Some hosts use Aggregators (like ClassPass) to fill their open spots. Aggregators may help to some extent but tend to fill open spots at a reduced drop-in price, sometimes so low that it begins to affect your bottom line.
Momence Spotfiller does automatic outreach for you (via SMS or In-App messages) to fill open spots. And, it abides by a minimum drop-in price that you control. Its selective about who it targets and notifies. You set the terms for who gets contacted.
With Spotfiller, you control:
the minimum asking price per booking
when customers are notified and how often
if you'd like to target specific locations, instructors or class templates
which customers to exclude (using tags)
whether to create multiple Spotfillers for different purposes
Where can I activate this?
Click Apps and Integrations > App Store.
What's the customer experience?
Customers get a text message or in-app message about an open spot. They're prompted with an option to "Reply: "1" to join". If they do, they're added in and receive a confirmation message in the same thread. The customer response needs to be a "1". A response of "yes" will not book the customer in.
How many messages are sent for each open spot?
Ahead of sending this message, Spotfiller checks each class for open spots. Then, for each open spot, it sends out 20 messages to eligible customers (based on the criteria you've chosen) that a last minute spot has opened up. Spotfiller will hold off on pinging customers its recently contacted based on the 'How often' settings you've chosen.
What if customers are out of membership/pack credits?
Customers will get different variations of the message depending on who's receiving it. If the customer has enough membership/pack credits for the class, they'll see the price in credits that will be deducted. If they're out of credits or simply don't have a membership/pack, they'll see the drop-in price they'll be charged using the payment method they have on file.
When do these messages send?
By default it's set to 5 hours before a class starts (to give customers time to book in at the normal drop-in rate). You can change the timing of this message using the fields shwon below as well as the days of the week shown above.
What's the message?
The SMS default version reads like this:
Above the message you'll find a list of variables available to use, should you decide to customize it and want to make it read a little more personable.
Note that this list of variables and the default text is for SMS. The message content and variable list differ slightly for the In-App version.
Can customers opt out?
Yes. You have two options:
As a host you can go to the customer's profile and unsubscribe them (just below their name). This allows you to resubscribe them later on if they change their mind.
Note: This action will remove them from all marketing messaging going forward, as Spotfiller messaging falls under marketing.
Alternatively, the customer can reply to the SMS with 'stop'. However, this action will mean that if the customer changes their mind and wants to resubscribe to marketing later on, as a host you will not be able to resubscribe them from their profile. In order to begin receiving messages again, the customer will need to reply again by SMS with the word 'start'.
Where can I change the message?
Right from the Spot Filler settings (Marketing > Spotfiller > select an existing spot filler or create a new one and scroll to the bottom).
Who does it contact?
It contacts:
Customers with subscriptions and packs
Customers without subscriptions and packs
For those with subscriptions or packs, a message is sent to the customer if the unit cost of their class credits is above the 'Spotfiller rate' you've set.
For example, lets say you have a customer on a subscription that gives 5 credits a month for $50. Its unit cost per credit is $10.
You've set your 'Spotfiller rate' to $11. This means that this customer won't be targeted with messaging that prompts them to use their subscription credits. They will, however get the normal message that all other customers without subscriptions or packs receive, where the price to join the class is the 'Spotfiller rate' you set of $11.
Customers with subscriptions or packs will receive a special type of message that tells them the price of the class in the credits they use. Customers that do not have a subscription or pack to their name will receive a different message where the price they see to join the class is the 'Spotfiller rate' you set.
How often do these messages send?
Under notifications settings you control when these messages can be sent and how often, so as not to over message a customer.
Can I set a certain number of discounted spots?
At the moment spot filler doesn't have a feature that allows you to set a preset number of discounted spots. It will run with the criteria you give it until the class spots are all full.
Will the Spotfiller price show on my website?
Pricing for Spotfiller won't show on your website if your using a plugin or on your customer facing Momence Schedule page.
The offer is only available via the SMS or In-App message they receive. Here's an example of how a Spotfiller SMS conversation might unfold for someone with a subscription that qualifies them to be targeted.
What happens if the customer doesn't have a qualifying subscription or is just out of credits?
Using the example above, in the opening message, you'll notice it says "1 credit will be deducted". If the customer has no credits or a subscription or pack, this sentence is replaced by the spotfiller price you set. (i.e. "$10 will be proceed via payment method on file").
How do I limit how often Spotfiller offers are sent to a customer?
You can control this under 'How often should customers receive notfications.
Spotfiller Processing rules
spotfiller is processed for each class of each class template specified in the spotfiller
Spotfiller processes at the time using this calculation:
sessionStart minus the schedule hours, example: class at 9am, spotfiller schedule set 3 hours, the spotfiller is processed at 6am.Multiple spotfillers are processed one-by-one even if they process at the same time (order of processing is random) - this is to ensure that customers are not notified multiple times at once
Spotfiller gets a list of customers based on rules below, for each free spot in the class we send 20 random customers.
Price calculation:
Rate is input manually, field is prefilled from the drop-in rate. In case of multiple session templates, the avg drop-in rate is prefiller
Criteria for a session to be considered by Spotfiller:
session must be type “FITNESS” - we don’t support courses, recitals, semesters etc.
session must not have tuitions
session must not be canceled/deleted etc
session must have fixed price (to be revalidated)
session must not have started
session must be a bound to the session template
the notification must fall into the uptime settings
session price (after discounts) must not be zero
(optional) session teacher must match the spotfiller “Teachers” list
(optional) session must be scheduled for a day of week which is set in the spotfiller
The criteria for targeting the customers (from past bought sessions)
searched session booking session must be from the same template as the spot-filled one
session booking must not fall into the “cooldown” period which is defined in the spotfiller (a customer can be repeatedly offered no sooner than this period passes)
session booking must be checked-in
session booking must not be canceled/void/deleted/hidden
starting hour of the session must fall within the same interval AM/PM (0-12h x 13-24h) as the filled session
starting day of week must fall within the same group (weekend x weekday) as the filled session
the session booking must be at most 90 days older than the filled session (I understand that older would be irrelevant)
the session booking must be at least 2 days older than the filled session (I understand customers don’t want to be offered on the same day / one day after they visited the session)
The session booking must’ve happened at the same location as the filled one
The customer must not be already booked into the filled session
The customer must not have tags specified in spotfiller “Excluded tags”
Additional criteria for targeted customer to be contacted:
customer must exist
has a phone number or registered push notification phone (depending on spotfiller setting in-app/sms)
(sms only) has a valid payment method either card on file, enough credits, subscription, etc.
session must not be full at the moment of contact
customer must not have booking overlap (if set on the host)