The Ultimate Guide to Class Trials: Engage, Convert, and Succeed!
Try Before You Buy: The Power of Class Trials
If you're running a kids activity club and wondering whether to offer class trials or not, you've come to the right place. Class trials can be an excellent way to attract new customers and allow them to experience your club before committing to a full term. In this blog, we'll explore the benefits of offering trials, explain how to implement them, whether to charge for them or offer them for free, and how to increase conversion rates after the trial class!
What are class trials?
Class trials are when you open up some of your regular classes at your club to new potential customers. It’s a way for them to “try before they buy” and join your club, and can be a great incentive for those considering joining! Many parents express doubt that their child’s latest hobby will be something they’d want to continue with long term, and might hesitate before signing on for a full term because of this. That’s where trial classes come in: it lets the child experience what it’s like to be a part of your club and can bring a boost of confidence to the parent too, leading to more bookings and signups for you!
Should I be offering class trials at my kids activity club?
There are lots of benefits to offering trials at your kids activity club. It means that parents can make sure that it’s the right club, and even activity type, for their kids before they commit to signing up for a full term.
Offering trials is also a great way to really showcase and promote your club. Why give someone a flyer with information about your club when they could experience what being part of it would truly be like! For a small fee, or even for free, the trial experience could convince the family that your club shares their views and would be a great fit for their kids. Trial classes are perfect for really showing what your club is made of!
How do I offer a trial to my customers?
How you’ll go about offering a class trial to your customer will depend on how your system is set up. If you are with ClassForKids, we’ve made it super simple for you to offer trials.
The system lets you pick which classes should be open to trials, and which should not. You might want to block certain higher-level classes, or competitive groups from accepting trials, for instance! And, in case you change your mind later down the line, you can edit which classes offer trials too.
Parents book trials exactly how they would book a regular class on the ClassForKids system. They can book a trial from your booking page, or you can lend a helping hand and add a child to your register manually and choose the date for the trial lesson. Once the trial has been booked, the child is added to the class register automatically.
Should I offer a free trial or a paid trial?
This question is rather tricky to answer, because it’s totally up to you! As with most things, there are benefits to either and it really will just depend on what’s best for your club.
Free trials are great from the parent’s point of view because you are bringing them value without them having to pay anything upfront. Trial classes are an amazing way of showing what makes your kids activity club unique and worth joining. However, with free trials there might not be the same level of commitment as if the parent had paid for it. There is a risk that parents would cancel or simply not show up for the trial class, because they haven’t committed financially to being there.
This is where paid trials might be the better option for your club. Because there has been a financial commitment from the parent, they’re less likely to be no-shows and might make more of an effort to show up and be there for the trial class they’ve signed their kids up to. With paid trial classes however, you run the risk of seeing less interest due to the level of financial commitment that is needed. Not all parents will be keen to pay for their child to try out a class, whereas most might be more persuaded when the trial is free. You’ll simply have to consider what would be best for your club and what your target audience would prefer.
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How much should I charge for trial classes?
Of course there is no set answer to this, and it really will depend on your club, the regular costs you face and the budget your target audience has. Let’s say that you run a very high-end gymnastics club where parents will be facing a higher cost because of the nature of the sport. These parents would likely not be put off if you were charging them for a trial class for their child to test out the sport.
[.pink__text]You could find out what the average cost is per class within your club by dividing the term total by the amount of classes, and then charge the trials at that price. Another alternative is to calculate the average cost of a singular class and choose to mark it up, which is what many clubs do to ensure they’re covering their overheads. Plus, this means that when the parent decides to join your club after the trial, they will feel like they’re getting a great package price![.pink__text]
How can I make sure the trial converts?
So you’ve set up the trials, but you’re nervous about converting the trial to long-term customers? We’ve got you covered. Here are some things to keep in mind.
- [.orange__text]Make the booking experience seamless. If it’s super simple for the parents to book onto your class trials, they’ll be more confident when booking for your term classes too! Make sure your booking system is easy to navigate and use.[.orange__text]
- [.orange__text]Treat the kids on trial how you would a regular customer. This might go without saying but make sure to include the new child so they are really getting a feel for what classes with your club are like. If the child had an amazing time at the trial, they’re much more likely to ask their parents to get them signed up for term classes![.orange__text]
- [.orange__text]Reach out to parents while the memory is still fresh. Don’t let too much time go by before you reach out to parents to invite them to sign up with you. You’ll want to strike while the iron is still hot.[.orange__text]
Once the trial class has happened, the ClassForKids system gives you a few options for next steps. You can:
- [.blue__text]Invite parents to book the rest of term. This sends the parent an email inviting them back to book in for full term bookings. You can send this invitation directly from the system by going to the trial options and choosing “invite”.[.blue__text]
- [.blue__text]You manually book the child into the rest of term. This option makes the process even more simple on the parents behalf, as you’ll be the one signing the child up to classes. Simply go to trial options and click on “child definitely returning”. Then use the message feature on the register to send the parent aa booking confirmation and voila, you have gained a customer![.blue__text]
- [.blue__text]End the trial. If the trial was unsuccessful or the parent has become unresponsive, it might be better to focus on the successful trials instead. Remove the child from the register by following the trial options and selecting “child not returning”.[.blue__text]
And there you have it! Offering class trials at your kids activity club can be a game-changer for attracting new customers and increasing your term bookings. With the right approach and the support of a system like ClassForKids, class trials can be a powerful tool to showcase your club's unique offerings and build a thriving community of happy members. So why wait? Start offering class trials and watch your club thrive!
[.pink__text]Want to offer trials using ClassForKids? Set up a demo call with us today![.pink__text]
Felicia Bugge
Felicia is our resident Content Specialist. She is the mastermind behind most of our blogs, emails and Tiktoks! When she isn’t planning the next big email campaign or chasing participants for Tiktoks, she can be found travelling to new exotic places, reading the latest booktok book, or converting friends to using iPads for notes and calendars!
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