I could ramble and ramble on forever about merchandise. But I think the first place to start is packages. If you’re selling everything in ones and twos, stop! Even T-shirts, I see lots of people selling a T-shirt by itself. Don’t sell a T-shirt by itself, sell three. Sell three T-shirts and solo pack it. Do you have to discount it? Maybe.
There are always easier things to do than sell a discount package, just give them something else. Give them a wrist band. Give them a whatever. If you sell T-shirts for 20 bucks and you want to sell a three pack for 60, sell it for 60. Don’t sell it for 40. That’s ridiculous. Sell it for 60 but give them something else. Give them a hand target, or give them a practice package that they can use at home that tells them exactly what to do. When they want to know what to practice at home, give them a webpage. That’s what you really have to do. It let’s them practice at home based on this webpage. Shoot a little video, 7-minute routine that they can practice at home when they can’t come to class. Boom! There it is, it’s that simple.
Next package would be your safety package. Your head gear, your chest protector, your hand pads, your foot pads, I don’t care what it is but you should be selling it as a package with a gear bag. What are the upgrades? Well, an upgrade can be a higher level or better, more expensive pack, right? It can be as simple as that.
Packages make everything easier to sell to begin with.
You could also have your weapons package. It doesn’t matter if you teach all the weapons that you sell. In other words, if you are teaching Bo Staff right now and you’re not teaching the other eight weapons in your weapon system, that doesn’t matter. You can sell them all the weapons.
My suggestion would be if they’re a beginner in weapons, regardless of what rank they are, they should have a beginner weapon package. That means padded weapons. If they progress and they’ve gone through a certain level of training then they go to the next level of weapons. That could be your wooden weapons. If they did really well at that and they progress some more. They could go into a support weapon. So, don’t sell one weapon, sell them three weapons.
The first is a safety weapons package, it’s padded Nunchucks padded Bo Staff, padded whatever. Every one of those weapons you can get as a safety weapon. You want to be really aggressive? The package that you sell, you don’t have to deliver it all. You hold it, and deliver as you teach them. They buy the entire package, but they don’t get the entire package. You teach them Bo Staff, so they only get the Bo Staff right now. I’m not saying you have to do this but it is helpful to people.
It’s helpful for two reasons. Number one, it’s helpful for you. Number two, mommy doesn’t have to keep up with eight or nine different weapons. She doesn’t have to decide which weapon to bring. Do I bring them all? Do I bring one? Which one do I bring? No, you bring the one I gave you, right? Then they get through all of them and they’ve been delivered all nine weapons. If they’re no longer there, they don’t.
What if they want to buy new stuff from a big box place or from a super hold discounted website? Well, that’s because you’re not building value into the packages or the gear that you’re selling. One of the easiest ways to build more value is to guarantee it. Guarantee the uniforms, the weapons and safety equipment for 12 months. If they had grips and they outgrow it, if it breaks, replace it. It’s that simple. If you have a good enough mark up on your equipment (you can if you’re guaranteeing it, you can if you’re packaging it) then you can guarantee all of it for 12 months.
Well, what happens if they come over there and they take the footpad and they rip it? Give him another one. Some people are going to cheat. Let them cheat. Most people aren’t. Don’t worry about the what if’s. Don’t worry about the people that cheat. You’re there to serve the people that don’t. You get a person that cheats every once in a while, they’re going to go away anyway, right? That’s not the people that you want attract to begin with.
Everybody gets caught up in the “what if’s”. Don’t be one of those guys. Just move forward and the what if’s will work themselves out. Guarantee your packages, guarantee your equipment. What about uniforms? Sell them a bigger uniform that actually fits them so they can grow into it.
It’s not complicated. It’s not rocket science, but it is science and it’s easy.
