Do you ‘sell’ self-defence lessons? If so you are part of a tiny community.
Like it or not people do not think they need to learn self-defence.
People want to go to the pub, eat pizza and relax. Learning to protect themselves or their loved ones is far from their mind.
So when you ask people if they ‘want to learn self-defence’ you might get a yes but in all honesty, when you tell them the cost they look less than keen and yet again you have lost a potential student.
It may be a bitter pill to swallow, but the real reason people do not take self-defence lessons is nothing to do with the art, the system or even the person.
It is all down to you!
You have failed. Not because you aren’t a good teacher, you simply are not a good promoter of self-defence and in this article we are going to teach you how to change this.
Why Selling Self-Defence Is Not Evil
‘You are a phoney’, ‘You are a fraud.’, ‘You are just in it for the money’.
These are all comments I have heard said about people that make a good living teaching self-defence.
I have also heard people who do make a great living from self-defence telling others that ‘you just need to be a good teacher and not a sales person.’
Well, let’s clear this up right now. Selling is not evil, it is one of the finest professions in the world.
I am sitting right now at my table writing this article on my laptop. The laptop was ‘sold to me’ by a sales person and because of that sale you get to read the article. The sales person also made money so he will then spend his money on goods and services in the area that they live, the computer firm will make a profit so they can afford to pay their staff.
You get the idea; the world economy works because people sell.
So why would it be wrong to sell self-defence?
The answer is that it is not, and if you change your perspective, selling self-defence is not only ethical but essential. You are teaching people to stay safe in a world where physical violence is a part of daily life.
The sad truth is that too few self-defence instructors have spent any time learning how to sell their services, and this is an issue.
Selling Is A Transference Of Feeling
You love self-defence. You possibly started to learn about self-protection because you were bullied or assaulted and you never want another man, woman or child to feel the way you did.
It is that feeling that keeps you going day in and day out. It keeps you going when students don’t turn up. It keeps you going in the cold winters when all you want to do is stay in and keep warm.
That feeling is deep inside you; it is part of your DNA.
Now, what if I told you that you were not selling self-defence lessons. Instead, you need to find a way to transfer through words that feeling to another person.
What words would you use? What would you say to the mother with two teenage boys? What would you say to convey that feeling to the 35-year-old man who is overweight?
Your job as a self-defence instructor is to educate the potential student ethically about the benefits of your service.
You need to take that feeling in your DNA and transfer this to them.
Setting Up A Sales Mechanism
You might not know this, but the world of sales has changed. This little thing called the internet changed everything.
We don’t buy the same anymore. We research online in minutes, and if we do not get the answers, we want we go elsewhere or give up.
For the person selling self-defence lessons, this means your life got harder. You are fighting for the attention of your customers and battling for that attention is everything from cute cat videos on Facebook to the local gym promoting it’s kettlebell workout.
So when you eventually manage to get the ‘attention’ of someone who is interested in learning self-defence, what have you got for them? Do you have a dozen YouTube or Facebook videos that they can look at to see your teaching?
Do you have a website with a FAQ section? Do you have an email address, a phone number or even a free guide they can download to learn more about your classes?
Does your website answer every question they could ask about your business?
If it doesn’t, then you are risking losing the student. You want to make sure that your website answers everything they might ask you before they take that next step.
Handling Objections To Price
So you got a phone call from a prospective student, or you had a face to face meeting.
Maybe they saw your website, or maybe they didn’t. But then it starts, the objection to price:
‘I work shifts so I’m not paying full price because I can’t get there each week’.
‘It’s too expensive for me’.
‘The class down the road is much cheaper’.
Here is where you may lose the student because they are not saying no. They are simply saying that the ‘benefits’ of training with you are not larger that the pile of money you want them to hand over to you.
You have been given some fantastic feedback from them, so how are you going to use it?
I have a friend who gets angry and says ‘well that’s what it costs’.
Instead, you have another chance; they haven’t said no to you. They are asking to be convinced, and you have another chance to transfer that feeling you have for self-defence training to them.
What would I say to a person? It would depend on the audience but here is an example:
“Thanks for telling me how you feel, could I ask you what you feel is a reasonable price for training?”
“Err £30 a month.” (This is £26 less than what you charge so realise that you are not selling them £56 worth of training, but explaining the benefit of paying you £26 more)
“Ok, I totally understand. We charge £26 more than that which is over a year another £312.”
“However, that works out at just an extra £6 per week.”
“When I went on my journey in learning martial arts and self-defence I invested both time and money in learning the best system of self-defence. It is a system that I know that will keep you safe and it will give you the skills to protect yourself and your loved ones.”
“I chose to teach this system of self-defence because I want to provide something that works. It is what I train in, and my kids learn it as well. ”
” Now I am sure that you agree when it comes to your safety, and the safety of your loved ones that £6 extra is a small price to pay for a system that will help you to stay safe.”
Now you might choose to vary this yourself but breaking down the price is a great way to convincing the potential student of the benefits against cost.
Conclusion
‘Selling’ is part of life and it is an essential part of self-defence. If you have no students, then you have no income, and you will struggle to teach.
By becoming better at selling, you will be in a position to help more people to stay safe.
At Defence Lab, we spend time with our franchise owners to show them the best ways to gain new students. Combining our knowledge and that from franchise owners across the world, you will discover how to create a profitable self-defence business.
If you would like to learn more or be a part of Defence Lab, please get in touch.