Retention rates are a major determining factor for the success of a membership-based business. For these businesses, growth is largely determined by how many members keep coming back, while you continue to add more customers and boost your student base.
There are a number of factors that affect yoga retention rates. The quality and variety of your practice will be one of the biggest determining factors. Convenience for your students is also of high importance. Prices will always affect a student’s decision to cancel or renew their membership, but diversifying your offerings can reduce the negative effect of these factors. Here’s how to keep yoga retention rates high in your yoga classes.
Quality First, Variety Second
Our first tip is a no-brainer: provide the highest quality yoga teaching possible or focus on improving the quality of instruction at your yoga studio. For yoga studios with experienced yogis looking for more advanced instruction, the quality of your yoga practice may be the biggest factor for keeping your yoga retention rates high. In order for your yoga studio to effectively retain members, it’s imperative that you hire high quality instructors that can teach to both advanced classes and new practitioners alike.
Invest in yourself and invest in your teachers. Taking lessons, workshops or courses on teaching skills and yoga can help differentiate your teachers from the rest. It’s important to remember that new yoga teachers and studios are always cropping up and you will need to stay ahead of the game if you don’t want your students switching over to memberships at other studios.
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Keep Things Convenient and Professional
Members may ignore inconveniences for the first few months but, eventually, those inconveniences can add up and dissuade a student from keeping their membership long term. Helping members feel comfortable in your space can help a lot; keeping your studio tidy, being mindful of the ambient temperature, providing free or easily accessible parking, having a clean drinking water source, and having clean washrooms and change rooms. The experience of practicing at your yoga studio will have a big effect on yoga retention rates so remembering maintenance is key.
Test your Prices
The bulk of yoga practitioners may take advantage of auto-pay memberships, where a member gets automatically charged periodically, usually in exchange for a lower price. For businesses looking to grow, you’ll want to make sure it’s affordable for the medium volume member. Test the difference between drop-in prices and memberships, in order to find the sweet spot where you aren’t dissuading people from continuing memberships but are still able to see the studio growing financially.
Diversify your Offerings
For self-standing yoga businesses, there are a number of things you can do to diversify your offerings. Depending on your school’s level of growth, you may find that you have certain times when the space isn’t being utilized. This potential waste can be mitigated by collaborating with another type of fitness class provider that can be easily adaptable to a yoga studio, like a dance or barre class. They can help pay for your overhead, making it easier to keep yourself afloat, especially at the beginning when you may not have enough students to pay the bills and still turn a profit. Offering a singular pass that gives members access to all of the different classes being offered can be an additional reason for a member to keep their membership for a long time.
