How to Sell without being Salesy

The fear of being salesy

As a yoga teacher, the last thing you want is to be salesy. This isn’t who you are, and this isn’t what you want to do. Yes, you want your classes and your retreats to be full of students, but using icky sales tactics? No, thank you! Being pushy is not for you.

I perfectly understand, and I am here to tell you that you can sell your yoga offerings without being salesy. You can sell your programs while being honest and respectful. Here is a list of ideas that can empower you to do just that. The selling experience can actually be an honest and enjoyable experience, both for you and your students.

First, we connect

As a yoga teacher, your main priority is to build your community. In other words, building relationships with your following. That is the first step of selling without being salesy. Take the time and make the effort to truly connect with the students who are drawn to you. Build a relationship before you even start sharing the details of your offers, and make sure prospective students feel that this connection is genuine, whether they choose to come to your classes or not. When you connect with them online, exchange social media handles and post encouraging comments on their feed. You can also ask for their email address and start sending them regular newsletters.

Truly listen to them

I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that a big part of connecting is listening. Actively listening to what other people are telling us. Give them your undivided attention and let them know how much you care for their well-being. Try asking open-ended questions that invite people to share and connect with you.

Often, when you genuinely listen to them, you will discover their pain points and their concerns. They may very well share their needs and their fears with you and give you the opportunity to address them. They might worry about something you haven’t thought of. When you listen, you convey the message that you come from a place of service and respect. The more you understand them, the more likely you are to offer them precisely what they need from a yoga class. When you listen, the connection deepens, and trust is built.

If you are wondering about active listening, the key is to ask them open questions. Before or after class, you could ask something like these:

• What brought you to class today?
• How do you feel now after class?

To show that you listen, you can also respond with encouraging comments to their social media posts. Always add a Call-To-Action (CTA) to your newsletter and on your social media posts. For example, if you currently have a favorite chakra, and just shared your thoughts and knowledge about that chakra, add a little sentence at the bottom of the email, asking what chakra you should write about next.

Focus on their needs

I’m sure you know this. Customers don’t care about products or businesses. They care about meeting their needs, whatever those needs might be for each person. The same applies to your yoga classes. Your prospective students, your following, the members of your community even—they all want to fulfill their needs. They want to feel better, both physically and mentally. They contemplate allowing your yoga into their life for one reason: to enrich it. So focus on their needs. Tell them how your teaching can make a difference in their lives. When you focus on their needs, rather than what you are offering, you will find out what those needs are and figure out ways to serve them better.

Here are some ideas about focusing on the particular needs of your students. If you teach a class in a gym for the general public and see that there is a population who might benefit from an additional offer, speak to them, and gauge their interest.

• You could offer something like a neck and upper back release workshop for desk jockeys.
• If you sense a great connection, you can offer yoga, followed by a brunch event.
• If there are a few beginners in the gym, speak to the fitness studio owners and offer a monthly intro class.

The options for serving the particular needs of your students are endless!

Don’t sell classes, offer them a transformation

Your students care about what your teaching can do for them. They want to know if it can help them find inner peace, lessen their stress levels, improve their flexibility, and improve their well-being. They don’t care about classes themselves. Every time you write a post or get ready to talk about a new idea, ask yourself: is that going to help my favorite student? Is that going to be useful to my tribe?

Talk about your why. Why you are providing that offer and what people stand to benefit from it. Talk about the transformation they can see in their lives, once they can feel stronger, calmer, and more serene after your classes. Reviews and testimonials can be handy, as they can substantiate your claims that your teaching can truly make a difference in your students’ lives.

If this isn’t what they want, move on

Once you have built a genuine relationship with your following, you will be able to understand their needs and their fears or concerns a lot better than before. Most likely, you will also be able to understand if they are interested in your offerings or not. If you realize that they are not genuinely interested, allow yourself to move on. Focus your energy and time on people who truly need you. You don’t need to sell to everyone. Not everyone is ready at that time. Plus, if you establish a good relationship, you can gain a loyal follower who might recommend you to someone else they know who is ready to join.

The goal is to offer value, improve their life

In closing, I would like to note that, as a yoga teacher, your vision is to bring more yoga into the world, deepen the quality of peoples’ lives, offer them value, and help them to gain a new perspective. Your goal is not to sell; your goal is to serve. If you keep what we discussed here in your mind, there is no way you will ever come across as a pushy salesperson. You will simply demonstrate your care about their needs.

What are your thoughts? If you would like to discuss how to sell without being salesy, please send me a reply with your questions or experiences. Let’s connect!

Love, Patricia