IF YOU’VE EVER STRUGGLED WITH SELLING YOUR RETREATS OR GROUP PROGRAMS, THIS POST IS FOR YOU.

I’m here to answer one of the most commonly asked questions that I get.

“Becky!!! How can I sell my retreat?”

“No one signed up! What am I doing wrong?”

“I don’t have an audience, but I really want to offer a retreat. Can you tell me how?”

If you’re thinking of offering a retreat or group program this year and you don’t have a big following, then this is for you!

In the last 12 months, in-person group + retreat experiences represented a significant portion of my revenue. It’s also one of my favorite ways to connect with women, so it’s a win-win. They get transformation and sisterhood, and I get to show up in my brilliance.

I didn’t run ads or any of that stuff, but here’s what I did do: I SHOWED UP.

If you want to sell something, you need to consistently show up. What that looks like is different for all of us, but here’s my retreat sales checklist. Feel free to swipe it and make it your own!

(And if you’re afraid of showing up in the first place – you need to get clear on what you’re afraid of).

FACEBOOK LIVES

This is where you need to show and talk about what the experience will be like. Make sure you cover:

• What it is and who it’s for – Fill in the blank: This is for people who want […] so they can […]. That needs to be clear; otherwise, people will be confused and not know if it’s for them.
• The schedule – What’s going to happen during the retreat? What does the program look like? How will this retreat help your prospective retreat participants?  
• FAQ – Answer any questions people may have. How do I get there? What’s included? Will I have to share a room? Is there time to explore?
• HIGH-VIBE – Bring your energy to this conversation. People will either be attracted to your energy or not. You need to share your excitement. Be contagious! Delight us! If you’re hosting your retreat with another person, make sure that the two of you show up together, so your clients can get a sense of the collective energy.

BE CLEAR IN YOUR MARKETING AND MESSAGING

This is marketing 101, but a lot of people skip it. They’re so excited about hosting the thing that they forget it’s not about them. It’s actually about the people signing up. Are you speaking in their language? Do you use words that they would use? Do you know their desires? Speak to their pain points and where they’re stuck and how this program/retreat will help solve that for them.

THE 20 TIMES RULE

Many people need to hear something over and over before they buy. How many times have you talked about your retreat? Are you talking about it enough?

OFFER VALUE THEN SELL

People aren’t just going to buy from you if they don’t know, like and trust you. So the best way to sell something is to make sure you’re offering valuable free content ahead of the sale. This could be posts, blogs, lead magnets, a free webinar, discovery calls, etc. Ask yourself:

• What can I give away for free?
• How can my potential clients experience what I have to offer before signing up?
• What can I share that matters to my prospective clients?
• What can I solve for them?
• Is my free offer connected to my program/retreat? Does it match/align? Are my freebies similar in topics to what I do on retreat?

REACH OUT DIRECTLY

One of my current clients is a result of me reaching out to her directly and inviting her to explore Hawaii with me. I sent her a simple message on facebook to see how she was, and then I asked her if she was interested in coming on the retreat to Hawaii with me. Her reply?

“Oh yes, what would that look like?”

I sent her the retreat information and we had a call to explore how she could make it work. And FYI – I absolutely had to coach her through her fears and doubts. This is a big part of making authentic sales. SUPPORTING your people through their objections.

This particular client hadn’t seen any of my facebook posts about the retreat, so unless I’d reached out to her, she never would have known! We’ve now been working together for over 6 months. Her life + business have completely transformed as a result of the work we’ve done together.

Should I have kept that to myself? No!

If you have a gift, it’s up to you to make sure you’re opening the door for others to step in. It’s their choice whether they step in or not, but it’s absolutely up to you to make the invitation.

REFERRALS AND TRUSTED PARTNERS

Ask existing clients and people in your network to refer you to others that you might be able to support you. You can also ask them to share your posts.

Something else I did in my early workshop days was to invite someone to my event for free. Now, I don’t normally suggest you give stuff away for free, but this was strategic. I would invite someone who had a bigger following than me so that people in her/my network would see that she was coming, and that would prompt others to start signing up.

I don’t do this anymore, but I do share client testimonials regularly so people can see themselves inside of what I have to offer. You need to paint the picture for them, and what better way to do this than to have your clients do it for you?

What does all this look like in action? Here are two client examples where they went from nothing to sold-out, with a few simple tweaks.

CLIENT STORY #1

My client – let’s call her Carol – wasn’t getting people booked into her offers. When we looked closer, it turns out that she wasn’t telling people what she does and how she can support them. She also wasn’t showing up online very much. She was doing in-person moon circles, but that was pretty limited exposure.

What did we change?

She started talking about the work she does (yes, it can be that simple!), and we turned her in-person circles into an online free masterclass. Now, she goes live on zoom once / month and hosts a free class.

From here, people get to see what she’s all about, they get to have an experience of what working with her would be like, and she gets to become more confident in what she does.

Now? This manifestation circle is key to getting her retreats and 1-1 coaching filled.

CLIENT STORY #2

Another client – let’s call her Victoria – only had two sign-ups on her international retreat. She had emailed her list once and talked about it a few times online. A few people had shown interest but had objections. I asked her to explain them to me, and from there, she wrote an email to address people’s objections and questions.

I also suggested she outline the details of the payment plan (instead of just saying there’s a payment plan available), and I suggested she reach out to her existing 1-1 clients that she thinks would be a good fit for the retreat. She did all these things, and 5 days later the retreat only had a couple of spots left.

Now over to you -> what tip can you implement today to get that retreat of yours SOLD-OUT?

Leave a comment and let me know!

Xxx,

Becky

P.S. DIRECT OUTREACH PEOPLE. Do it! Make a list of people you can serve and support and start a conversation with them. Capish?