Four steps to better onboarding in boutique fitness

During my time at Moment, A colleague and I spent a week auditing the onboarding experiences of three different boutique fitness companies (Equinox, Soul Cycle, and Flywheel) and comparing them to the onboarding experiences of companies that have similar onboarding challenges in other industries. At the end of our audit, we wrote an article that detailed the opportunities we uncovered around 4 categories: first impressions, personalization, context, and timing. An excerpt of that article can be seen below:

Personalization:
The onboarding experience is a perfect opportunity to learn about customers and present them with recommendations that match their preferences for how they want to start achieving their personal goals.

Context:
Trying new things is hard and so is imagining yourself in a place you’ve never been. Building a deeper understanding of the space you’re about to exert yourself in while surrounded by strangers can be helpful in alleviating insecurities and setting expectations for newcomers.

Timing:
Accounting for where a person is in the onboarding process and sending them an appropriate message alleviates missed opportunities. If a customer signs up for a service but hasn’t yet committed to a class, receiving a recommendation for a specific beginner’s class is a more effective use of that email touchpoint, rather than bombarding them with competing calls to action.