Today we caught up with Jennifer Richards, owner of Poway Pilates in San Diego, California. Jennifer started in personal training and aerobics 15 years ago. Over the years, she realized that many of her aging clients could benefit from Pilates which lead her to launch her studio five years ago.
Today, over 40% of Poway Pilates’ 348 members are active in their Perkville powered loyalty program. “These students are more active in their practice on this program and end up telling their friends about the studio,” said Jennifer. Approximately 24% of the clients referred become active members of the studio! Poway holds 33 classes a week with 5 instructors teaching in a 1600 sq feet studio that is fully equipped.
“I focused and trained specifically on Pilates because I saw the difference it made on my clients as they aged. Pilates changed their bodies so my clients became more balanced, free from injuries, and was then able to get up and down from the floor. Many of these clients have been with me for 5-7 years,” said Jennifer.
“I wanted to reward my loyal clients who helped me build my clientele. I know how important communication is because I built my business throughreferrals. I would ask my clients to share their experiences with friends. That beats advertising. And now Perkville helps me with marketing and referrals in the same manner both through its referral program and through social media. It integrates nicely with MINDBODY and we are looking forward to using the one time deal to give back to existing clients,” said Jennifer.
“Our clients have a wide range of needs from 15yr-olds with scoliosis to folks who want to lose weight, to baby-boomers in their 70s and everything in between. We love that we can give people the attention they require for different needs,” said Jennifer.
Jennifer credits the success of Poway Pilates to the attention instructors at her studio give to the individualized needs of students. “Each person that walks in is a person who has different set of injuries or goals and we teach Pilates with that in mind,” said Jennifer. She would advise any Pilates studio to focus on the clients and their demographics to be truly successful in their specific demographic.
