I spent the weekend in Palm Springs working with a couple of my favorite clients and the host studio where I have graciously been extended teaching privileges, Pilates of Palm Springs, has some new competition just a few blocks down the street.
The new studio, Pilates Plus of Palm Springs, is running a television ad campaign that shows a person doing Side Splits on Reformer with a bar bell across her shoulders.
As I write I’m flying back to Seattle from Palm Springs and just typing that, even though I knew it was coming, has resulted in me pressing the call button for an out-of-sequence Bloody Mary. I can barely get through this, Pilates People. Yet, with you as my inspiration, I shall try. I shall sincerely try.
Pilates Plus of Palm Springs is a new studio in a dingy shopping strip, neighboring businesses include a Dollar Store and a bar. There’s a vegan restaurant several doors down where we ate for lunch so after we finished eating and visiting, we went into the brand new studio and had ourselves a look see.
The space is perfect for a studio, a big deep rectangle with high ceilings and big windows along the sidewalk. They’ve decorated beautifully, too. There’s a stylish divider hanging from the ceiling to set off the waiting area in the very front of the space and the waiting area furniture is sleek, modern, crisp. So pretty.
There were about a dozen bastardized reformers staggered along a mirrored wall.
There were about a dozen pictures of naked people along the wall opposite the bastardized reformers. Let me be clear. If you’re on one of the bastardized reformers and you open your eyes, you’ll see pictures of naked people. And when I say naked, I mean naked.
All but one of the large format pictures of naked people were of naked men. The last remaining untapped market for Pilates is men. Palm Springs is a gay mecca and it’s clear this new Pilates studio is going after the male market. Naked male market. Can I get a witness? I digress.
Did I mention the yapping dog?
We heard it before we saw it.
There was a yapping dog in the back of the studio.
Yap. YapYapYap. YAP. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap.
This thing was so tiny and runt-to-runt bred that it hardly existed. It was almost a shadow of itself. A shaking shadow. A petrified shadow. So tiny – teacup tiny. The organic egg on organic bread with organic fake cheese sandwich I’d just inhaled was far larger than this Quaking Yapper. Quaking Yapper – is that a breed?
Pilates People, may I be brief? I’m not sure I can actually be brief on this point, or any point, but I’m going to try.
Dogs do not belong in a professional Pilates studio. They are a safety hazard. If you have a client in a balancing exercise and your studio dog causes a commotion (yapping, moves quickly, etc.) and your client is startled, you’ve put them at risk. If your client falls, you’re potentially out of business. And, might I add, you’ll have to find a way to forgive yourself knowing that you were negligent and that your negligence was responsible for injuring someone.
Dogs in an open studio or within earshot of an open studio are unprofessional and a safety hazard. Period.
In addition to the yapping dog running around the back of the studio, there was an attractive man who immediately began trying to corral the Quaking Yapper and eventually, the attractive man successfully captured the Quaking Yapper, gathered it up in his arms and they both approached us.
I said “I’d like to speak to the naked people, where are the naked people?”
He didn’t laugh but my clients did.
The attractive man explained that they teach Pilates based classes on these (grand sweep of the arm) pieces of equipment, the Pilates based classes include cardio and it’s all set to music. He offered us flyers that included their schedule of classes and said he’d be happy to give us coupons for a free class.
I was busy eyeing the equipment – it had no visible name brand, it bore little resemblance to Joe’s Reformers, and there, right outside the frame of the equipment, there they were. There were the barbells.
My clients asked how many teachers they had. Six.
My clients asked where his teachers took their Pilates training. LA.
There was a lull in the conversation.
I can’t stand lulls.
I said, who manufactured this equipment.
He said, the same LA company who provided his training.
I said, are you a franchise or an affiliate?
He said, yes.
I said, you feed them?
He said, yes.
I said, what lineage are you trained in.
He said, we’re Pilates based, we don’t really have a Pilates lineage.
I said, holding his business flyer in my hand and pointing to the business name, Pilates is the first word in the name of your business and you don’t really have a Pilates lineage that you’re trained in?
He said, we’re Pilates based.
I said, I know, I heard you.
He said, we’re not Stott, we’re not really anything.
Exactly!
But I wasn’t done.
I said, Joe’s been dead for a long time, his work is carried down through a few of his students, if you’re Pilates based I’m asking you to tell me who taught you about Pilates.
No answer.
I said, this is a question that you’re going to need to answer. Don’t you think it’s a reasonable question since the first word in the name of your business is Pilates?
He said, yes.
We were heading for the door and he was following us and as we walked out, he pulled the door shut behind us and I suddenly felt safer knowing he was closed off inside.
Now, this business is probably going to attract a gym-type crowd, folks not interested in individual attention or technique based work. Among those it will attract will be some with bad backs and of those, some will get injured and of those, some will tell everyone they know that Pilates hurt their back. This is how we’ve ended up with horrible things being written about our industry and this is how we’ve ended up with many physicians reluctant to recommend Pilates because there’s no way to tell who you’re getting and what they know.
And, this business is definitely not going to be able to take the clients away from any other business if any other business has done a reasonably good job of servicing their clients. You essentially have no competition if you’re a good teacher and you manage your book or your studio well.
A new studio can open next door to yours and a new studio can open next door to yours with a studio name almost the same as your studio name and those studios right next door cannot take any of your clients.
Do not worry about competition.
Welcome competition.
A teacher who used to work for me fifty years ago is opening a studio right down the block. Not only have I told her I will help her any way I can, I’m going to take our whole mat class over to her studio so we can all join her class and I’m encouraging her to set her schedule to include classes when I don’t offer them so our clients can go to class at her studio on our off days.
Allow me to sum up:
She can’t steal my clients. I can’t steal her clientss. It doesn’t work that way.
Teach well. Every single hour, try your hardest. Work tirelessly for the benefit of your clients’ safety, strength, health and wellbeing. If you do that, nobody can take your clients away from you. I promise.
Never do Side Splits with a bar bell on your shoulders.
Beware of animals in the studio; they’re a safety hazard.
If your business name is Pilates anything, be prepared to talk about Pilates.
If you’re going to put up pictures of naked people in your studio, be prepared for anything.
Ding!