership just ended or about to end. Catch them before the habit fades.
- Credits running low. Someone with one class left is a renewal waiting to happen.
- What they talked about. Flex notes the interests and objections people mention in chat, such as a time that didn’t work or a class they loved.
Smaller, sharper segments get better replies than one big list.
A message written for them
Discounts teach people to wait for discounts. What brings former members back is usually a reason to return, not a lower price:
- a new class or time that fixes what made them leave;
- a favourite instructor’s new slot;
- a simple “we miss you, your spot’s still here”.
Keep it personal and short:
Hi Omar, it’s Saltwater Pilates. Our new 7am Reformer Foundations class starts next week, and we thought of you. Want us to save you a spot?
Ask a question. A reply opens the conversation, and that’s where the booking happens.
Opt-in and timing
Win-back messages are Marketing, so they go only to people who agreed to receive them. In Flex, that’s built in: a Marketing campaign skips anyone without marketing consent, and STOP always works. Anyone who replies STOP gets no more Marketing until they message you again.
Timing matters too:
- Send when people read messages, usually early evening.
- Don’t chase the same person every week. Give each campaign room to land.
Measuring replies and returns
The best part of WhatsApp campaigns is that people reply, and Flex is there to answer. When a former member writes back, Flex handles the chat like any other: it answers questions, suggests classes with space and books them in Mindbody.
Afterwards, Flex Reports shows how each campaign did: sent, delivered, read, replied, booked, and how many people opted out within a week. Watch the opt-outs as closely as the bookings. A campaign that books five people and loses twenty is not a win.
Run a small campaign, learn from the replies, then send the next one a little better.