Top 4 Features to Earn More While Simplifying Studio Operations

Summer: The notoriously “slow season” for the fitness industry but a very busy season for everyone’s personal life. Warm weather, vacation, no school. Between your instructors, schedule, and trying to keep your client's booking and engaged, making your studio profitable (and classes full) during the summer is easier than ever with Walla. 

“…I'm going to see my daughter, and all I can think of is I'm not going to have a 1,000 headaches. It's so easy to manage the business from the app or from the website on my phone,” says Susan King, owner of Platescuplt. “Like everything is just smoother and easier and more intuitive!”

Our software not only gives you the confidence to step away from your computer, but our platform also automates specific interactions and serves you up performance-related data so you can see exactly what’s working and what can be optimized, boosting revenue, retention and your overall return. Here are our top four Walla features built to save you time and enable your studio to be more accessible—and instructors more responsible—while leveraging existing and new client relationships this summer. Without any additional effort from you! 

Guest passes: Classes are just more fun with family and friends

Show your studio members a little extra love this summer with guest passes! Leverage the likelihood of visitors, eliminate the intimidation factor for first-time visitors, and generate more revenue by offering guest pass perks to your plans and premium memberships. You’ll be able to deepen the connection to your studio community and build brand awareness during the “slow” summer months while your business stays busy with new clients coming through your door. Who doesn’t want to bring a friend to Summer Sunset Yoga for the first time? With Walla, we make it easy to add and distribute guest passes, increasing incentives and upsell opportunities to existing and new studio members.  

“If I had to pick a few Walla features that have completely changed our lives at Elevate, they are guest passes, late cancel/no-show fees being automated, and ease of waitlists. We are saving hours every week, and my staff just loves how Walla is easy for everyone to learn,” says Rebekah Marx, owner of Elevate Training. 

Guest passes enable you to organically share your studio with outsiders that you can nurture and convert into long-term members. And since we make it so easy to add someone to your studio software, your front desk won’t have to worry or waste time doing admin work when a guest comes in, leaving your instructors and staff more time to make a great impression (and upselling them to exciting intro offers). 

Sub management: Less stress, no admin work, more streamlined communication 

Ever get stuck needing a last-minute instructor replacement? We’ve all been there, and as a studio owner, ensuring your classes and appointments are covered even when you are OOO is crucial. That’s why Walla has automated the whole sub management process, from request to eligibility to assignment. Plus, Walla’s sub management is a one-stop, mobile-friendly stop that your staff will appreciate, especially when everyone is on the go and hitting the road this summer. Once a sub request is added by instructor and you are automatically notified to approve an eligible sub, Walla’s technology will take care of the rest—meaning no more voicemails, missed emails, unseen sticky notes… the list goes on!  Your studio schedule will be instantly updated, and your staff and clients will be in the know, so there are no surprises!

“I absolutely love the sub management —it’s been a game changer for our studio. I have so much less stress around subs… Now I can see everything in one place, on a timeline, and I have no anxiety about subs anymore,” says Meg Galarza, owner of YogaOne. 

By simplifying how you manage subs, you’re eliminating the panic and confusion that comes with finding a teacher on short notice and giving your clients access to instructors they may have never tried before. And when it comes to summer vacation, this is built-in feature that can take another to-do off your list so you can focus on what’s important without needing to manage the little details that make a big difference. 

Instructor stats: Keep classes full and boost bookings even when it’s slow with reliable, relatable teachers

We just covered sub management, now it’s time to talk about who your superstar instructors are, especially as your look at optimizing your schedule during the summer to make the most of every class experience so your clients continue to book, no matter how busy they are. Walla’s Instructor Stats dashboard gives you the exact metrics you need to easily and instantly compare performance against averages as you analyze who is keeping your clients engaged and your studio busy despite the slow warm weather season. The dashboard outlines important insight into aspects of an instructor's performance at your studio, including chemistry, demand, profitability, and client retention, so you can make informed decisions about who you want on your schedule more this summer—and gives your instructors the chance to see where they can improve and what they can focus on when they aren’t worried about the front desk or admin tasks.  

“We have so much more organization and opportunity for connection since moving to Walla. The clients love the system, and it's helped us expand even more than we thought possible. We, as teachers, feel like we can get into the studio and teach more easily now—without so much stress at the front desk,” says Gosha Karpowicz, teacher at World Yoga Center. 

You’ll be able to promote your best instructors while giving your less popular teachers the opportunity to improve and possibly teach more classes during the slower months so they can be the star of your studio show when traffic picks back up going into the fall, holidays, and new year! 

Livestream classes: Make your studio accessible to your clients wherever they go

Flexibility, consistency, convenience, and worth—that’s what livestream classes offer. And it’s no secret that going virtual is one of the best ways to keep your clients on track and your studio in their purview, whether it’s practicing yoga from their backyard or barre from the summer beach house. Your classes become easily accessible at a price and time that works for your client's schedule and budget. Tapping into booking flexibility with livestream is a way to give your clients options and enable your studio to market and sell more customizable options. It doesn’t hurt that our Zoom integration is a breeze, too, with automated class login link and start time notifications!

“There are no barriers for clients, and my teachers can teach a class without issue. That is priceless,” says Erica Tharp, owner of Common Ground Yoga.

The high-quality virtual experience creates a stress-free teaching environment for your instructors and eliminates livestream intimidation for your clients, so there’s never an issue when they aren’t in the studio, which is a bonus when the kids are out of school, travel is planned, and you’re logging in from somewhere else this summer.