| Ways to Improve Studio Business and Serve More People During the Holidays
Greetings!
I've put together 15 very effective techniques for bringing more business into your studio during the holidays (as well as thereafter). But first, I want to begin with a reminder of the foundation of why we do what we do.
As a studio owner, you strive to enhance people's lives. After all, isn't that what yoga is about? We bring peace and balance to the busy professional, we ease the pain of someone with an injured back, we help the average person see life in a whole new way. We strive to help people.
I mention this because we sometimes worry that we sound like a tele-marketer when we try to get students or clients to come to the studio. Don't worry, you don't! The difference is that the tele-marketer doesn't care about you, they just want to sell you something for their own benefit.
As a studio owner, your goal is to sell people something that will truly enhance their lives, thus they are glad to pay for it (and will continue to come back for more). Remember, you are providing a very valuable service. You change people's lives. AND, you deserve to be paid fairly for this – please, don't sell yourself short.
With the holiday's coming up, there are many opportunities to share the benefits of yoga with people. These are some of people's top motivations during the holidays:
They need to buy a gift and don't know what to get
They are making new years resolutions
They are “challenged” emotionally by some aspect of the holiday experience
They are moved to give to others
With these four motivators in mind, the next step is to select ways to promote your studio's services and products in a way that will help people with these things. Let's break up potential students into three key groups:
There are people who know what yoga is, they know they want to do it and they just need to find the right studio.
There are people who are somewhat into yoga, do it intermittently, or have meant to get started with it again, but haven't. They just need the right nudge.
Finally, there are people who don't know that they will love yoga (they might not even know what yoga is), but once they try it, they'll be hooked. These are great people to seek out.
Recruiting new students is usually not a one-step process. First, you want to introduce them to your studio. Once they feel some level of comfort with your studio, then they are ready to buy. Thus, some of the “specials” you offer will not make you much money, but they will introduce new students to the experience of yoga in your studio. Once the person has taken a class, then they are likely to sign up for more.
So with all this in mind, I'm going to go down a list of holiday promotions that may work for you. Note that different ones are better suited for some studios than others. Pick the ones that seem best for your situation:
Gift certificates. People often don't know what to buy. If you offer them, people will buy them. Make them flexible so they can be used on classes, workshops, merchandise, etc. When they are redeemed, you will accept them just like cash. Consider a discount on them (like 5-10% off face value), since they can bring in new business.
Take phone orders on gift certificates , mail them to the recipient with a “personalized” holiday card. If you do media advertising, you can advertise this. Ideal for someone who doesn't want to go out and buy a gift. It's like sending flowers. Someone calls, tells you the amount of the gift certificate, what they want the card to say and who to send it to. They pay via credit card over the phone.
Holiday discounts on longer-term packages . Perhaps a yearly unlimited for $899 or $999. Often, these are the kind of people you want in your studio – they make your studio look good and promote you to others. For most studios (depending on pricing and how you pay teachers), this will earn as much or more than if the same person just got shot-term class cards.
Discount for auto-renew memberships . This one is very effective – it keeps people from letting yoga slip out of their buys lives, and it allows more consistent income for your studio.. You automatically charge someone's credit card at the end of the term for unlimited packages. It can even be applied to class cards (when the card is used up, you charge them for another one and have it waiting at the front desk when they finish the class). Give a 10-20% holiday discount on the first purchase that they apply auto-renew to.
Buy-one get one free. You can do this with merchandise, certain classes. For example: Buy a 6 month unlimited package and get a free 10 class gift card. Or, Buy a 50 class card and get a free 5 class gift card. The “gift card” is a class card that comes with a holiday card (like the gift certificates). Not only does it give an incentive to the purchaser, but it encourages them to give it to someone who may not have considered your studio on their own, but who may become a student after they do.
Whew! This post is getting long... if any of these resonate with you, I invite you to check out our website where you can download the rest of the article, which is in our free newsletter this month.
Warmly,
Al Lipper
Centered Business
http://www.CenteredBusiness.com
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Ideas for Yoga Studio Owners
