In time, Deacon noticed that his own passion was becoming popular as yoga studios began to pop up all over the country. Around eight years ago, Deacon and his husband moved across the country to California, and finally, Deacon was able to pursue his youthful dream of becoming an Ayurveda clinician<\/b>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After earning his teacher training certification and working closely with clients and patients, Deacon realized that he needed to own his own business where he could act as \u201cThe creator and collaborator of change.\u201d So, in June of 2015, he bought YogaONE.<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"case](\"\/knowledge-sharing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/YogaONE-1.jpg\")
As a business owner, Deacon had been able to spread his mantra of \u201cMeet people where they are<\/strong>\u201d to his students, teachers, and collaborators alike. Under Deacon\u2019s ownership, YogaONE has evolved into an integrated wellness center that offers its clients services such as acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, massage, nutrition, as well as a practical approach to yoga and Ayurveda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Deacon purchased YogaONE, he inherited the studio\u2019s MindBody Online account. Despite his years of business experience and a plethora of related knowledge, Deacon was stumped by the system<\/strong>. \u201cI\u2019ve used project management software, I\u2019ve used computer design software, so I\u2019m pretty versatile when it comes to technology. But just looking at MindBody, it was hard for me to understand how to truly run the business. It was a mess.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n His staff had the same issues. \u201cThey would always be putting things in incorrectly. It looked like they were doing it right, but it didn\u2019t go into the system properly.\u201d And so, like most MindBody clients, he contacted customer support again and again. After having already invested hours into each issue, he found himself at wits\u2019 end each time he contacted support<\/strong>. \u201cWhen you\u2019re calling into MindBody technical support, you\u2019re already 2 and a half hours into trying to figure out what\u2019s going on with the system. Invariably, we just want it fixed. Just fix it, we don\u2019t want to hear about it because we\u2019ve invested all that time already.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Often, the support team succeeded in providing some sort of solution for Deacon\u2019s problem; however, their explanations were rare and impersonal, so whenever issues recurred, the same process of endless troubleshooting and contacting support for workarounds had to be repeated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Along with the system, Deacon also inherited the costs of MindBody Online. Though his studio was grandfathered in at a reasonable rate, when they added the Engage app, the price nearly doubled. Still, Deacon considered this the \u201cprice of doing business<\/strong>,\u201d but certain costs were much higher than expected. When first transferring his data over from the former owner, roughly $28,000 of Deacon\u2019s earnings were issued by MindBody to the previous owner\u2019s bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, a bizarre six-dollar charge that accompanied every refund was \u201cthe straw that broke the camel\u2019s back<\/strong>.\u201d As Deacon found out that his clients were frequently charged by the system without any reasonable explanation, he\u2019s had enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was at this point where I know dynamic change doesn\u2019t happen without dynamic change.<\/strong> It\u2019s time to find a new software partner. And we looked.\u201d After investigating competitors such as Tula, ScheduleBliss, and GloFox, Deacon realized that he needed more than they could offer. He needed MindBody\u2019s features, but their software just wasn\u2019t working for his business. After a thorough search, Deacon finally came into contact with WellnessLiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The team at MindBody warned Deacon that some of his data may be lost when transferring, and he knew that \u201cno data migration is 100% perfect,\u201d but he was certain that the time for a change had come and hoped that he was right in placing his trust in WellnessLiving.<\/strong> \u201cYou just sort of have to trust the process. I think what made it easy for me was having Eric and the technical support people just be there to hold my hand\u2026 Eric and the migration team did a fabulous job helping us. I wouldn\u2019t say there were any major glaring issues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the lack of \u201cmajor glaring issues,\u201d Deacon did find that his first three months with WellnessLiving were a bit of a ‘white knuckle experience’.\u201d He and his staff had developed a certain way of working around the MindBody platform, which had a bigger impact on their day-to-day than even they realized. \u201cWellnessLiving was completely different and ultimately more intuitive.<\/strong> So I think the white knuckle experience for us was learning how to run the business properly versus having to manage our business with an inferior piece of software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI just want to really underscore for anyone who is having the harebrained idea of opening a yoga studio for the first time, they work with a software platform which is easy to use, which can be customized very easily, that does have reporting and all the bells and whistles you need in one package, rather than having to sacrifice function over payment. WellnessLiving, the payment platform, is very different from MindBody: they have different levels of engagement. This is the one tool for it all. You don\u2019t need anything else, other than WellnessLiving.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The impact of switching to WellnessLiving has been unmistakable to Deacon: \u201cWe\u2019ve probably had a 35% increase of both business and retention since we switched<\/strong>\u2026 I think from a pure numbers perspective, we\u2019ve had a lot more retention because we can use WellnessLiving to engage clients more frequently.\u201d On top of increased revenue and retention, Deacon and his staff are saving countless hours each week with the intuitive system that allows them to almost always bypass technical support.<\/p>\n\n\n When YogaONE does need to get in contact with WellnessLiving\u2019s support team, it\u2019s a totally different experience than it was with MindBody. \u201cWhat WellnessLiving does is they actually send you a video of how to do it, and MindBody does not do that. That\u2019s what I love about the technical support that WellnessLiving offers.<\/strong> It\u2019s an easy fix, but then we get a library of how to fix it.\u201d Along with his library, WellnessLiving support offers him constant communication via an automated system that ensures that he is always informed of any issue he has submitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n WellnessLiving\u2019s impact has been more than just a smooth transition with a good support team. It\u2019s the features that have truly made a difference. The first pleasant surprise that Deacon discovered was that the features were actually workable<\/strong>, unlike with MindBody. He no longer had to work his company around his software, but rather was finally able to work the software around his company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like a lot of new WellnessLiving clients, Deacon was impressed by the power of the system\u2019s integrated and automated marketing tools.<\/a> \u201cYou can do so much in it. You can use it to send text reminders, email reminders, run your MailChimp through it, and run special promotions through it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Direct marketing, add-ons, promotional deals, and other deal-making features within the online store have led to a noticeable impression on sales at YogaONE.<\/strong> \u201cFor us, as an integrated wellness center, we have SOAPs in there now. So we can share SOAPs with different members of our healing community when we\u2019re working on the same client.\u201d Furthermore, the potential dynamism of scheduling and breadth of programming have allowed YogaONE to better analyze and further expand their business alongside WellnessLiving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, to get their clients really excited about their business, YogaONE has also been making clever and constant use of WellnessLiving\u2019s built-in rewards program<\/a> and leader-board, motivating new clients to sign up by cultivating a competitive and fun environment. \u201cPeople come in and see their points on a weekly basis and see how they\u2019re ranking, so there\u2019s a little bit of competitiveness there\u2026 they just like the way you can sign up really easily. It\u2019s kind of a no-mess situation. It\u2019s been pretty great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Challenges YogaONE Faced with MindBody<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Switching to WellnessLiving for a Smarter Way to Run the Business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"case](\"\/knowledge-sharing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/YogaONE-2.jpg\")