Selling the class is the easy part. The hard part is everything that happens afterwards.
There’s the class pass bought months ago, and nobody knows how many classes are left on it. There’s the member who has two unpaid bills you feel awkward bringing up.
And there’s the student who didn’t come on Tuesday and asks whether she can come “any other day”. That’s where a business that runs classes loses money and patience.
Almost all those messes have the same root: the rules weren’t decided before they were needed.
Each case is decided on the spot, with the person in front of you, and of course what comes out is the generous answer, not the sustainable one.
Class passes: an expiry date keeps order
A class pass with no expiry date looks like a nice gesture, but it creates a double problem.
For you, it’s money collected that is still a debt: classes you owe at some undefined point in the future.
For your student, it’s a list of “I’ll go soon” that never comes, and a relationship with your centre that cools without anyone deciding it.
A well-set expiry date has three parts:
- A reasonable deadline for using up the pass, based on the real pace of your classes: comfortable enough to fit, but firm enough to nudge people to come.
- A reminder before it expires, with time to react. The reminder is there so the pass gets used.
- The date visible from the day of purchase, on the receipt, in their account, where they can see it without asking you.
Make-up classes: decide the rule, not each case
“Can I make up the class?” is the most awkward question in the trade, because any improvised answer makes you look bad.
If you say yes to everything, your classes turn into an endless game of Tetris; if you say no on a bad day, it looks unfair.
The way out is the same as with cancellations: a written rule, the same for everyone.
You choose the exact form: giving notice in advance entitles people to a make-up class, make-up classes go into free slots, they expire if unused…
Any of them works if it’s decided beforehand, published where people book, and applied automatically.
Whoever gives notice in time makes up the class; whoever doesn’t gets whatever you decided, not whatever your mood is that day.
Memberships: outstanding payments in plain sight
With monthly memberships, the enemy is silence. A bill that goes unpaid and unclaimed turns into two.
And asking for two months is far more awkward than asking for one. In the end you give classes away to avoid having the conversation.
- Every month, its bill: always issued, with no exceptions left to memory.
- Arrears visible as soon as they exist, to you and to the person who owes them. An automatic reminder in the first month saves the awkward conversation in the third.
- The first month, pro-rated: whoever joins mid-month pays their fair share. Starting with clear accounts sets the tone for everything else.
How to explain it without upsetting anyone
Rules don’t upset people; surprises do. To go from “we’ll see” to clear rules without damaging the relationship:
- Write them short and in your own voice: three clear sentences are worth more than a rulebook.
- Publish them where people buy and book, not hidden in a PDF.
- Apply them from now on: anything bought before is honoured as it was, and new rules are announced in good time.
- Let the system play bad cop: if the expiry reminder goes out by itself and the bill is issued automatically, you’re never the one chasing, you’re the one teaching.
That’s why Aforo has class passes with expiry dates that deduct themselves, make-up classes under your rules and memberships with outstanding payments in plain sight.
That way the money from missed classes stops being an issue, and you can get back to your classes.