Last week I gave you all of the steps we take to ensure we stick to our cancellation policy, keep revenues when it comes to cancelations and keep our customers happy when they need to late cancel.
Those steps work almost 100% of the time for us, but there is always the exception to the rule. Some client needs and some situations just can’t be resolved this way. So…if all else fails and you don’t want to lose a client over a cancellation dispute…Try:
Providing written explanation if needed:
If the client expresses their concern through email or you are unable to speak to them in person and/or you want to provide them with a copy of your cancellation policy and rationale. You do that and also include an email/letter that explains that you need to stick to your cancellation policy in order to be fair to all clients (how do you decide if one reason for a cancellation is better than another?), to keep clients accountable to their fitness programs and ensure that you won’t lose 25 -40% of revenues (common in our industry if you don’t have a strong cancellation policy) so that you can stay in business. When you are writing this type of email/letter be sure to still use the approaches I outlined in last week’s Cancellations Don’t Mean Revenues Lost blog post (paraphrase, empathize etc)
When is it the right time to waive the cancellation fee?: If you have made every attempt to resolve the solution but the client is still unhappy and based on the circumstances, you can choose to waive the fee in order to not lose the client. Make sure to let the client know that you are sorry that they are upset, that it is difficult to enforce a tough policy that is fair for everyone and that you understand their point of few and let them know that you will waive the cancellation fee.
Inform owner/manager of the situation and solution: Make sure your staff knows to email you/owner/manager about what happened and why they made the final and difficult decision to go ahead a waive the canellation fee.
Remember, we are here to encourage our clients to stick to their fitness program and we can’t do that if we are losing revenues from cancellations left and right. It is in everyone’s (yours and your clients) best interest to have a strict cancellation policy that you will do everything you can to stick to.
*IMPORTANT NOTE* If you have made the final decision to waive the fee, be sure not to do it with attitude. It’s easy to get flustered and offended in these situations. But you don’t want them to feel like you are waiving the fee but resenting it every second. So continue to provide amazing customer service and go over board to solidify the relationship…because of course, each person feels justified in their perspective like you feel justified in your stance. But you don’t want them to feel like you are upset with them or don’t appreciate their business or think they are a bad person b/c they’ve made you waive the fee.
Want to learn more? Click these links for:
Explaining Your Cancellation Policy To Clients
Remember, it is YOUR job to ensure clients show up for workouts
Are you taking precious time out of your schedule to create policies, procedures, forms and systems? Want more time and revenue to enjoy life and your work? We can help! The Business of Personal Training System has all of the forms, documents, procedures and systems you need to run a highly successful fitness business. Why reinvent the wheel? Take your business to the next level with the same system we use to generate $1 Million in PT revenue every year…out of our 5,000 sq ft facility!
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