How to Upsell at Your Yoga Studio
Have you set your sights on a larger clientele, more visits, and higher sales? Learning how to upsell could be just the push your yoga studio needs to build your business and boost your revenues.
What is upselling exactly, and how can it help your yoga studio grow? Upselling is increasing the size of a client’s purchase, say from a single class to a class pass or membership, or steering them towards a more expensive product or add-on to up the total of the transaction.
Studies suggest that the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70 percent, while the likelihood of selling to a brand new client is only 5-20 percent. Looks like trying to maximize your existing sales prospects is the more effective way to sell!
As a busy entrepreneur, you want to save the time it takes to acquire new clients and make the most of the happy clients you’ve already sold. This doesn’t just benefit your business though. Ideally, an upsell adds value (along with cost) to a client’s purchase, so you both win!
If you want to grow your business by learning how to upsell effectively, but aren’t sure where to start, here’s where we can help! We’ve put together a tried and tested list of upselling techniques that will help your studio reach that next level:
1. Take Every Opportunity
Think of how many people frequent your studio on a weekly basis. If even just a small percentage took advantage of an add-on, a special offer, a unique product, or a membership, imagine how that could affect your bottom line! Odds are, the more people you approach, the more people you talk to might want to take you up on an offer. Obviously, you have to be conscious not to be in “sell-mode” all of the time, but approach as many people as you can with an upsell in a friendly way and you’ll be growing your profits in no time.
Get your team on board
Make it a studio-wide initiative to embrace this strategy and have it deliver some serious results.
Don’t forget to teach your team how to upsell, too! You can’t be at the studio every minute of the day, so be sure that your team knows this practice is crucial to your studio’s growth. Make it part of your on-the-job training. Demonstrate how to asses a client’s needs, get the timing down, and how to make the most of every opportunity to add on.
Once you’re all on the same page, learning how to upsell and perfecting your technique, you’ll be looking at happier clients, successful staff, and rising profits for your yoga center.
2. Fill a Need
The best way to add obvious value for your clients is to address a need – even if it’s a need they didn’t know they had!
How to upsell using merchandise?
Sometimes an upsell means adding smaller items to a transaction and watching your revenues grow one sale at a time. Imagine this: a new client comes in to purchase a series of classes. Because they’re new to the practice, they probably don’t have a mat they can use for the sessions they’ve just signed up for. Suggesting a mat as an add-on is a useful purchase for the client and a way to increase the value of your sale. This strategy could also work with your seasoned clients using items like mat cleaners or towels sold at your reception desk as add-ons.
Offer products you know your clients need. The value will sell itself and it’ll make sense to add those items to their original buy. This is how to upsell like a pro!
3. Make it Personal
As we’ve mentioned, learning how to upsell means learning how to offer value and increase your bottom line at the same time. Have you considered offering a consultation service? People have different needs and personal attention is a great way to get clients interested in what you’re selling. Maybe a personal consultation would do the trick!
Do you think your clients would be interested in paying an additional fee for personal attention or a customized approach? Here are a few ways you might be able to personalize your services for successful upselling: offer home workout tips, nutrition information, stretches geared towards injury or training – and anything else you can think of to appeal to your clients’ interests.
The best part of this strategy is that while you’re getting to know your clients, you’re also building the relationships you need to grow a community of loyal and happy clients. Even if you want to provide this type of consult for free, the increased loyalty, renewed memberships, and growing customer base can be the benefits from this type of personalized approach.
4. Build Relationships
Now that you’ve started to get to know your clients better, relationship-building is the next step in learning how to upsell with the best of them. The most successful sales strategies focus on knowing your customer – and upselling is no exception! People like to buy from their friends and if they respect you as an industry expert with their best interests at heart, upselling should come naturally.
How do you get to know your customer?
Communication is key. Reach out regularly to check in, offer tips, and thank them for their recent visit or purchase. Build a customer profile for each of your clients so you can track their buying patterns and take a look at their schedules.
How do you incorporate this part of your approach into your day-to-day? By using the tools offered by WellnessLiving’s all-in-one business management software. Upselling is a breeze with features like automatic emails, reaching out by SMS or texting, building easy to manage customer profiles, and much more!
Getting to know your clients and expressing true interest with better communication will pave the way to more effective upselling.
5. Limited Time Promos
Looking to learn how to upsell in a hurry? If you’re dealing with a short sales cycle or an end of year push, a limited time offer might just be an upsell strategy you can use. For a set time period, consider offering discounted specialty classes or services as an upsell for new members.
You could even offer special pricing to members, a one-time offer with a membership purchase to increase the value of that sale right off the bat. Think ‘bring a friend promos’, early access to classes, or even discounted merchandise.
Another thought would be to offer a discounted rate on a second membership purchased at the same time. This would be a great one to try during the holidays, as a gift-giving promo, or a New Year fitness-focused theme. If you make it available to clients only at the time they purchase their own membership, it’s time sensitive and offers you a way to double your memberships in one transaction.
Even the personal consult discussed earlier could be a perfect add-on to support your customers new year’s health goals.
6. Offer Tiered Memberships
Have you ever thought of turning your memberships into their own upselling opportunities? Consider tiered memberships as a way to add value and increase your sales!
Make a membership look even more attractive by adding value to go along with an increased price tag.
Imagine adding a VIP-type level to your membership and charging more for the premium package. Include extra perks that add value to the membership and encourage clients to participate. Be sure that the perks are worth the added cost. Clients will need to see value in order to justify a higher price tag or an added cost to their existing membership.
Perks with the upgraded membership could include: free mat rental, free lockers, access to phone charging stations, a discount on special events – anything you think will interest your clients most.
Get creative here to stand out from the crowd and offer something unique. You could even create a preferred yoga playlist of your own and allow VIP members to download it for free.
You may have noticed that most of these ideas are at no cost to your business. These are value-adds for your clients and are great money-makers for you.
Let the Upselling Begin
Now it’s time to put your newfound knowledge to work. So, put your plan together, decide on where you are going to start, and take action into the new year!
Watch your classes fill up and your revenues grow when you learn how to upsell like a pro! Provide value, address clients’ needs, and build relationships with the help of WellnessLiving’s all-in-one management software.
