What 500,000 Member Messages Reveal About Your Studio's Workload
We analyzed 500,000 client messages sent to independent studios. Most were routine requests with answers you already have. Here’s what that means for your workload, and how to get your evenings back.
Based on 500,000 messages sent to Momence studios across email, SMS, WhatsApp and in-app chat across a full year (2025-2026).
FINDING 01
After-hours messages wait the longest
More than 1 in 4 conversations start after your studio closes. Those clients typically wait over 10 hours for a reply.
What this means for you: Your members message on their schedule, not your front desk hours. Without a plan for after-hours requests, the work either waits or follows you home.
- 28% of new conversations arrive when no one is staffing the front desk
- 57% of weekend conversations arrive when no one is staffing the front desk
- 7–10pm is when the most after-hours messages arrive, as members plan their next day. Another spike hits around 6am.
FINDING 02
Most messages ask you to do something
Clients rarely write in just to ask a question. They want to freeze a membership, move a booking or fix a payment. Every one of those requests means someone opens your system and makes the change.
What this means for you
Replying faster isn’t enough. You need a faster way to finish the task.
"Can you freeze my membership?"
A request like "Can you freeze my membership?" takes seconds to read. Completing it means checking the account, reviewing the policy, confirming dates, making the change, and letting the client know.
FINDING 03
Four topics drive most of your inbox
Members aren't bringing you endless new problems. They're asking about the core of your business, again and again.
81% of new conversations are about:
- Memberships
- Scheduling
- Class information
- Cancellations
The other 19% of conversations are more varied: customer support, billing, and one-off questions. That's where your attention adds the most.
What this means for you
Your inbox is more predictable than it feels, which makes it fixable. Build a clear process for these four topics and you cover most of what members ask.
HOW MOMENCE HELPS
Let Momence handle routine requests, even after hours
Every client conversation in one place
Connect your studio's email, SMS, WhatsApp, in-app chat and social channels. Each conversation sits next to the client’s bookings, membership and payment history, so you can act without switching tools.
Let AI Inbox Agent handle freezes, reschedules and FAQs
The Inbox Agent follows your business rules to resolve eligible routine requests, like freezes, reschedules, cancellations and common questions, at any hour. Anything that needs your judgment goes straight to you.
You can care deeply about your clients and still clock out at the end of the day
Most of your inbox comes down to a familiar set of requests. Give them clear rules, a simpler workflow, and the right support, and your time goes back where it belongs.
About the research
This report draws on a full year of messages that members, clients, and prospective clients sent to studios and businesses on Momence, covering approximately 500,000 messages. The topic analysis examines 19,868 conversation starters.
Percentages describe the analysis sample. They do not measure AI resolution rates or predict an individual studio's request mix. The after-hours analysis examines 21,714 conversation starters. Reply times reflect messages answered by an owner, operator, or front desk staff member. The research does not measure owner working hours. Examples illustrate everyday studio scenarios rather than quote individual messages. Rounding may cause small differences in totals.
The research identifies where requests concentrate. Your policies and the details of each request determine what AI can handle.