Shannon Brasovan, Two-Brain Yoga Business Mentor
Do you want to make more money, retain more clients and have a greater impact on your yoga students? Then stop offering free or discounted offers to new students.
In the yoga world, the common bait for new clients is the “free first week” or discounted start-up offer. Almost every studio uses something like this, but here’s the thing: Retention for those types of offers is so low that the return is practically nonexistent.
Worse, these offers drive down prices for all yoga studios.
While you might think discounts and free weeks make yoga “accessible,” what it really does is create a situation that’s unsustainable for both the studio and the client. The studio misses out on revenue, and if a client can’t afford the cost of membership before the intro offer, there’s no way the client can handle the expense after it expires. You want to attract clients who can make the investment now and will stay long term to get all the benefits of yoga practice.
So what should you do instead?
Use Free Consultations to Create Value
Businesses grow at the speed of their relationships, so build relationships. Get to know your clients through a free consultation, which takes 15 to 60 minutes max. Taking the time to sit with prospective clients shows them the benefits of your services and creates brand evangelists instead of wayward discount seekers.
Will you get fewer prospects this way? No.
Will your retention go up? Absolutely.
Will you show the true value of your service to everyone who walks in the door? Yes!
Start by setting up a clean space where you can sit down and have a chat with a client. In those consultations, ask clients about their goals, share what’s so amazing about your studio, explain how you can help them achieve their goals, and provide a practice prescription that will help them reach their goals with you.
Make sure to use the person’s name, make eye contact and ensure they leave feeling seen, heard and ready to get started. Sign clients up right in those meetings and start changing their lives.
Ditch your free trials and start-up discounts. Your client journey should begin with a consultation that builds a relationships, shows how you can help people achieve their goals and establishes the value of your service right from Day 1.
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