One of the most common questions I am asked as a yoga teacher peer mentor is about expanding into teaching regular private sessions and client retention. Teaching a one-off session isn’t difficult, retaining returning weekly, fortnightly or monthly clients requires a whole different skill set.

So let’s start at with the basics to put in place before we even consider taking a booking or perhaps use some of these ideas to tweak an existing system you may already have.

I always begin answering this common question with a question of my own: how many one-to-one sessions have you had? Have you attended a variety of teachers, venues and styles for 1:1’s? Did you go back? How did the session leave you feeling?

This is usually quite revealing because it is natural to want to teach private sessions for income purposes or connection style but often the teacher is trying to sell with no experience of even attending a formal private session themselves. That is like trying to earnestly sell cupcakes as being delicious when you have never tasted one.

This is a great opportunity to ask yourself ‘why’ and be honest about both the answer and your gaps – which may be experience, market research and investment in this area.

Next think about the practicalities of teaching a private session. Where are you going to conduct it? Is the space warm, secure, free from interruption and safe for you? What is it for? How long will it be and why? What is the price? The terms and conditions, including a robust cancellation and payment policy, should be transparent and provided at the free consultation stage and if it is a phone call follow up with an email or text including all these: location, directions, contact number, price, policies, terms etc It is easier to create one document or visual aid containing all this and have it ready to send each time.

What are your boundaries and ‘no’s’? One of mine is that I will not teach in a clients home. This is for personal safety and authority because suddenly I am a guest and have no control if they decide to put the kettle on, open the door to the postman, answer a call or unexpected pets/people walking in. The flip side is if you have to hire space be clear about passing the additional cost on.

Your pre booking chat is an essential in my opinion. It costs you nothing but can save you a lot by both managing expectations and some key screening questions. Personally I do not dress this up or give it a title such as a ‘curiosity call’ or anything fancy, as a consumer I would avoid that because it sounds salesy, instead I say let’s have a quick chat and see if I can help and if not I will help you find the right person or indeed by having a quick chat in advance we can save you money by getting a head start on your session.

Think about what you really need to know to shape the session.For example one of my screening questions is around whether being able to sit on the floor and get back up again is easy or tricky because this will tell me where I want to include chair work and saves the client any embarrassment on the day. I actually include more chair work with yoga teachers or those who consider themselves advanced and start most sessions sitting on the chair to fill in forms then progress from there as it is more natural and less loaded with the anxiety of ‘starting the session’.

However the most important information in the call may not be in the form of a direct sentence. There may be hints around worry, fear, anxiety, pain or indeed over ambitious qualities or fixed beliefs around expectations, so listen both to what is said and unsaid.

It is more valuable to ask what they are hoping for from the session or what has brought them to reach out rather than asking about any yoga experience and to be very clear around the intensity of a 1:1 and the undeniable awkwardness of being in a room just the two of you. What are their expected outcomes? What are yours? What do they wear, how early to arrive and where to wait can give a lot of reassurance because you are reducing their unknown. Even with fellow teachers I drop in these details for reassurance.

When planning their session never ever wing it out of simple respect for their time and money. Be clear to differentiate whether they want a yoga class but just for them or a more personal session, I teach a lot of weekly clients and very rarely do I teach what would be recognisable as a group public class. You can find a class for a fiver so be happy to recommend that if it feels a better fit than a 1:1 .

I bounce around 2/3 of people to a class that initially feel they need or want a private session, it really isn’t for everyone as a style or as a sustainable option and we aren’t here to become a crutch to people or remove their agency. We want them to build enough skill and confidence to not need us even if they choose to continue with us. Although this can seem awful sales strategy, it is about integrity, ultimate yoga philosophy and this is how you reveal the value of a private lesson by comparison as to how a group class may not meet their needs yet. Additionally encouraging group classes to existing clients also opens up opportunities to try what you have been working on and to spark curiosity and conversation especially if they take classes with other teachers.

 

Something I feel strongly about is to not compromise yourself and ethos and ethics to feel you have to give value. We have spoken about the intensity and awkwardness of a private session for the client but the teacher can also feel this and some anxiety around holding the session and giving great value for money, especially to ensure a re-booking.

This can lead us very quickly to revert back to past teaching methods, old verbal cues, and random things we would never normally say or do. Sometimes even now when I have a bad brain fart in class out will tumble an awful old cue from the Bikram script that I have literally never said before and I can honestly say it’s when I have been unprepared or seriously  distracted by my personal baggage of the day.

Have you ever had that moment when you meet someone, and you don’t know whether to smile, shake that hand or worry if they are going to go in for a hug? This is the experience of many yoga teachers in delivering private sessions. Out of a sudden panic. It is common to push the client a little too hard thinking they need to work hard to feel it is of value, even if they never normally teach like that or to suddenly start giving hands on adjustments when you may have left that behaviour a long time ago.

A lot of what we have mentioned so far in terms of the pre-session phone call, planning and your boundaries will help you prepare as much as your prospective client. It can feel difficult to hold that space when it is one you are as yet unfamiliar with without crossing into being over friendly, over strict, ingratiating yourself with the client or watching your behaviours slip into styles you no longer teach then dwelling on it afterwards and indeed hanging your teaching value on whether they rebook or not.

You might not like to admit it but there is already an existing business model for exactly what you are trying to do and they are doing it successfully. It is a different modality with different objectives but in terms of a steady stream of 1:1 movement clients, personal trainers do this really well. Dwell on the differences, the similarities and how you can learn from the model.

Let’s talk about accessibility. How physically accessible can you make a session? How financially accessible can you make ongoing sessions for someone on a limited or fixed income? (do NOT fall into the privilege trap of offering cheaper bundles for upfront payment like many studios, it can be completely inconceivable for many to get a lump sum together and this changes control, outcome expectations and can be financially embarrassing. Remember we are a luxury not a necessity)

Finally how accessible is the actual venue? Trying to build a niche of helping injuries or people in pain then asking them to start their session by walking a lot or dealing with stairs may be a deal breaker. Ultimately as a self audit we need to be constantly looking at how we can lower barriers to access.

Create a robust Rolodex of colleagues and contacts to refer to. You will not and should not try and fit everyone. Mine includes other teachers with styles and approaches to me, specialisms I don’t have such as children’s yoga, pre/ post natal, a specialist grief therapist, a counsellor, massage therapists and a physio.

All these are the tip of the iceberg, by no means definitive or fully nuanced and the beginnings of far longer conversations but a good starting point to secure the basic building blocks of teaching private sessions well and in all transparency to get to the point where I have a decade of solid and regular returning clients under my belt, I have had some absolutely shocking sessions and experiences too. This is why I work with many fellow teachers and my peers to help them improve this area for longevity of career. Do you want to work with me? Prices start from £40 per hour and can be in person or a call.