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How Do I Set Up Trial Lessons?
A trial lesson is a family's first real experience of your studio, and it's also your best shot at turning a prospect into an enrolled student without anyone at the front desk having to chase them down. Create a dedicated trial service under Business > Services > Create Service > Appointment (e.g. Private Lessons), point its conversion setting at every ongoing lesson duration a family might enroll in, and turn on auto-hold so the family's slot is still there when they decide.
Last updated: August 12, 2026
Applies to: Owner / Manager | Plan: All
Feature: Services, Scheduling, Grow Your Music School
PLUS Feature: No
Table of Contents
- Overview
- Step 1: Create the Service
- Step 2: General Settings
- Step 3: Payment Plan
- Step 4: Client Lifecycle Statuses
- Step 5: Conversion Settings
- Step 6: Terms and Conditions
- Step 7: Cancellation
- Step 8: Notifications
- Setup Checklist
- FAQ
- Related Articles
Overview
A trial lesson service is a one-time intro appointment, kept separate from your recurring lesson service, whose entire job is converting a prospect into an ongoing student. Why it matters: the settings that make this work — conversion tracking, automated conversion emails, lifecycle statuses, and auto-hold — don't exist on a regular lesson service. Skip them, and converting a trial into an enrollment becomes a manual follow-up call your staff has to remember to make.
ℹ️ Note: Most settings on this service work exactly as they do on your ongoing lessons — see the shared configuration reference in the Appointment Services overview. This article covers only what should be different.
Step 1: Create the Service
Go to Business > Services > Create Service > Appointment (e.g. Private Lessons).
Name it instrument-first, clearly marked as a trial, with the duration:
- Piano Trial Lesson - 30 min
- Guitar Intro Lesson - 30 min
You'll typically need one trial service per duration you offer trials at. Most studios offer trials at a single length (usually 30 minutes) even though they teach ongoing lessons at several — which is fine, and is exactly why the conversion settings in Step 5 accept multiple targets.
Step 2: General Settings
What it does
The General tab controls how the trial presents itself to prospects — photos, description, visibility — and how far in advance it can be booked.
Why you'd use it
A trial is often the first thing a prospect sees of your studio online, before they've ever met a teacher. Why: a clear description of what happens in the lesson, and a client note asking about the student's age and goals, means your teacher walks in prepared instead of improvising — which matters more for a first impression than for a lesson the family has already committed to.
How to configure it
| Setting | Recommendation | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Main photo | Welcoming, 4:3 aspect ratio | First impression for a prospect who's never visited |
| Short description | What happens in the trial, who it's for, what to expect | Reduces pre-booking questions |
| Spotlight | On | Highlights today's trials on the Today dashboard so staff don't miss them |
| Can visitors / clients see this service? | Both on | Lets a prospect book without creating an account first |
| Display priority | Higher number | Trials should stand out on a self-booking menu, not get buried |
| Require client note at self-booking | Often on, e.g. "Tell us about 's experience and what you'd like to focus on" | Gives the teacher context before the first lesson |
| Slot interval | Match your ongoing service (typically 15 min) | Keeps grids consistent across services |
| Minimum / maximum lead time | e.g. 2 days / 14–30 days | Gives staff prep time without letting bookings sit open indefinitely |
| Schedule optimization | Optional, and looser than on ongoing lessons | A trial is worth a gap in the day if it converts |
💡 Tip: See How do I customize the client notes requested at a self-booking? for more on the note field above.
Step 3: Payment Plan
What it does
Trials use a single Single Visit plan — no subscription, no packs.
Why you'd use it
A trial is, by definition, a one-time visit. Adding a recurring or prepaid plan option here just adds confusing choices at checkout for something that should be a low-commitment first step.
How to configure it
| Setting | Typical value |
|---|---|
| Plan type | Single Visit |
| Price | Your trial rate — discounted or full price |
| Payment interval | Once, due at sign-up |
Toggle Enabled for self-booking on for the plan — same as any other service, clients can't select it online otherwise.
Step 4: Client lifecycle statuses
What it does
Lifecycle statuses tag a prospect automatically as they move through your trial funnel, so you can see who's waiting on a follow-up without maintaining a spreadsheet.
Why you'd use it
Why: this is the only appointment service where lifecycle statuses really earn their keep. On an ongoing service, Member is applied automatically the moment someone enrolls in a subscription — there's nothing to track. A trial prospect, by contrast, can sit in three meaningfully different states, and knowing which one they're in is the difference between a timely follow-up and a lead that goes cold.
How to configure it
| Trigger | Suggested status |
|---|---|
| After booking | Prospect (trial booked) |
| After attending | Prospect (trial follow up) |
| After cancellation or no-show | Prospect (follow up) |
ℹ️ Note: Studios on PLUS can create custom lifecycle statuses and may already have their own stage names. Use those instead of the suggestions above if you have them — the point is that each stage maps to a different follow-up action.
Step 5: Conversion settings
What it does
Conversion settings are what turn a one-off trial into an enrollment offer, without your staff having to remember to follow up.
Why you'd use it
Why: every trial that doesn't convert is a lead that walked away. Automated conversion and auto-hold turn "hope the family calls back" into a system that proposes the next step and reserves the family's slot while they decide — the difference between a passive trial and an active enrollment funnel.
How to configure it
These live on the General tab, in the Details section.
Which service(s) can this service convert to?
-
List every ongoing service this trial could realistically lead to — which means every duration for that instrument, not just the one matching the trial length.
-
Example: a 30-minute piano trial should list Piano Private Lessons - 30 min, Piano Private Lessons - 45 min, and Piano Private Lessons - 60 min.
Why: plenty of families trial at 30 minutes and decide their kid can handle 45. If the longer service isn't listed here, that enrollment doesn't get tracked as a conversion, and your trial-to-enrollment numbers understate what the trial actually did.
Conversions are tracked in Conversions Stats; for CRM reporting, see the Prospect Conversion Stats CSV export article.
Automate service conversion
When this is on, a family who's been marked as attended gets an automatic email inviting them to enroll in ongoing lessons — at the same time, with the same teacher, if that slot is genuinely available on a recurring basis. Opus1.io checks for schedule conflicts first; if the weekly time doesn't hold up over the coming months, the automated proposal isn't sent and the follow-up template goes out instead.
Turning this on also gives you a field for a booking link the family is directed to from that email.
| Related setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Automated conversion alternate self-booking link | Lets the family pick a different time, staff, or service if the proposed slot doesn't work |
| Automated conversion email template | Customize on the Notifications tab |
Automatically hold weekly time slot for client
Ask yourself: what is this family most likely to enroll in? That's your hold service.
| Setting | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Automatically hold weekly time slot | On |
| Hold service | The duration most families choose — usually your 30-minute ongoing lesson |
| Hold duration | 2–7 days |
💡Tip: The hold releases automatically if the trial is cancelled or moved, so an undecided family doesn't permanently block a slot another prospect could take.
Follow-up template
This is what goes out after attendance is marked when the same day, time, and teacher aren't available on an ongoing basis — the fallback when automated conversion can't make its offer.
Why: without it, the families whose slot didn't work out are exactly the ones who hear nothing. Sample wording:
Thank you for attending your recent lesson! We wanted to let you know that the same day and time with the same teacher is not available on an ongoing basis. Please use the booking link below to select an alternative ongoing time that works best for you: [Insert Booking Link]
If you have any questions or need support, feel free to reach out — we're here to help.
Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to seeing you at your next lesson!
⚠️ Warning: Add the correct booking link to this template. The default text has a placeholder, and a follow-up email with no link is worse than no email at all.
Step 6: Terms and Conditions
Consider writing separate, shorter terms for your trial service.
Why: a trial is a single low-commitment visit, and a family reading four pages of withdrawal notice periods and late-payment terms before their first lesson may simply close the tab. Plenty of studios keep trial terms to the essentials and save the full policy set for enrollment, once the family is sold on the teaching.
See the shared configuration reference for how terms sections and acceptance work.
Step 7: Cancellation
Trial cancellation policy is a studio choice — some studios forfeit late cancellations outright, others issue a credit so the prospect gets a second chance to show up.
If you do issue credits for trial cancellations, leave the "should the service for the credit be a different service?" toggle off so the credit points back at the trial service itself.
Why: creating a separate "trial makeup" service means one more service to name, price, hide, and maintain — for a visit that happens once. A prospect who missed their trial should just be able to rebook the trial.
See Types of Cancellations for the tradeoffs.
Step 8: Notifications
Review these on the Notifications tab:
| Template | When sent |
|---|---|
| Confirmation email | Trial is booked |
| Reminder email / SMS | Before the trial |
| Automated conversion email | After attendance, when the same slot is available ongoing |
| Follow-up email | After attendance, when the same slot is not available ongoing |
Previews of every automated client email are in Client Automated Email Notifications.
Setup checklist
- [ ] Trial service created, named clearly as a trial with duration
- [ ] Single Visit plan with trial price, enabled for self-booking
- [ ] Lifecycle statuses set for booked, attended, and cancelled/no-show
- [ ] Convert to lists every ongoing duration for that instrument
- [ ] Automate conversion on, with an alternate booking link
- [ ] Auto-hold on, pointing at your most-enrolled duration
- [ ] Follow-up template customized, with the booking link inserted
- [ ] Trial-specific terms and conditions decided
- [ ] Cancellation credits (if any) left mapped to the trial service
- [ ] Spotlight on; visible to visitors and clients
- [ ] Added to a self-booking link or landing page
- [ ] Client note required, if desired
FAQ
Q: Do I need a separate trial service for each instrument or duration?
A: You need one per trial duration you offer — most studios only offer trials at one length. You do not need one per ongoing duration, because a single trial service can convert to several: a 30-minute piano trial can point at your 30, 45, and 60-minute piano lessons. Whether you also split trials by instrument is a naming and presentation choice, not a technical requirement.
Q: What happens if the proposed automated-conversion time conflicts with another booking?
A: Opus1.io checks for conflicts before sending the automated proposal. If the weekly time doesn't hold up, that email isn't sent — the follow-up template goes out instead, pointing the family at a booking link to choose a different time.
Q: Should I create a trial makeup service?
A: No. If you issue credits for cancelled trials, map them back to the trial service itself. A separate makeup service only earns its keep for ongoing lessons, where cancellations are recurring and compete with paid slots.
Q: Does auto-hold work for any service, or just an ongoing lesson?
A: It's built for converting a trial into an ongoing lesson, but the Hold service setting can point to any appointment service.
Related Articles
- Appointment Services overview — shared configuration reference and how the three services connect
- Setting up ongoing private lessons — the enrollment your trial converts into
- Setting up makeup lessons — the credit-redemption service for ongoing cancellations
- What are automated conversions? — how the automated proposal flow works
- Conversions Stats — tracking trial-to-enrollment performance