MINDBODY Blog

I recently received a link to an interview about why PCI compliance matters. While I’m the first to admit that PCI compliance is not necessarily a fun and exciting topic to discuss, here at MINDBODY we take PCI compliance very seriously. We are proud to be one of the industry’s few PCI Compliant Level 1 Service Providers. It’s a rigorous process to get certified, and each year, PCI compliant businesses have to go through the process again to get re-certified. Once a business passes this long process, it is listed on VISA’s Global List of PCI DSS Validated Service Providers (check us out on page 31!).

So, what does this mean for you and your clients? Without speaking a lot of “techy mumbo jumbo,” this is great for both of you! You – the merchant – can explain to your clients that once their credit card is saved in the billing info section of their client profile, their number is instantly masked for their protection. Human eyes will never see that card number again. Pretty cool, huh? It will help your clients feel safe, which is a great selling point for online booking and autopays, two features which help grow your business.

Other than highlighting the fact that your service provider is PCI compliant (because you use MINDBODY and our integrated merchant account), how else can you keep your clients’ information safe?

1. Do not save credit card numbers anywhere else except in the billing information section in each client’s profile. This is the only place where the credit card information will be encrypted.
2. Do not write down or email credit card numbers.
3. Always verify client information prior to giving out personal information (ask clients to send you an email with the last four digits of their credit card number from their email address on file, for example).

If you would like more information on how your business itself can become a PCI compliant merchant, visit our Help Suite.

Not only does a receipt printer print those nice square receipts that tuck nicely into your clients’ wallets and make your business look more professional, but they can also save you real money and reduce impact on the environment pretty quickly.

Many companies selling hardware such as printers are becoming more and more conscious of the impact their products have on the environment, particularly in terms of power consumption, but there are other factors to consider. If you are thinking of using your regular inkjet or laser printer to print sales receipts for your customers  instead of investing in a receipt printer, consider this…

10,000 receipts printed each year on a new inkjet printer:

• kWh = 621
• CO2 = 847 (assuming 1.36 lb CO2/kWh)
• Electricity cost = $59 (assuming $0.09500/kWh)
• Paper used (10,000 sheets of 8.5 x 11 inch paper) = 935,000 sq inches = 6,493 sq feet of paper used. You could carpet quite a few studio floors with this amount of paper!

10,000 receipts printed each year on a Star Micronics TSP 100 printer:

• kWh = 195 (This is if you printed 12 hours per day and left the printer idle for 12 hours a day for 365 days a year. Even if you printed continuously for 24 hours per day, 365 days a year you would use 333 kWh per year, which is still way less than a new inkjet printer.)
• CO2 = 453 (assuming 1.36 lb CO2/kWh)
• Electricity cost = $32 (assuming $0.09500/kWh)
• Paper used (10,000 receipts printed on 80 x 300 mm each [3 inches by 11 inches], this is a conservative estimate to account for consumer copies of receipts that occur with credit card transactions) = 240,000,000 sq mm =  2,580 square feet of paper

Estimated Savings:

How many of these will you save?

• Total electricity savings by using TSP 100 = $27

Sure, 27 bucks a year isn’t a lot of money these days, but look at what you save in environmental costs:

• Total (minimum) CO2 savings by using TSP 100 = 426 lbs per year
• Total paper saved by using TSP 100 = 3,913 square feet
• Other savings: the TSP 100 prints using thermal heat and therefore requires no expensive ink cartridges or toner made up of plastic and chemicals that require special disposal.

And of course, you can always reduce even more waste by asking your customers this: “Would you like a copy of your receipt?” If they answer, “no ,” then click Save no Receipt in MINDBODY. If they answer, “yes,” then click Save Print Receipt in MINDBODY.

Please note: Credit card signature receipts are a best practice in the credit card industry to protect yourself in the event of a charge back.  As your partner,  we need to strongly encourage these standards for MINDBODY customers and require through our software that Save Print Receipt is used for all integrated credit card transactions.

In the past, many of our clients used the BCC field of the “New Client Welcome Letter (CONSUMER MODE)” to keep track of new online accounts. Recently however, MINDBODY (due to security reasons) removed the ability to BCC a business on the “New Client Welcome Letter (CONSUMER MODE)” if the replace phrase, <PASSWORD> was used in the auto email.

But, not to fret! We have features within the software that will enable you to weed out all new clients AND (if desired) take that list and find out who signed up online.

Take these steps to find a list of all new clients in your software:

1. Go to Clients > Lookup Client.
2. Click the Show Search Filters link.
3. Locate the Creation Date fields (left hand side) and enter a date range.
4. Click Search.

If you have a smaller client base, you could at this point, quickly count up the number of logins to see who of these new clients created an online account, but you don’t have to because we have a feature called “Tagging” that allows you to combine reports.

5. Next to the Search field, click the Tag Clients New icon.
6. You will get a message that says “Resulting Clients are Tagged.” Click Ok.
7. Next, we want to see which of these have online accounts. Go to Reports > Marketing > Mailers and Data Exports.
8. From the List Clients drop down list, choose “With Logins” and on the second row click the “Tagged Clients Only” checkbox. This is your list of all new clients from steps 3-5.
9. Click Generate.

Want to replace your list of all new clients with just this list of all new clients with logins? Click the Tag Clients New icon again.

Now that you’ve seen the power of tagging- try taking this tagged list of new clients with logins, and run another report!

For example:

1. Go to Reports > Sales > Sales. (Yes, Sales again.)
2. Enter the same start date you used in Step 3 above and leave the end date as Today’s date.
3. Choose the Sold At location as “Online Store.”
4. Click the “Tagged Clients Only” checkbox.
5. Click Generate.

Now you know how many of these new clients created logins, and then proceeded to buy something online!

Do you have a cool combination of reports and tagging? Share your knowledge by posting your tagging and reporting skills here as a comment, or post them in our online Community Forum.

Read more about our Tagging feature in our users guide.

As business owners, we like to control things. Call us Type A, call us anal retentive, but it’s true. It’s the reason most of us go into business for ourselves in the first place.

So imagine our frustration when the country gets hit with one of the worst winters in recent memory. Unfortunately, the weather is one of those things that is still completely, utterly, 100% out of our control. And if you’re a business owner, it kind of throws a monkey wrench in things when your staff and clients can’t drive down their driveways, let alone to your business.

Fortunately, there are some things that you can still control. Your schedule, for instance.

If you’re using MINDBODY and you get hit with a snowstorm, a power outage, or perhaps a large gorilla, you can update your schedule from home. In about 2 minutes. You can email everyone signed into the class or appointment that it’s been cancelled. You can post a link to your updated schedule on Facebook & Twitter. You can reschedule the same class or appointment for the next day. And then you can sit back, relax and sip your cup of tea because, even though you are not in control of Mother Nature, you are still in control of your business.

A picture taken near MINDBODY's New York office. Brrrr! (Gorilla not pictured.)

During January’s Yoga Journal Conference in San Francisco, we were lucky enough to get a chance to interview Kathleen Holm, General Manager of Yoga Tree’s 4 San Francisco locations. She explains the reasons why she chose MINDBODY to run her business (they offer over 165 classes per week!) and manage her staff. Enjoy!

Click here to watch the video on YouTube.

I love my Toyota.

Not just because it is still running  at 187,721 miles (heck, she’s still a baby).

Not just because it drives all 5 hours home to my family on one tank of gas.

Not just because it smells of soccer cleats, strawberry lip gloss, and Chihuahuas.

Not just because the only maintenance it needs is the occasional oil change and tire swap.

And not just because the lights turn off automatically… saving a forgetful person such as myself from the horror of a dead battery.

More recently, Toyota has given me another reason to love my car–because it is made by a company that faces challenges with honesty and integrity. To see what I mean, watch its new commercial: http://www.toyota.com/recall/videos/commitment-commercial.html

I am lucky to work for a company, like Toyota, that is continually improving its product by taking its product’s shortcomings and its clients’ requests and turning them into serious, actionable items. In the new year, let’s all strive to be “Toyota-like” by admitting our mistakes and striving to make ourselves–or our product–better than before!

I wasn't kidding about the beloved "Chihuahua smell" mentioned above.

Acquisition solidifies MINDBODY’s position in the salon software market

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif., Feb. 9, 2010 – MINDBODY, Inc. announced today it has acquired ClientMagic Software, a private company based in Folsom, California, that provides scheduling and business management software to salons and spas.

“The acquisition of ClientMagic reflects our strategic focus of expanding our web-based software into hair, nail and skin salons,” said Rick Stollmeyer, founder and CEO of MINDBODY. “ClientMagic shares our values, with a long-time commitment to providing quality software at an affordable price. By combining ClientMagic’s salon expertise with our purely web-based platform, we intend to bring salon owners a host of powerful new features that will increase their revenues and cut their costs.”

MINDBODY’s platform enables salon, studio and spa businesses to manage their schedules, sales, customer relationships and payment processing from any web-accessible computer. Most recently, the company has released a family of iPhone applications that connect new customers and staff members to the business for purchasing and scheduling. A subscription to the Online Business Manager includes daily backups, redundant off-site data storage, automated feature updates and unlimited support seven days per week for as little as $35 per month.

These features are particularly useful to hair salons. “Many of our busy clients tell us they cannot live without the convenience of MINDBODY’s online booking feature, and our staff loves the fact that they can access information from anywhere,” said Ann Merin, owner of Beauty Heaven in Irvine, CA.

Established in 2001, MINDBODY now serves more than 7,000 businesses in 60 countries. Its software subscribers include salons, yoga and Pilates studios, spas, personal trainers, physical therapists and martial arts studios. The company has annual revenues in excess of $10 million and was recently recognized by Inc. 500 in 2009 as the 21st fastest-growing software company in the nation.

“MINDBODY has a history of exceeding expectations, both strategically and financially. We expect that they will revolutionize the salon software market, as they have already done in the health and fitness software market,” said Tyler Newton, Partner and Research Director at Catalyst Investors, a growth private equity firm that infused $5.6 million into MINDBODY in March 2009.

In 2010, MINDBODY is expanding its service offerings to include mobile applications and a powerful new listing service called MINDBODY Finder that will make the classes and appointments of any business visible on thousands of mobile devices and hundreds of high-traffic media sites and web portals.

Developed in 1991, ClientMagic software was originally designed to improve the process of scheduling appointments and reduce entry errors for veterinarian and medical offices. The software has since grown to include inventory, billing and CRM features. “I believe the way small and medium businesses manage their clients and companies has changed forever. PC-based software will soon be obsolete. Fortune 500 companies, including health care, have been using the web-based platform for many years,” said Stewart E. Skiff, founder and president of ClientMagic Software. “The merging of our companies will bring the best of both worlds to our existing and future clients. We look forward to working with MINDBODY to ensure a high level of support, features and services to aid small businesses.”

As part of the acquisition, MINDBODY has hired Mr. Skiff and ClientMagic’s technical staff. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Contacts:

Rick Stollmeyer
Founder & CEO
rick.stollmeyer@mindbodyonline.com
(805) 476-2710
(805) 441-4913

Meg McCall
Marketing Manager
(805) 476-1245
meg.mccall@mindbodyonline.com

MINDBODY was one of the first wellness business software providers to be 100% online. Meaning, instead of being tied to your office to manage your business, you could access your software from any computer connected to the internet. But then we asked ourselves, “What’s so cool about computers?” They’re big. They’re heavy. They don’t have touchscreens. Computers are just so… 2009.

Well, it’s 2010 now, and everyone here at MINDBODY is excited to announce the release of Biz Mode, an iPhone app that is sure to change the future of online business management. Now available for FREE in the iTunes store, Biz Mode lets you and your staff log into your MINDBODY schedule and see appointments in a list, day, month, or detailed view.  It was designed for all you on-the-go service providers who need to check your appointment schedules when away from your computers.

Check out Biz Mode’s features (and click the link to see a screenshot):

List View
The list view is similar to the iPhone calendar’s list view.

Day View
The day view is similar to MINDBODY’s single day appointment view.

Month View
The month view is similar to the iPhone calendar’s month view.

Detailed View
Inside the single-appointment, detailed view, the app provides contact details about the client, including phone number and email address that are linked to the iPhone’s own phone and email apps. A photo of the client appears for each appointment, along with other status information, such as whether the client has arrived, confirmed, or no-showed for his or her appointment. Other appointment info is also displayed, including the session type, time, date, location, and more.

I think we can all agree that this app is pretty cool. But hold on to your socks, because here’s what we’ve got planned to make it even cooler in the near future:

• Display unavailable and available appointment booking times
• Book new appointments and mark existing appointments as confirmed or arrived.
• Display the classes and workshops that you’re teaching
• Run sales reports

You may now collect any errant socks.

Download Biz Mode here.

Technical information

0 < ![endif]--> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE < ![endif]--> < ![endif]--> < ! /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} --> MINDBODY was one of the first wellness business software providers to be 100% online. Meaning, instead of being tied to your office to manage your business, you could access your software from any computer connected to the internet. But then we asked ourselves, “What’s so cool about computers?” They’re big. They’re heavy. They don’t have touchscreens. Computers are just so . . . 2009.

MINDBODY was one of the first wellness business software providers to be 100% online. Meaning, instead of being tied to your office to manage your business, you could access your software from any computer connected to the internet. But then we asked ourselves, “What’s so cool about computers?” They’re big. They’re heavy. They don’t have touchscreens. Computers are just so… 2009.

Well, it’s 2010 now, and everyone here at MINDBODY is excited to announce the release of Biz Mode, an iPhone app that is sure to change the future of online business management. Now available for FREE in the iTunes store, Biz Mode lets you and your staff log into your MINDBODY schedule and see appointments in a list, day, month, or detailed view.  It was designed for all you on-the-go service providers who need to check your appointment schedules when away from your computers.

Check out Biz Mode’s features (and click the link to see a screenshot):

List View
The list view is similar to the iPhone calendar’s list view.

Day View
The day view is similar to MINDBODY’s single day appointment view.

Month View
The month view is similar to the iPhone calendar’s month view.

Detailed View
Inside the single-appointment, detailed view, the app provides contact details about the client, including phone number and email address that are linked to the iPhone’s own phone and email apps. A photo of the client appears for each appointment, along with other status information, such as whether the client has arrived, confirmed, or no-showed for his or her appointment. Other appointment info is also displayed, including the session type, time, date, location, and more.

I think we can all agree that this app is pretty cool. But hold on to your socks, because here’s what we’ve got planned to make it even cooler in the near future:

• Display unavailable and available appointment booking times
• Book new appointments and mark existing appointments as confirmed or arrived.
• Display the classes and workshops that you’re teaching
• Run sales reports

You may now collect any errant socks.

Download Biz Mode here.

Technical information

0 < ![endif]--> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE < ![endif]--> < ![endif]--> < ! /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Cambria","serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} --> MINDBODY was one of the first wellness business software providers to be 100% online. Meaning, instead of being tied to your office to manage your business, you could access your software from any computer connected to the internet. But then we asked ourselves, “What’s so cool about computers?” They’re big. They’re heavy. They don’t have touchscreens. Computers are just so . . . 2009.

“When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut.”
“When I grow up, I want to be a veterinarian.”
“When I grow up, I want to own my own business.”
“When I grow up, I want to be a bill collector.”

One of these things is not like the others.

I think it’s safe to say that no child in the history of the world has ever, ever said that they want to grow up to be a bill collector. In fact, has anyone ever said that? Probably not.

If you own a business where you’re charging your clients on some sort of regular basis (e.g. offering memberships), then let’s face it, you’re a bill collector.

Unless, of course, your software does that for you.

Here are two great blog posts about why you need billing software if you’re offering memberships:

Get a Billing Company (written for Martial Arts schools, but good points for any business)
How to Overcome EFT Objections with the Steve Hochman Method (good ideas for all, but written for Personal Trainers)

And if you’re too busy collecting bills to read them, here’s a summary of my favorite points:

• Automated billing lets you sell your services once, rather than reselling them every month.
• Even if you’re on a first name basis with all of your clients, some will forget to pay you on time.
• You don’t have to be the bad guy. A billing company can be your scapegoat.
• Asking people for money feels weird – for you and for your client.
• If you require automated billing, most clients will comply. Those who don’t, well, do you really want them as clients?

The recent, devastating earthquake in Haiti came as a surprise to everyone. What was pleasantly unsurprising to me, however, was the manner in which MINDBODY employees behaved in the days following the event. The day after the earthquake struck, MINDBODY pledged to match 100% of all employee donations to the relief efforts. Over the next 48 hours, MINDBODY employees donated $1,380. With MINDBODY’s match, our team donated a total of $2,760 to assist Haiti in relief efforts.

Most days, I am happy to work for MINDBODY. When I found out that our relatively small team raised almost $3,000 in 48 hours, I was proud to work here.

You may be wondering through which organization we donated. Concern USA is an affiliate of Concern Worldwide, a non-governmental, international, humanitarian organization dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries. In 2008, Concern USA spent 91.6% of their funds on overseas relief and 94.4% on program activities.

Remember, Haiti is still in need. It’s not too late to donate through http://www.concernusa.org/. You can also text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 through your mobile carrier.

Below is a message from Rick Stollmeyer, MINDBODY’s founder and CEO, on MINDBODY’s corporate culture and the essential values that embody the “essense of MINDBODYness.” Enjoy.

One of the most important lessons of last September’s INC 500 Conference, which celebrated the most innovative and fastest growing companies in America, was this: The success of any great company stems from its culture.

Company Culture – the combined beliefs, values, ethics, procedures, and atmosphere of an organization. It often consists of largely unspoken values, norms, and behaviors that become the natural way of doing things.

I realized that MINDBODY had created a truly amazing culture, one centered around innovation, respect for the individual, extraordinary customer service and fun. This culture had – luckily enough – evolved organically and without much discussion. But it’s about time for that culture to be captured in a set of written Core Values.

Therefore, for the past 3 months, the leadership of our company has been collaborating on a MINDBODY Core Values Statement, that seeks to capture those essential values that embody the essence of “MINDBODYness” -  who we are and what we stand for. This is the product of that effort.

Woo Hoo!

- Rick

THE ESSENCE OF MINDBODYNESS
MINDBODY CORE VALUES

At MINDBODY, we are….

1.    Purpose Driven

Committed to achieving our highest potential by living lives of integrity and accountability.
Committed to creating a better world by living lives of  purpose and meaning.
Conscious that MINDBODY is serving a global cause greater than ourselves, and committed to that cause.

2.    Humble & Helpful

Proud of MINDBODY’s culture and success, but not prideful, as pride only prevents future growth.
Thankful that MINDBODY’s success stems from many dedicated people working as a Team, therefore we celebrate each others’ accomplishments.
Aware that true inspiration may come from anyone, therefore we listen to and respect everyone’s ideas.
Aware that MINDBODY’s success is also the result of good fortune, which we never take for granted.
Aware that MINDBODY’s success may only continue with the good faith of our customers, whom we enjoy helping. Their success is our primary focus.

3.    Caring & Happy

Genuinely caring for each other, our customers and our vendors.
Constantly striving for “Win-Win” relationships with every person and organization we deal with.
Consistently taking actions that  lead to sustained happiness in ourselves and others.
Committed to the spirit of “Woo Hoo!,” striving to have fun no matter how stressful the moment may be.

4.    Committed to Wellness – Mind, Body & Spirit

Loving what we do and doing what we love.
Aware that we must take care of ourselves today, so that we remain capable of serving others tomorrow.
Striving to live balanced lives, equally focused on responsibilities, relationships, recreation and rest.

5.    Environmentally Conscious

Conscious that maintaining a healthy planet is the paramount responsibility of every human being.
Committed to taking actions to minimize MINDBODY’s environmental footprint.
Advocates for technologies and innovations that reverse the negative global impacts of industrialization.

6.    Committed to “Three C” Leadership

Committed to practicing leadership every day, regardless of our position at MINDBODY.
Embracing and promoting those team members who demonstrate leadership centered around:

• Competence – they know what they are doing.
• Character – they do the right thing, even when it’s not convenient.
• Compassion – they care as much about others as they do about themselves.

7.    Continuously Improving

Aware that MINDBODY must continuously improve to remain relevant and useful to the world.
Free to question the status quo, and not accept “…because it’s always been that way” as a sufficient answer.
Committed to the belief that no matter where we are today, we can improve ourselves tomorrow by becoming:

• More effective in our personal and professional relationships.
• More knowledgeable of our profession.
• More productive in our work.
• More caring and aware of ourselves and others.

Short answer: Nope.

Long answer: I stumbled on a great article today, about how technology (more specifically, online booking) is influencing the yoga business. The author, Christine Thompson, who seems to generally be a fan of booking online, has one concern when it comes to booking yoga online: will it interfere with the flow of knowledge, with each class building on the previous?

We at MINDBODY think that yoga studios should embrace online scheduling (and I’ll make the same argument for almost any service-based business). Some studios see it as losing control over their schedule, when in reality it allows you and your staff to be free from the constant, everyday hassle of phone- and email-tag. Your clients are ultimately in control over what time they choose to take a class, and what class they choose to take, so why not let them sort it out on their own?

But hey, what do I know? Please post your thoughts and comments below. Oh, and here’s a link to the full article again.

MINDBODY’s CEO and Founder, Rick Stollmeyer, was recently interviewed by Grant Buckler at SoftwareCEO.com about his experience growing our company from a small startup to the flourishing brand it is today. The resulting article, “How MINDBODY grew fast in an overlooked niche: 14 tips” is an interesting read about running any type of business, no matter the size or industry, as well as a peak at the roadmap of a successful business.

Get a preview of the 14 steps below, and then read the full article here.

1. It has to be SaaS
2. Be prepared for some challenges with SaaS
3. If you have the customer base, private equity may be better than VC
4. Seek investors who want to collaborate, not dominate
5. Aim at a boutique market
6. Narrow your sights so you can be a significant player
7. Know the related micro-verticals you can expand to
8. You can’t beat the big boys, so join them
9. A friend may not be your best partner
10. Don’t fight in front of the kids
11. Price your software low enough to avoid cutbacks
12. Publish your customer list
13. Use agile development to respond quickly to customer feedback
14. To create raving fans, offer your customers concrete business advice

Recurring revenue is the portion of a company’s revenue that is highly likely to continue in the future. This is revenue that is predictable, stable and can be counted on in the future with a high degree of certainty. We call them AutoPays in your MINDBODY System, but you will call them genius after your clients start using them. In general, paying by the class/service is expensive, encourages low commitment, and results in low client retention.

Tips on AutoPays

Regardless of the type of business you have, you can benefit from recurring revenue. Gyms and Health Clubs can do open gym memberships and/or monthly personal training sessions. Our Yoga and Pilates clients usually love using the monthly class pass model, and why not pair it with a retail discount or with monthly private sessions? Spa and Massage businesses could offer a Massage-a-Month or Facial-per-Month memberships. Salons could offer monthly touch-ups or bi-monthly trims with a retail discount. Get creative!

Evidence shows that offering an AutoPay reduces barriers to entry for your clients, helps you stand out from competition, and helps your revenue become more stable.

Entice new clients with “seductive pricing” promotions giving them the first month free or at a significant discount. You may also set it up so that commitment-phobic clients can have a shorter term contract while paying a little more for the convenience.

How To Price Your AutoPay

The biggest mistake most businesses make is pricing their AutoPay or Membership too expensive for their clients relative to the amount they are actually visiting. We hate to be the reality checkers here, but frankly your clients just don’t come as much as you think they do or as much as you think they will and you shouldn’t price your AutoPay on what you feel in your gut. You want to price it competitively so that it is cheaper for clients than it would be to drop in or pay by service.  In return you get the stability of recurring revenue. The most common AutoPay / Membership is a monthly unlimited class pass. To price this you should look at the current average visits per month of your clients, then multiply that by your drop-in rate, then decrease the cost by 10-20%.  Let’s go through this process step-by-step in your MINDBODY System. If you don’t have a MINDBODY System, then I will pretend not to be disappointed and you can follow this example filling in your numbers however you can get them.

For example, Studio A is pricing their AutoPays at $120/month and they have received little participation, only about 20 people are currently signed up. To find out if it’s priced correctly, let’s find out how many times per month the average client visits Studio A:

1. In your MINDBODY System go to Reports => Attendance w/ Revenue. First change the Visit Program = Program that the AutoPay pays for. Usually it’s Classes. Second, change the View = Summary. Lastly, change the date range to the last 365 days (you can use the 365 Rolling Averages Button to update the date ranges). This report might take a while to run, but when analyzing your data it really is best to look at as wide of a date range as possible for accuracy. If your internet connection isn’t top notch, then your software might not be able to run this report. In this case, just run the report for the last six months. If that doesn’t work, then go for the last quarter.
2. Scroll to the bottom of this report and write down the number of total visits during this time period, it’s on the bottom left of the report. For Studio A this number was 8000.
3. Next, scroll back to the top of the report and click on the ‘Tag (New) Clients’ Button.  Once the system tells you that the clients are tagged, write down the number of unique clients tagged which shows next to the ‘Tagged Clients Only’ Checkbox.  For Studio A it was 915.
4. Now it’s time to put your math cap on. We divide the first number by the second number to get the average number of visits during the time period selected. For Studio A, it was 8000/915=8.7 visits. So, the average client visited this studio 8.7 times during the time period I reported on. I ended up reporting on six months.
5. To find the average number of visits per month, what do we do next? If you answered divide again, then you win a gold star! Divide the number attained in the step above and divide it by the total number of months that you originally reported on when you started this exercise in step 1. For my example, 8.7/6 months = 1.4 visits per month. So, the average client is only visiting 1.4 times per month.
6. Don’t be upset. This number is usually a lot less than most people think it is. Now that you know how often your current clients are visiting on average, why should you price your AutoPay as if people are coming every day? Yes they will come more often with a monthly unlimited membership, but not a ton more. To get people on board with your membership we recommend taking the average number of visits and multiplying it by your drop-in rate to determine your AutoPay price. For Studio A, I will round up to 2 visits per month, times $15 drop-in = $30 per month. Once people are on board they usually visit no more than 2 times per week or 8 times per month. So this studio should price between $30 and $120 per month.  Since we are trying to get as many people on AutoPay as possible, I would recommend pricing it at $80 per month and letting your clients know that this is a limited time offer.
7. Want to dig a little deeper? If your business is already offering a monthly unlimited membership, then we can look at how much those students are visiting on average to get a guideline on the monthly AutoPay pricing as well. You can do this by running the Sales by Service Report for the Monthly Unlimited series, tagging the clients, then running the Attendance Analysis Report for the tagged clients only. In my example the clients have been visiting an average of 5.5 times per month, with the drop-in  at $15; Studio A’s $80 price point would indeed earn enough revenue to cover the cost of the visits.

Whew. That was a whole lot of MINDBODY reporting, tagging, and math. Are you tired? This is usually where I lose my voice when teaching this at MINDBODY University (MBU). I hope you are convinced that pricing your AutoPay competitvely is where it’s at!

Put Your Website & MINDBODY System to Work

• To enjoy the benefits of AutoPays you must use our Merchant Account Processing.  Contact our MAP team today if you aren’t already using it. We are always working to expand this service to more countries.
• Create a new Series & Membership to assign to a Contract to sell to your clients which make selling contracts no more difficult than making a purchase in your Retail Screen. This is where the beauty of AutoPays shines, leaving your system to do the work.

Did this article boggle your mind?  Do you want help analyzing your business, pricing your AutoPays, or setting them up?  Sign up for MBU or Consulting today!  We are available for hourly sessions to help walk you through this process. You may also contact the MBU team for more information.

Recently Rick Stollmeyer, MINDBODY’s Founder & CEO, has been featured in a few interviews discussing the company he started. In the first few videos, Rick sat down with marketing students from Cal Poly State University to talk about the early days of MINDBODY and how he went about starting his own company. In the second few clips, Rick is featured along with other industry experts discussing cloud computing and the future of information technology at a recent Catalyst Investors Annual Meeting.

Enjoy!

[Click on "Continue reading" to view the videos]

Cal Poly Marketing Students’ Project

Catalyst Investors Annual Meeting

“What is Cloud Computing?”

“Would a SaaS company use 3rd party cloud services?”

“How can a SaaS company market and sell to small businesses?”

“How will IT have changed by 2010?”

Most MINDBODY clients are already familiar with our MINDBODY bucks referral program, where you can earn $150 MB bucks for each business that you refer to MINDBODY.

Well, we’re taking it one step further from December through March.

Adorable piggy bank not included.

1. If you refer one client you still get $150 MB bucks added to your account.
2. But if you refer two clients, you’ll get $400 MB bucks.
3. It gets better! If you refer three clients, you’ll get $700 MB bucks.
4. Hold onto your socks! If you refer four clients, you’ll get $1,000 MB bucks.

Pretty sweet, if you ask me. However, there are a few stipulations. The businesses you refer must:

• purchase the software between December 1st, 2009 and March 31st, 2010 (don’t worry, you’ll still get $150 MB bucks per business after March 31st)
• remain a MINDBODY client through the initial 30-day refund period

Questions? Send us an email at mbobucks@mindbodyonline.com. But here’s some FAQs, too:

Q: How do I refer a client?
A: Simply ask them to mention your name when contacting MINDBODY about their new account.

Q: I think the business I referred didn’t mention my name.
A: Well, technically, that was more of a statement than a question, but I’ll let it slide. Go ahead and send an email to mbobucks@mindbodyonline.com and we’ll contact the business you referred to get you the credit that you deserve!

Q: Why do I even want MINDBODY bucks, anyway?
A: While it’s true that MB bucks won’t buy you a sandwich, they can be used (at equal cash value) to cover software fees, hardware (excluding ID Solutions orders), premium support plans, MINDBODY University enrollment fees, and 1-on-1 business consulting sessions.

This Thursday is Thanksgiving in the US, and while not all MINDBODY clients are American (actually, only about 80% are), I think it’s a good excuse to take a break from our busy schedules and think about what we’re thankful for in our lives.

Maybe it’s having great friends, a close family, an awesome job, or your health (all things I’m grateful for), or maybe it’s having a killer shoe collection, a quick wit or the ability to hold your breath for a really, really long time. Hey, it’s your moment, there’s no judgment here.

However, one thing that I find that many MINDBODY clients have in common is that they are doing something that they love. They don’t own their own business because they thought it would make a ton of money (although, let’s be honest, we all hope it does). They own their own business because they had a passion for something – whether it’s yoga, dance, fitness, Pilates, wellness, etc. – and wanted to share their practice with others. Their passion changed their lives for the better, and they hope to instill this same passion in their clients.

And that is definitely something to be thankful for.