While I had the professional education, experience, and skills needed to successfully sell in the corporate world, I knew I needed a different approach for my Pilates studio. I needed an approach that would better suit my industry, my clientele, and me! So I turned my selling into something that was more natural and personal, and it worked. This selling approach was a big part of growing my studio…right up until I sold my studio. And not only was it effective, it was enjoyable too. For me as well as my clients. Because like teaching, my selling was focused on meeting my clients’ needs and giving them a great experience.

So, if you hate the idea or act of selling, need to get better at it, or avoid it altogether, it’s time to learn a new approach. Here are my guiding principles for selling in a more comfortable and effective way, so you can grow your clientele, grow your business, and bring Pilates to more people in your community!

Guiding Principles

1.      It’s a sale of two tales. Before signing-up, potential new clients will need to feel that 1) Pilates is amazing and unique and 2) your studio is amazing and unique. Even clients that come to you already practicing Pilates can benefit from being reminded how great it is and why they should continue their practice. So talk a little about both Pilates and your studio to fully inspire clients to come practice with you.

2.      Forget the pitch. Go with your passion. You don’t need a sales pitch to convince potential clients to take Pilates or try your studio. Just talk from your heart. Share your genuine enthusiasm and passion for your work. Let them know how excited you are at the opportunity to have them. Then leave it at that. If it’s the right fit for them, they’ll get excited with you and want to try it out.

3.      Listen a lot. When potential clients come to you with questions, be patient and give them enough time to tell you their story and what they are looking for. Avoid jumping to conclusions too quickly about what they want or need as it relates to their interests, commitment or finances. Each person is different and many will surprise you. Just as you closely observe clients during workouts to determine how you can help them through your teaching, listen closely to what potential clients tell you during these conversations to determine how you can help them through your studio services.

4.      Be a friend. New clients need to like you, feel comfortable with you, trust you, and be inspired by you before they will buy from you or let you teach them. You’re not just selling Pilates, you’re selling you. You give the service and you are the service. Even if you won’t necessarily be their teacher, you are a representative of all teachers at the studio. So be warm. Put them at ease. Give them a little laugh, a little reassurance, or whatever they need.

5.      Practice your explanations. It’s not always easy to give good explanations to potential new clients. To explain Pilates in a way that makes sense to them. To explain the experience. How your studio operates or different programs you might have. Then on top of that, you often have to respond to a lot of questions on the fly. So if you find yourself fumbling for words or see that your audience isn’t connecting to what you’re saying in the way that you’d like, practice your explanations. Long ones (i.e. a longer discussion over the phone) and short ones (i.e. you get asked about Pilates at a dinner party). Fine-tune your communication skills so you can get your message across clearly and successfully!

6.      No pressure. It’s a process. To start a new exercise program, people must make room in their lives for it and that takes time. They need to find money in their budget, time in their schedule, and make other sacrifices too (i.e. less time with kids, less sleep, cut other expenses, etc.) So it can take weeks or months for a client to sign-up after they first talk to you or hear about you. In understanding this, be prepared for it to be a process. Give them time to think and be organized about following up with them.

7.      Give before you ask to receive. It’s generally awkward or difficult to ask someone to give you something. And that’s what you’re doing with new clients. You’re asking for them to give you their trust and their money. Of course you will give them great services in return, but you’re asking for them to give before they receive. Instead, give them something first. Something like: a 10-minute online exercise video, a downloadable at-home stretching guide, a monthly community class or any other small gift that won’t devalue your everyday services. When you give before you ask (or expect) to receive: you build goodwill, create a more enjoyable sales experience, show potential clients how great your studio is, and are more likely to have them sign-up!

8.      Forget the competition. Don’t waste your time or energy comparing your studio to other fitness studios or programs out there. It’s almost impossible to talk about being better than others without sounding pretentious or something equally negative. Potential clients aren’t won over by hearing negative things about other businesses. They are won over by connecting to your program and your studio. So don’t get tied up talking about anyone else. Just enjoy staying positive and focusing on your own services.

Now, selling is not something that only studio owners need to do. Instructors play an important role in selling too. Getting a new client into the studio is only half the challenge. To truly become a client, they need to come back after their first session. This is where a little selling from the instructor comes in.

Before, during, and after a client’s first session, instructors play in a part of selling by showing and telling the client how amazing both Pilates and the studio is. They do this not just by being a great instructor, but also by:

·        Sharing positive things with the client about the studio

·        Explaining the benefits of Pilates during the session and relating it to the exercises being done

·        Telling the client what they can expect to enjoy in the weeks to come (i.e. the exercises, the experience, the benefits)

·        Getting to know what the client needs and wants, and sharing what studio services the client might then enjoy

Selling can be just as enjoyable and rewarding as teaching, even for those of us who don’t like traditional selling. It doesn’t need to be awkward or involve any old-school or high-pressure sales tactics. Just use the guidelines above and think about selling as just one more way you help your clients and share Pilates with the world!

Dana Auriemma Bio

Dana started her professional career in marketing and sales working for Fortune 500 companies, but later moved out of the corporate world to pursue her passion in fitness. She opened, grew, and sold a successful Pilates studio and is now dedicated to helping other studio owners and instructors master the business skills they need to reach their full potential. Dana offers custom consulting, online business courses, and publishes free training articles. Visit her at danaauriemma.com and on Facebook.