Customer Journey
Driving booking growth a smother smarter journey
13%
25%
84%
Context
Booking personal training consultation should be as easy as ordering a coffee—quick, clear, and hassle-free. But the old system? Clunky, confusing, and full of friction. People were dropping off before they even got started. We needed a booking experience that felt smooth, intuitive, and genuinely enjoyable making you feel that empowered to start your fitness journey with Ultimate Performance.
The customer journey from visiting our website to expressing interest in personal training was anything but seamless.
The initial enquiry process required too much personal information just to access pricing details. Since our gym locations vary in pricing, we avoided listing prices upfront—being a premium service, we knew this could deter potential clients before they understood our value. However, the lack of transparent, engaging communication created friction.
Our lead acquisition strategy was ineffective—generic, impersonal, and lacking a clear funnel. The journey looked something like this:
Enquiry > Landing Page (filled with unnecessary content) > Receive Email (just to get pricing) > Book Consultation (via Microsoft Teams… yes, really!)
Not only was this process cumbersome, but the emails sent to prospects were inconsistent, overly service-focused, and lacked strong branding—failing to engage potential clients. There was no personalisation, no effort to meet clients where they were in their fitness journey, and no empathy toward their needs.
It was clear: the entire interface and booking experience needed a complete overhaul.
Client Survey feedback
"I wasn’t sure what the next step was after submitting my enquiry. The email I received didn’t give me enough information, and I felt like I had to figure things out on my own. "
Team feedback
"Prospects email us to find out how to cancel their consultations. There is no clear or accessible way to do this with the current systems. The experience is incredibly frustrating, leading to extensive manual work and difficult conversations for customer support."
Challenges
We faced several obstacles in improving the booking journey:
Technical Debt: Legacy systems limited our ability to innovate from a back-end perspective, necessitating a focus on experience and data-driven solutions.
Lack of Integration: Disparate systems prevented seamless workflows, complicating the user experience.
Limited CRM: The absence of trusted client data hindered our ability to personalise, the journey for new and returning clients.
Inability to Experiment: The existing infrastructure made A/B testing and rapid iteration difficult.
The Fix: A Sleek, Seamless Booking Interface
✅ Data Migration and Service - We developed more Miro services to support out client data from third-party CRM and align our data events up so we could identify prospects more clearly during the process.
✅ Clean & Concise Design – Stripped away unnecessary clutter, using progressive disclosure to reveal info at the right moment.
✅ Frictionless Forms – By understanding the customer more we could pre-fill a lot of information, and confirm their information based on phone number. This reduced the steps and process for them.
✅ Instant Confirmation & Next Steps – Users got a visually engaging, human-centred confirmation screen, making them feel excited about their session.
✅ Smart Reminders – Personalised, well-timed reminders (via email ,WhatsApp and SMS) to reduce no-shows and keep clients engaged.
What role did I play
I took the lead in reimagining the booking interface from the ground up while also contributing to improvements across the entire customer journey. The business ultimately decided against a third-party system (build vs. buy) due to operational risks and existing calendar integrations. Instead, our focus was on creating a streamlined, premium experience that not only supported data management but also enhanced the overall customer journey.
To fully understand the challenges, I mapped out the end-to-end booking experience, creating both a service map and a customer journey map to identify key roadblocks. This analysis revealed several critical issues impacting both the client experience and the consultant’s ability to deliver a seamless service:
Customer Journey Mapping
Conducted a holistic analysis of the booking journey to identify gaps and opportunities for growth and personalisation. Worked closely with the customer support and CRM teams to ensure alignment. Mapped the end-to-end journey to highlight pain points and created a service blueprint to connect front-end user experiences with back-end operations.
Designing a new booking interface
Creating a strong foundation for iterative improvements to boost conversion rates using a brand-driven approach.
Experimentation through A/B testing
Using data-driven insights to enhance the user experience.
Omnichannel Messaging Trial
Designed conversational flows for journey after booking had been booked, to encourage attendance rates as well as decrease no shows omni-channel experiences, integrating WhatsApp messaging & CSAT surveys.
Pain Points
1️⃣ Confusing Entry Point – Users would enquire through the website, then receive a vague email to book a consultation, with little information about who we were, our pricing, or the value we offered.
2️⃣ Information Overload – The website was cluttered with excessive, unstructured details, making it difficult for prospects to quickly grasp their options and how we could help.
3️⃣ Cumbersome Forms – The process required too much information across multiple steps, from enquiry to email to an additional form—lacking both branding and accessibility.
4️⃣ Lack of Feedback – Users weren’t sure if their booking was successful. Confirmation messages were generic and uninspiring.
5️⃣ Weak Follow-Ups – Reminder emails were dull and did little to re-engage potential clients or build anticipation.
The road to beta and iterative testing
During the initial MVP testing, we split date and time selection into separate screens (see wireframes above). While this seemed logical at first, the data told a different story.
📊 17% of users clicked back, disrupting their flow and increasing frustration.
Users found the screen-switching disruptive, often leading them to abandon the booking process altogether.
To address this, we iterated on the design—testing a new approach that combined date and time selection into a single step while also reducing unnecessary information to streamline the process.
The result? A smoother, faster booking flow that reduced frustration and significantly improved user engagement
Outcomes
(First 90 Days Post-Launch)
From introducing the date and time selection, we decreased the level of click-backs and increased conversion to final stage. No-shows seems to decrease after the first 90 days.
🚀 Booking rate increased from 18% → 29.6%
💡 Close rate improved from 38% → 62%
After spotting key drop-off points in the journey, we started exploring new ways to make bookings even faster. A number of trials were put in place to test different approaches:
1️⃣ Premium CS Calling Service
Instead of relying solely on digital booking, we introduced a customer service follow-up call after an initial enquiry. The goal? A more personalised, hand-held experience for premium clients.
📈 Result: This increased close rates by 20% compared to digital-only booking. Clients appreciated the human touch and guidance, leading to faster decisions.
📣 Qualitative Insights: Post-call surveys and feedback indicated that customers felt more confident booking when they had a real conversation. Some noted they appreciated having questions answered in real time rather than navigating an FAQ page.
2️⃣ Omni-channel Booking Support
To give users more flexibility, we trialled WhatsApp and RCS messaging for direct booking conversations. Due to data protection laws, we initially ran with WhatsApp, integrating AI-powered automated messages to assist users in real time.
📊 Early Findings: WhatsApp engagement was high, and users responded well to a conversational approach. We’re now refining this further.
📣 Qualitative Insights: Through chatbot feedback prompts, we learned that many users felt more comfortable booking via messaging through WhatsApp, or speaking to someone in CS because it felt less “formal” and “committal” compared to an online forms. This insight is helping shape how we guide users in future iterations.
3️⃣ A/B Testing on the Website
One of the biggest challenges? Pricing. Since our pricing varies by country and we’re a premium service, we couldn’t display prices upfront without context.
We tested different approaches, including:
✔ Leading with value before showing pricing
✔ A personalised funnel that guided users based on location and needs
🔎 Key Insight: Instead of a direct “Book Now” CTA, a tailored enquiry form worked better to capture leads and convert them through a structured journey.
This booking service is still in active experimentation, with trials running to embed it further into the main website and across multiple touchpoints. See the next case study for how this continues to evolve!
