In this blog we explore some of the key ways that you can ensure that your retreats are consistently selling out.
Tip 1 - Build Your Reputation on Booking Sites
Although its important to have multiple marketing channels for your retreats, for your website to be optimised for search engines and to have a strong social media presence if you plan on running regular retreats I can guarantee that you won't generate enough bookings if solely rely on your current client base, website and social media.
We generate around 80% of our bookings through the two main booking websites Book Yoga Retreats and Book Retreats. These booking platforms charge around 15% commission, but you should just factor this into your costs when working out your numbers and also recognise that having any empty spaces on your retreat is a much larger cost to you.
If you think about your own purchasing habits when you book a hotel how often do you just go direct to a hotel website? Instead you go to a booking site like booking .com to compare the options, read the reviews and also have a level of trust and security in the platform that you are booking through. This is why it is vital to become established and rank highly on the biggest yoga retreat booking platforms.
There are a number of ways that you can rank higher on the booking sites these include guaranteed availability, the number of available dates, your speed of replying to enquiries, the number and quality of your reviews and the amount of attention your listing attracts through high quality content. The sooner you get listed the sooner you can start establishing and growing your reputation with them.
Tip 2 - Guarantee The Retreat Will Go Ahead
Sometimes people advertise a retreat with the caveat that they need a minimum number of bookings to go ahead, you can also select this option when listing your retreat on the booking sites. The perceived advantage to this is obvious, if you don't receive enough bookings and cancel you then you won't lose any money. But from the customers perspective people are far less likely to book if they are unsure if it's 100% going to go ahead and so it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, you are worried you won't have enough bookings so you reserve the right to cancel which makes not enough people book and forces you to cancel.
Even if you do guarantee that the retreat will go ahead and you still don't get enough bookings think of all of the benefits that will be gained. You will be seen by customers as trustworthy and reliable, get experience in running retreats, get the opportunity to create valuable content for future retreats and gain positive customer reviews. Its important to look at the overall long term picture rather than just short term loss or gain.
Tip 3 - Don't Outsource if You Don't Have To
Some people decide when they are planning their retreat that they will outsource some of the work for example hire a catering company or someone to take the guests out on excursions. Although this has the benefit of giving you and your team less work to do and makes your life easier there are downsides to consider. Firstly this increases your costs a lot and so requires you to get more bookings before making a profit, secondly with the money saved from doing the catering yourself you can actually provide better quality food. On our retreats we buy quality ingredients and can afford to spend money on luxury produce such as truffle, prawns and good quality wine. Lastly and most importantly I have found from personal experience that people actually appreciate much more the extra effort you are going to in order to make it a homely personalised experience. Making the effort to take your guests out for a hike or putting love into cooking them a delicious dinner will be a much more memorable experience for them than an anonymous catering company coming in and doing all of the cooking.
Some people find the task of catering for so many people daunting but I promise that with a little bit of practice its really not that difficult. Before I started my retreats I invited my friends round for a dinner party every week for 2 months to practice making the menu in a less pressured environment. Our intensive business development courses offer optional cooking classes to help people boost their confidence that they will be able to cater for large groups of people if they choose to.
Tip 4 - Find The Perfect Place
When looking for somewhere to host their retreats Many people go for the easy option and choose a dedicated retreat space to run their retreats.
Obviously these purpose built spaces are designed for running retreats, but they also charge a massive premium for the convenience. I would say that on average by using a suitable villa instead of a dedicated retreat space you will save at least half on your accommodation costs. At a retreat centre there will also be multiple people running retreats in the same space and so it won't be something which is unique to your business.
The main features that you will be looking for in the right villa include :
A quiet location where your practice won't be disturbed by traffic or noisy neighbours.
A beautiful outdoor space ideally with a nice view and some shade if in a hot country and a spacious indoor area in case of bad weather.
Mostly single beds in the bedrooms in order to make it possible for people to share rooms and reduce the cost per person.
An adequate sized kitchen with a good sized fridge or fridges to cater for so many people.
Relatively close to the airport and local amenities if you aren't providing activities so that the guests don't feel too isolated.
Storage space for the yoga equipment and a pantry or store room to keep all of the food
Large dining area with enough space for all of the guests to eat together comfortably
It may take time to find the perfect place, but its well worth putting the time and effort into finding a space that has everything you need within a budget that you can afford.
For all of our coaching clients we share our Villa contacts for both Ibiza and Tenerife to make it easier for you to find a suitable place to run retreats.
Tip 5 - Learn How to Sell
Many people don't appreciate that every time you get an enquiry from a customer that is an opportunity for a sale and depending on how you respond to the customer will greatly increase or decrease your chances of that enquiry converting to a sale. We have a very high conversion rate from enquiries to sales because we employ the correct techniques when responding to enquiries.
Now some people may believe that sales should play no part in running a yoga retreat and that you should just let people make decisions freely. My belief is if you truly believe in what you are selling and you manage to convince someone using sales principles to choose your retreat and you have every intention of creating the most special, amazing and memorable experience that you possibly can, then why should you feel bad about this?
In my opinion the best book ever written on the principles of sales is Influence by Robert Cialdini. In this book he outlines 7 specific principles that are used by compliance professionals to make sales, these include :
1. Scarcity : People have a tendency to desire something more which they consider scarce and mentioning that something is scarce is a great way to instil urgency in people to book. Is it the last double room or the last space in a shared room available? Make sure to let people know.
2. Liking : People are far more likely to buy something from someone they like and feel a connection with, you can build rapport with people in the conversation through using their name, pointing out similarities, use of friendly emojis, offering extra detailed advice and going above and beyond what would normally be expected. Sometimes when people tell me they are looking at flights I will ask them if they would like help or if they ask what to bring with them I send them a comprehensive packing list.
3. Authority : People naturally trust authority figures and feel safe spending their money with them. That's why its important to convey your competency and confidence. This may be your first ever retreat and you might be really nervous, but you don't need to communicate this to the customer.
4. Unity : Conveying togetherness and similarity, for example when people mention they are a yoga beginner, I reassure them by telling them I myself am far from a yoga expert and that we get many guests coming who are beginners trying their first ever retreat.
5. Social Proof : People do what they observe or hear of others doing. For example when we are fully booked we offer 1 or 2 extra guests a package without accommodation and they can book a hotel locally to the retreat. When I offer this though if we already have a guest doing it then I make sure to mention it, if not then I point out that guests often do it. If someone is a female solo traveller then I let them know that the majority of our guests are female solo travellers.
6. Commitment : Most people need to think that they are being consistent when they make decisions. Therefore if someone has an objection or a question once you have removed that objection then their need for consistency will compel them to book. Once I have answered a question/ removed an objection I will finish with 'if you need any more information before booking just let me know'. Notice the difference between just saying 'if you have more questions let me know', which leaves it open, to saying 'if you need more information before booking just let me know'. In the second statement the expectation is that they will book because you have answered their questions.
7. Reciprocity : Most people are born with an ingrained sense of fairness and reciprocity. Therefore if you reply quickly to enquiries, answer people's questions in detail and provide them with extra information and you even offer them something specifically to cater to their needs, then they are naturally going to want to reciprocate by booking your retreat.
Tip 6 - Create Powerful Defining Moments
What makes an experience truly special and memorable? And how do we remember experiences when we look back on them?
Research has showed that when we look back on an experience we don't just take an average of the whole experience, we remember the peak moments and the end of the experience and this is how we determine and remember how much we enjoyed something. And we don't just have to wait and hope that these moments will automatically happen, they can also be purposefully created.
For inspiration I would highly recommend reading one of my favourite books of all the time 'The Power of Moments' in which psychologists Chip & Dan Heath explain their research into what makes a powerful defining moment and tell heart warming stories of individuals, businesses and organisations that have cultivated defining peak experiences in various ways.
At Bliss Yoga Retreats we create dozens of small and large defining moments. For example on the last day we surprise guests with an envelope on their bed with a ribbon around it, when they look inside their is a photograph of the group with a hand written message on the back signed by the whole team. On the last evening wile watching the incredible sunset above the clouds we give guests an ornate wooden box, inside is their star sign bracelet made from volcanic stones from the island and a message in a bottle with some sand collected from the local beach so that they can take a small part of the island home with them.
It is these small, personal and thoughtful touches that people remember and take away with them and its such an amazing feeling when people get emotional because they have had such an amazing experience with you. We recommend before starting your own retreat to think about what unique defining moments you can create for guests.
Tip 7 - Create Inspiring Content
This was one of my first promotional videos for my tour business in Ibiza. After having this video made and promoting it our bookings literally went through the roof and we were selling out every single tour.
When someone looks at booking something the first thing they do is look at your pictures and videos and if you don't have inspiring attention grabbing content then no one is going to even read the description. If you don't have the skills to create high quality pictures and videos I would highly recommend paying a professional photographer or video maker. Over the course of your business the investment will pay off 100 fold!
This is why if you have never run a retreat before we would recommend running a trial retreat to create content. You will then have all of the promotional material that you need when you start selling your retreats to the public.
When taking yoga photos for your retreat it is worth asking the guests if they would mind the guests posing for some pictures. It can be difficult and distracting for the guests taking pictures or videos during a live class and if you stage the photos you can make sure everyone is synchronised and in time.
We hope that you have enjoyed this blog, for more advice about running your own retreats check out our other blogs below.