Curriculum Package for Yoga Teacher Training Programs

How do you create a personalized yoga studio experience? Isn’t that what every customer wants?

So, you have some insight now into getting to know your customers, building relationships, and creating community.  What now?  How can you personalize each customer’s experience so that they feel supported and wowed each time they come in to your yoga studio?

Enhancing the Personal Studio Experience

Unfortunately, there are many yoga studios in any town.  Studio owners have significant competition.  In the end, our studio is a class and a room—often with nice decorum—yet, students can find a yoga class in so many great places.

Let’s elevate your experience!

So, how do we impress students?  And how do we keep them coming back?  We do this by keeping things interesting and new.

• How do you create the energy and feel of the studio?  Can you create the chemistry of where people just want to be?!  Have an area where students can gather and talk after class with a couch and comfortable chairs.  We encourage the community aspect, so no one should feel rushed out of the door.
• Give new customers a tour of the studio—rooms, lounge area, bathroom, designated places for rental equipment.  Show customers where their yoga room is.
• Pay attention to the music and light changes throughout class.

Ideas for Building a “Wow!” Experience

• Cool compress.
• Little neck massage with china gel or deep blue.
• Hands on adjustments.
• Eye pillows.
• Singing bowls before class.
• Chocolate meditation after class.
• Essential oil drop on forehead.
• Fan with cold towel during savasana.
• Pprovide rentals of mats and towels.
• Sell snacks and water.
• Provide deodorant in bathrooms, as well as hair ties, hair gel, and plastic bags (have these in visible places).
• Provide chilled ice water with lemons and limes after a hot class.
• Have tea and cookies for a suprise treat after class.
• Place chilled cucumber slices over eyes in savasana.

Create a New Experience with Students

• Offer a 30 minutes health coaching goals session.
• Have a flow chart for the student who:
  • Is an athlete
  • Aims to reduce stress
  • Prefers gentle and/or restorative styles
  • Wants to get in shape
  • Is new to yoga
  • Is an experienced yogi
• Show students the path of their journey to their goals.  People like to have a plan, versus leaving things too open ended or having too many choices.  Direct them to their plan.  A tailored plan makes a customer feel like a VIP.
• If students know what classes suit their needs, there is less of a chance that they will attend the wrong class and become discouraged—instead, they will have a fantastic experience!

Supporting Students on Their Path

• Have a dry erase board in the studio with monthly events.
• Create a theme (asana or philosophy) series—tell the class the week before it begins, and at the beginning of each class of the series.  Refer to the previous theme class to give context to all students, and to encourage attendance to the series.
• When doing announcements, announcing at the beginning of class or in a subtle way during class is more effective than after class.
• Give a gift related to themes.
• Hire someone for Kirtan or music during class, then post about the event on social media and in the studio.
• Allow members to leave their mat on a mat wall rack with their name displayed.  This represents that the studio is a community and students’ home.

What can you do to personalize each student’s studio experience?  How can you help them along their individual path, while creating the community they seek?