Season 6, Episode 3: What keeps clients coming back, and what keeps them away?

Tania Huddart: I always love it when a client comes back and says, "I've just realised. Whenever I'm sitting in the car, I slump off to one side. And now I understand why the right side of my back is so sore." That's the moment. They've noticed it themselves. And that's what keeps them coming back.

Host: Welcome to Build Confidence and Purpose with Pilates. I'm here with Tania Huddart: Pilates teacher, teacher trainer and author of Teach Pilates with Confidence and Pilates & Purpose. Both voices you'll hear are made with AI. Every word Tania says is her own, and she's approved each one.

Last episode was about how adults learn. Today we stay in Part 1 of the course, and ask the question every teacher asks sooner or later. What keeps clients coming back, and what keeps them away?

Tania Huddart: Two sides of the same coin. Motivation is what brings them in and keeps them working. Barriers are what stop them, sometimes before they ever reach your door. If you understand both, you understand a lot about your clients.

Host: Let's start with the first side. What keeps someone coming back?

Tania Huddart: Progress. We get motivation from making progress towards our goals.

Say a client has come in because they want to reduce the pain they feel in their lower back. If they're making progress, and the pain is easing a little, they're more likely to come back. They come back because something is changing for them. And they can feel it.

Host: That puts a lot of pressure on the teacher.

Tania Huddart: It would, if it was all on you. But motivation is a partnership. A partnership between you and your client. You're helping them towards the result they want. And it doesn't have to happen today.

In fact, it's a good idea to have that conversation with them early. Something like, "This is a work in progress. You're not going to do an hour of exercise and find your back pain is gone." I'd rather say that on day one than have them leave disappointed in week three. And that's not me promising anything about anyone's back. It's me being honest about how change works.

Host: So what's their half of the partnership?

Tania Huddart: Homework. It's in our power to give them something to take home. And when they take ownership of it, that shows their commitment, and their motivation to reach their goal.

If you want to reach a goal, you have to put the work in. That goes for everything in life, not just for your client coming through the door. Homework isn't a punishment. It's a way of saying, this is yours now.

Host: Here's the sceptic in me. Most people won't do their homework.

Tania Huddart: Some won't. But make it relevant, and more of them will. We'll come to that. And keep it small. One movement, tied to something they already do in their day.

Host: You said earlier that what they believe matters. Can you say more?

Tania Huddart: Some of our motivation comes from inside us. Our values. Our beliefs. So if we believe our back pain is never going to get better, chances are that's what happens. But if we're willing to challenge that belief, and give ourselves a bit more positive reinforcement, we can move towards the goal.

So when I'm working with clients, I try to give them a positive way of seeing things. "You're not completely pain-free yet. But there's been some movement. You've moved the needle forward a little bit." That's worth celebrating.

Host: How do you help them notice the needle moving, if they can't feel much yet?

Tania Huddart: You help them find the words. We might do something on one side of the body, then stop and notice what it feels like. Quite often, people don't have much sense of it. They really struggle to put words around it.

And that's OK. You can help. You can share what you see, and ask. "Does that leg feel a little lighter, or heavier? Does it feel longer? Does your hip feel lower to the ground? Does your shoulder feel more relaxed?" You're helping them put words to the sensation, so the brain can learn.

We're so used to blocking what we feel. If there's pain, we push it down and ignore it. Sometimes that's what we need to do. But when we're trying to move forward, it's about creating a language for what we feel. And that's hard. So be patient with it.

Host: And relevance? You said that keeps them coming too.

Tania Huddart: Very much. Is the exercise relevant to them? Find out about their hobbies. Tennis. Golf. Walking. Or it might be work. Someone gets a really sore right shoulder because they're always using the mouse on that side, and they're hitching the shoulder up towards the ear without knowing it.

Helping them solve those everyday niggles is a powerful reason to keep coming. And it helps them take ownership of how they move outside your class. You walk a fine line between telling them what to do and giving them things to try. You're guiding their experience.

Think of the car seat. Once they've noticed, we can problem-solve together. "What could we try? Maybe a towel in the back of the seat, to level it off. Have you got a bucket seat that slopes down at the back? Maybe we can lift you a little, so you're sitting more on top of your sitting bones."

We try a few things. And clients will often come up with what helps them long before you have. It's wonderful to give them those tools, and the courage to try things for themselves.

Host: Is there anything that motivates people that might surprise a newer teacher?

Tania Huddart: A challenge with an unpredictable outcome. Standing on one leg with your eyes closed, for instance. It's disorientating. You don't know if you're going to tip to the right or the left. Will you open your eyes in time and put your foot down?

So they really have to problem-solve. And if they can do it, it boosts their confidence enormously.

And it's the same for us, by the way. If we want to improve our teaching, we have to be willing to make changes. We have to get comfortable with the uncomfortable. It's much easier to keep doing what we've always done. But if we do that, we don't change, and we don't get better.

Host: Let's turn the coin over. What keeps people away?

Tania Huddart: Your adult learner is always weighing it up. The benefits of coming to Pilates, against the things that make it hard to come.

The big ones are time, money and childcare. And the one people forget is confidence. Confidence in their ability, or in the way they look.

Host: Time is hard to fix. You can't give people more hours.

Tania Huddart: No. But you can choose when you teach. Is it easier for the people near you to come in the evening, after work? Early in the morning? At lunchtime? Could you put in a half-hour lunchtime class, instead of expecting people to find a whole hour? They've got fifteen minutes to get to you and change, then the class, and then fifteen minutes to get back to work.

If money is the issue, you might offer a free class in your neighbourhood, so you can share what you value with people who can't afford to come. They might end up telling other people how much they enjoyed it.

For childcare, could you have a separate space with some toys? Or a class mums can bring their babies to, so the little ones are part of it? And if you're near a bus route, you can say so.

Host: And confidence?

Tania Huddart: Look at the pictures on your website. Are they welcoming to a woman who might not feel good about her body? Or are they pushing her away?

If you've got a photo of a very thin dancer doing an upside-down split on the barrel, people look at that and think, "I can't do that. I can't go to that studio." If you're looking for dancers, it's the perfect picture. If you're not, it's a barrier. A picture tells people who the room is for.

Host: So it comes back to knowing who you want.

Tania Huddart: It does. Do you see your business as a movement hub for busy professionals? Or as a community space? Make your decisions around that. And look at where you are. If you want a community feel, with mothers and children, and your studio is in the middle of the business district, those two things won't marry up. The barrier isn't always theirs. Sometimes it's ours.

And show people the benefits. They don't really care much about the history of Pilates, or who Joe was. That's Joseph Pilates, who created the method. They want to know what it'll do for them. Will I feel confident about how I move? Will it help me pick up my grandchildren? Play golf better?

Host: So what could a teacher do this week?

Tania Huddart: Two small things. Open your website, and look at the photos as if you were a nervous beginner. Would you walk in? Then, in your next class, ask one client about their hobby, or their work. Find their niggle. That's your next exercise with a reason.

Host: So, three things to take away?

Tania Huddart: One. Clients come back when they feel progress. Help them notice it, and celebrate it.

Two. Make it relevant. Their hobbies, their work, their car seat. And give them something small to own at home.

Three. Look for what's keeping people away. Time, money, childcare, confidence. And check that the barrier isn't you.

Host: And the question to sit with?

Tania Huddart: When you understand your clients, you get clearer about who you want to teach. So ask yourself, honestly. Do I want to play with those people in my studio, or don't I?

Host: Everything we talked about today is in Part 1 of Tania's online course, Teach Pilates with Confidence: Understanding your clients. It's open now. You'll find it at taniahuddart.com/academy.

Next episode, we finish Part 1. How do I teach the client who learns differently from me?

Tania, last word?

Tania Huddart: At the end of the day, what we do is an enormous amount of fun. So find the people you love teaching, and take away what stops them coming. Then go and play. Playtime it is.