Conquering Your Fear of Numbers

By Juliana Larochelle Posted on: 10/26/2022 6 minutes, 14 seconds. read

When I first opened, I was definitely scared to pull my numbers. Because what if the numbers told me something I didn’t like? What if they told me something I couldn’t fix or didn’t know how to fix? What if they told me I was failing? What I didn’t know at the time, was that looking at my KPIs would guide my path to profitability.

Real talk: Do you pull monthly KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)?

If your answer is no, I get it.

As a busy yoga studio owner you’re wearing so many different hats: owner, yoga teacher, manager, marketer, accountant the last thing you want is another task to do.

You are already struggling to find time to work ON your business instead of just IN your business.

You think you know why you aren’t profitable yet…it's because you aren’t getting enough new people through the door. But you’ve never actually looked at the number of how many new people are coming in each month.

You just know it has to be that, because of course once people come in, they’re going to fall in love with yoga and want to stay. You just need more bodies…right?

If this sounds like you, don’t worry – you're not alone. In fact, that was me too. I opened my yoga studio because yoga had changed my life and I wanted to share this healing tool with others.

What I didn’t know at the time, was that looking at my KPIs would guide my path to profitability.

They were there to shine the light on what wasn’t working so I could create a path to fix it. This was a game changer for me. Instead of trying to fix things based on how I felt or what I thought the problem was, I was able to see what really wasn’t working based on data.

KPIs are also there to help you celebrate what is working right. Because let’s be honest, some things you probably are doing well and are working. Yes, you heard it right! You deserve to celebrate those.

They are there to help you make goals, track your progress, and create your own unique path to profitability.

You don’t have to be afraid of your numbers.

It can feel scary and uncomfortable to learn a new skill, but you can.

Yoga teaches us we can do hard things. Learning a new skill at first can feel hard and overwhelming. You might even have a story of “I am not good with numbers”.

But I promise you it’s easier than it seems.

You just need guidance on how to do it.

And we are here to teach you.

Ready to dive into your numbers with me?

Let’s start with Retention metrics to see if your issue is really that you need more people coming in or simply a strategy to turn new students into members.

Here is the data you will need to pull:

1. First time visitors

2. First time visitors who also bought an Intro Offer

3. Intro Offer holders who converted to membership

Depending on your software, your reports will be in different places.

(When you work with us, we create a custom video just for you on how to pull all of your data from your software)

If you are using Mindbody here’s what to do:

1.First Time Visitors

Reports > Clients > Visits & Retention > First Visit

2. First Time Visitors Who Also Purchased Intro. Offer

Reports > Clients > Visits & Retention > First Visit

3. # Intro. Offer Holders Converted to Membership

Reports > Clients > Visits & Retention > First Visit > First Visit Via Intro Offer > Tag New > Sales by Service > Main Service Category > Select All BUT Intro Offer (Remove Intro Offer) > Autopays Only > Tag New

If you are using WellnessLiving here’s what to do:

1. First Time Visitors

Reports > Client > First Visit > select your date range to be 1 month

2.First Time Visitors Who Also Purchased Intro Offer

Using the report from above, click into each client and see what they purchased. Count how many purchased your Intro Offer.

3. # Intro. Offer Holders Converted to Membership

Reports > Client > Conversion Tracking Report

• Select your date range by clicking the calendar buttons

• On the right-hand side, the original client type would be “new students” and the “converted to client type” would be “active pass holder” and “active member”

If you are using Walla here’s what to do:

First Time Visitors

• Clients > first visits (create custom time frame)

First Time Visitors Who Also Purchased Intro. Offer

• Plans > Intro Offer (create custom time frame)

# Intro. Offer Holders Converted to Membership

• Plans > Intro Offer > highlight the cart and see the plans converted too

Now that you got your numbers…what do they tell you?

First, did most of your first time visitors buy your Intro Offer? A good goal is 80%.

If most people didn’t buy your Intro Offer and instead bought a drop-in, it might be time to reconsider your Intro Offer and how you position it.

If 80% of first visitors bought your Intro Offer, take a moment to celebrate yourself because this is working!

A great Intro Offer is 21-30 days of unlimited classes and is half the price of your unlimited membership. This allows students to build the habit of practicing yoga while also trying all your different styles and teachers.

Now that you’ve gotten your students to buy your Intro Offer, the goal is to get 50% of those people to convert to memberships. As soon as your client purchases their Intro Offer, they should land in a high-touch, multi pronged sales process.

Take an honest look at your numbers. Are you converting 50% of your Intro Offer holders to membership?

If you aren’t, it’s time to revamp your sales process and maybe even your pricing structure.

If you are celebrate yourself because this is working!

After we looked at first visitors who also purchased the intro offer and intro offer to membership conversion now it’ time to consider how many first time visitors you are getting each month. The truth is you might not need as many new clients each month if you have a good sales process and proper pricing structure because you are actually converting your clients to members!!

The number of first visitors needed will depend on your membership goals and churn rate. But let’s run some numbers so you can see what I mean…

If you get 30 first time visitors each month and your conversion rates are 80% of first visitors purchase the Intro Offer and 50% of Intro Offer holders buy a membership here is the numbers:

24 Intro Offers sold

12 new Members

If you get 40 first time visitors each month and your conversion rates are 80% of first visitors purchase the Intro Offer and 50% of Intro Offer holders buy a membership here is the numbers:

32 Intro Offers sold

16 new Members

The real question becomes do you really need more first time visitors or do you need a better sales process and pricing structure that actually turns your new clients into members?

If it’s the latter, know that you aren’t alone. With the right guidance building a sale process and revamping your pricing structure can be simple.

If you see that you do have great conversion rates and really are just struggling to bring in new people it’s time to start a marketing campaign to attract new clients.

Do you see how the numbers can be our guide?

You don’t have to be afraid of your numbers. Remember they are here to show you what’s working and what’s not working to give you a unique path to profitability.

If you’d like a customized walkthrough on how to pull your KPIs and create your unique path to profitability, we have your back. Click here to get started.