Preventing Cancellations

Preventing Cancellations

CANCELLATION CONSULTATION

*** The goal of this conversation is to get them re-EXCITED about Stretch Zone and either;

maintain their current membership level
find a new membership level that is a better fit for them
or help them set up a temporary Freeze (if that meets their needs best.)

We want to help them keep coming to stay healthy and well!

Most cancellation requests fall into one of the following categories;

Medical Reasons
Moving
Not experiencing continued progress / feel they can progress alone
Not consistent at coming in
Bad experience / upset

EXAMPLE CALL INTRO:

Front Desk: It's a great day at Stretch Zone in _____________ . This is _______________. How can I help you?

Client: I need to cancel my account

FD: Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Let me take a look at your account for you. Who am I talking to?

Client: This is Jane Doe.

FD: Great, give me just a moment to find you in our system so I can give you the info that's specific just for you. … (Convo while pulling up their account) So have you been enjoying the stretches you've gotten?...

Client: Yes of course, always fantastic

IF CLIENT IS NOT HAVING A GOOD EXPERIENCE:

If anything other than positive feedback on stretches ask why with curiosity (not judgment). We want to be sensitive to learn what we can and help them feel listened to. Use empathy here… like “I'm sorry to hear that… It’s always our intention to give everyone here the very best experience…” We want to understand their experience so we can improve or provide them a remedy)

“We always strive to give a five star experience to every client that comes in, no matter how long they are with us! (With a caring tone). I’m so sad to hear that you had anything less than the absolute best with us. I will make sure I pass along this feedback to the manager. I can’t promise anything but let’s see if there is something we can do for you. *** Take time to listen and care. Many times people just want to be heard and validated***

Usually a negative experience will fall into one of the following categories;

an experience with an employee (interacting or the quality of their stretch)
something wrong with the studio (cleanliness / equipment, etc)
an issue with SZ policy…

… note all feedback in the member's Notes section and put a concise summary sentence into a Task in their Client file assigned to the GM or Regional Manager with HIGH Priority and highlighted in Red. This way management can be made aware of the situation and may choose to reach out if more attention is needed.

IF CLIENT IS HAVING A GOOD STRETCH EXPERIENCE, CONTINUE ON-

IF A MEDICAL REASON FOR LEAVING

(while presumably still pulling up their account / being conversational and concerned…)

Are you healthy? Are you doing ok?

(The idea here is to let them see we care and to make sure that their doctor has not told them to stop stretching. If they are injured / doctor says no stretching then offer a Freeze Option (see below for this script). If there is a medical reason they are wanting to leave, show care and sympathy and ask additional questions in a concerned tone to learn how they became injured. If there is any indication that they think stretching contributed to their injury, note it in their file, move on, and discreetly set a task in their file that is just informational for the GM to just be aware of the situation.

Let them know they can share or gift any sessions on their account as well.

If they are ok continue on…

“Well I’m glad you’re doing well and you’ve enjoyed your stretches you’ve had! What results have you noticed from coming to Stretch Zone?”

(The idea here is to help them focus on positive feelings and progress they have made, to begin to talk themself back into staying with us because the rewards of coming in come back to the top of their mind.)

Keep encouraging them to share more when they share great results. Note these things in their file as you log the phone call. Really spend time here and ask them for more details. The goal is to help them remember why they got excited to be a member here and FALL BACK IN LOVE again with coming to Stretch Zone! It could look like…

“Wow what amazing results! That’s exactly why we are here!” and

“We hear so many people with stories like that! This is a great testimonial! I’d love it to share it! I”m so glad this is bringing such significant benefits for you!”...

Now you are getting into looking at their notes and goals. Ideally their Main Goal will be listed in their Key Note, but look around in Notes for it if needed. Also their initial Range of Motion measurements should be in their Key Note also, or in their account Notes. We can at least see what their initial problems were that got them started coming in and ask if those things have shown improvement.

If they are unsure of their progress, point their progress out to them and/or ask questions that help them see how Stretch Zone has helped them (see section below).

Offer an updated Range of Motion assessment on their next visit to show them their progress if they have come in consistently. What can they do now freely that they struggled with before?

Look at completed sessions and notice if they have been consistent at coming in. When the opportunity presents itself during the call, we can underscore the importance of consistency for best results (much like being consistent on a diet will bring best results with that). See section below.

MOVING OUT OF AREA:

**If they are moving more than an hour away within the next 2 months, remind them of our cancellation policy and encourage them to use or gift their credits and send them the cancellation link. If it is more than 60 days out, remind them to come to us closer to the time they’ll be leaving, or set yourself a task to send the link out on a specific date they request. We don’t want to cancel them out earlier than needed.

“Oh well I hope this move will be so good for you! Best of luck! Any changes to your account happen through our system so I’m going to text you a link to cancel. Nothing will change on your account until YOU change it (we aren’t able to initiate a cancellation by phone), so if you have any trouble getting or using the link I send let us know right away.

Have you used your online portal before to book sessions on the web?”

IF YES: Ok great, this link should be very easy for you.

IF NO or I don’t know: Confirm that they have their online portal set up by going to clients.stretchzone.com and clicking the Register Now button at the bottom right of the Login box. In the Registration page fill out the info and click accept on the terms. It will give you a green message at the top right of the page if you have set up an account successfully that was not set up previously, or a red message if there was an error setting it up or if it had previously been set up. If it had already been set up, tell them to log in to the site and use Forgot Password if they don’t remember what was set up before. If WE had set up their account for them the default password is usually Stretch1 so they can try that if they want.

THEY MUST HAVE AN ACTIVE CLIENT PORTAL FOR THEIR CANCELLATION LINK TO WORK!

*If they ask why you can let them know this is the process for our new computer system to do cancellations. It protects them from identity theft issues, and also from miscommunications by phone. It will ask them just a few exit questions to make sure there is nothing we need to coach our staff to improve, etc

“I know you probably remember this from when you originally signed your member agreement, but just as a reminder, we do have the 30 day cancellation policy in place, so when you click the link you will INITIATE your cancellation and then if you do that prior to when your next invoice that is set to run on _____[tell them the date that their next invoice is set to run]_____ , then that would become your last invoice and it will give you an additional________ number of stretch session credits to use.

“Also, it will tell you this as you click through the link, but once you cancel you’ll have 90 days to use or gift and remaining session credits. Can I book something for you while we’re on the phone so you can enjoy some stretches before you go? I know you’ll probably be busy packing, but this will be so good for you with all the lifting that goes with moving. What day is best next week?...”

IF THEY ARE NOT EXPERIENCING PROGRESS:

Have they been consistent?
Did they have a goal they were focused on?
Was each stretch making use of the Strech Zone Method of 3/5/7?
Have they experienced change/relief in the past? If so let’s talk about maintaining this good new feeling long term with Flex Membership. They will continue sitting, moving, being active so they need to maintain their flexibility they worked so hard for! And that we helped them achieve 🙂
Suggest an updated Range of Motion assessment
Establish a NEW goal! What is their next level? How good will it feel to be in their own skin when they are even more loose and moving even more freely?!
Suggest an education video (coming soon) that underscores the importance of nourishing joints and injury prevention with continued stretching or talk with them about it
Tell them how much we enjoy them being part of our Stretch Zone community and this it wouldn’t be the same without them! We would miss them! Their stretcher loves working with them! We love to see them in our studio!!
Don’t they love how this feels? What a great contrast to how they first started with us right? The absence of feeling bad shows them this IS working! The fact that they are not limping, dealing with pain & imbalance is it’s own testimonial! Help them see how far they have come, and how this is designed to be an affordable LONG TERM tool in their wellness toolbox. Let’s not go back to tight and uncomfortable… Many of our members stay for years just because they enjoy how good regular stretching feels! And this is a one of a kind, unique self care that has long lasting results. You have so much momentum now, your body is acclimated to coming in for a stretch. Let's keep that going!

IF THEY ARE NOT CONSISTENT:
-is there a hard time scheduling?

IF YES, explain that we may have had practitioners on vacation or a change of staff or that many of our practitioners are students and we are adjusting to a new school availability...
-If more explanation is necessary, explain how our hiring process works:
"I wish we could easily hire at a moment's notice, but in order to provide you the safest and very best stretch experience possible, we have to be very selective about who we bring in. Our stretch practitioners are heavily vetted and to even be considered they must already have a background in anatomy and physiology. We hire people like personal trainers, massage therapists, those on the physical therapist schooling track, grad students with degrees in exercise physiology, certified yoga instructors, etc. Because we have such high standards for who we allow to work with you, the hiring pool for us is very limited.
"On top of this vast foundational knowledge base,we add our nationally accredited extensive Stretch Zone practitioner certification which each one is required to pass and log practice hours in order to work with our clients. To go through this training, it is expensive for us to fly out a corporate trainer and have them certify new stretchers, so we only do this every few months.
"As you can see, if a key member of our staff puts in a two week notice, we are not able to quickly replaced them the next week because we demand such a high standard for you our client.
Usually we work together as a team to fill in any scheduling gaps, but if it's a little slim once in a while hopefully you can understand why. Does this make sense? Great!"
If they did not have a hard time finding an available appointment time, and if it was more about them not coming in because they are busy / not making time in their schedule…
“I totally understand. Life can get so busy and it sounds like you have a ton going on!
Here is where we get to be your accountability partner and help you stay on track! When you started with us you had a goal to do __________ and we felt good about you coming in _____ times per week to achieve this. Are you still wanting to achieve this? What would this milestone mean for you?? How does this freedom in their body
We serve a lot of high level business people, entrepreneurs, and those who love to travel - so we know how to help people with limited time! You know our sessions are just half an hour so we can get you in for a lunch break or in a crack of time!
____________
Did you know that all Stretch Zones in Utah are under the same ownership? What that means for you is that no matter what part of the valley you are in there is always somewhere nearby that you can grab a stretch! Let me show you in your client portal how you can select other locations to book at...
Our hours are 7am to 7pm by appointment and some Saturdays too. If hypothetically you could fit time in your schedule to come in only once a week, when might that time be??
Did you know you can get double the stretch in half the time by stacking your sessions together? For example, some of our busiest clients or those that drive in from quite a way out of the area will often book back to back sessions when they come in. For example, a 2pm and 2:30. Since there are over 100 different stretch protocol combinations, the stretches vary from one session to the next. This lets you get the benefit of two stretch sessions (maybe one upper and one lower body) with only one drive in and one day on the calendar. Have you ever tried that? Lets book a stacked session for you so you can see what it's like! Just "outsource" this item on your To Do list!
-No matter who you are, we would want you to be able to carve out one little hour each month for yourself! That's our Flex Membership in a nutshell! Two half hour sessions per month will help you stay loose (or at least not go backwards in your flexibility from where you are now!), help you keep your sanity, and stay in balance. If you have a hard time blocking out just one hour a month for yourself, we really want to be on your side to support you in doing that! Stretching affects blood pressure, digestion, and many other health metrics - and when does doing the healthy thing get any easier than that? Let me get you on the calendar for your next session!
-So it sounds like you've had trouble making yourself a priority in your own schedule... no worries - we've got you! Let me help you do that. It's a boundary worth working at and will boost your self-esteem!
-Alternative: Freeze for 1-3 months and get back on track
-What if a Flex membership could actually give you MORE time? We have a lot of couples, siblings and BFFs that will schedule stretch sessions together and come in at the same time. If you did this, you would be a positive healthy influence on those you care about AND it would help you achieve two important things in your life at once! Who is someone healthy in your world that you would like to share this with or that you could help?
**other reason to leave $$$
-compare to other therapies
-compare to copays / medical intervention
-compare to loss of quality of life - what is feeling good in your body worth to you?
THINK THEY CAN STRETCH ALONE?
-what is your physiology background? Do you know how to stretch in a healthy, complete and safe way?... are you a personal trainer?... Even if you think you will do this on your own, you've probably tried that before and didn't stay on track. Let us be your accountability buddies! The fact is that most people DON"T do their physical therapy or chiropractic homework, even with the best intentions. Just delegate stretching and enjoy it!
-parasympathetic nervous system; when you stretch on your own part of your body is engaged and part is trying to relax - your brain gets mixed signals. Most people are not able to fully relax this way. When you do assisted stretching her with our patented straps, your body is fully able to relax, you breathe deeply, your heart rate is low, your brain is getting consistent signals that it's safe to relax and let go of tension, and that is how we help win back your range of motion. The kind of stretching we do here is not really something that you can replicate on your own. That's why professional teams use this method to get the best results for their pro athletes...
-yoga; body is still tensed and engaged, focused on postures, not in a relaxed state for resetting the nervous system for them (slower progress)

Let the above ideas guide you through a caring consultation where we can support our member to find a way to remain with us and experience continued benefits. We want the decision to cancel to be difficult for them, but once they are decided, the process should be easy and leave the door open for them to return in the future because their experience was positive.

If they do say many positive things about their time with us, remember to ask... "If you feel you have received five star service with us please shout about it online! It would mean the world to us if you would leave a positive review so that others that need us can find us and understand what we do here. Thank you!"

Preventing Cancellations

Preventing Cancellations

Tell Your Regional Manager