Working in the wellness world is a beautiful thing. You get to help people become healthier and even find purpose depending on what you teach and how you teach it. Yoga teachers especially focus a lot on being flexible not only physically but in how they operate in the world. There is so much personal work and development that happens on the yoga mat or the meditation cushion that at times it is also challenging to remember that your role is not only defined by what happens on the mat but how you operate professionally.
By far my biggest professional challenge has always been being too flexible around my late cancellation policy and missed classes.
Part of this has to do with the yoga culture. As teachers we want to be viewed as kind and generous (and most of us are) and we also want to avoid conflict. I can't tell you the number of times I have told someone "just this once I will not charge you for this missed class or late cancellation" while cringing on the inside.
The cringe happens for two reasons.
The first reason is as much as a client or student doesn't want to pay for the class they booked, committed to and then bailed on because it would be a financial hit for them, I am being asked to foot the financial bill and time cost that they are actually responsible for.
The message I get is that my client respects their money more than the work we are doing to improve their life. They respect their money more than me and my time.
The second reason I cringe is even more personal.
I cringe because in that moment I lack the integrity to stick by my cancellation policy.
Whether or not my clients respect me or my time is their business, but when I undermine myself that is a much bigger deal.
My Cancellation Policy (at the moment)
In case you are wondering, my current policy is that I need a phone call at least 24 hours before their scheduled class or I charge the full fee of the class. At this point in my teaching career I only work with students who know about this policy and respect it without me needing to remind them. Thankfully, unlike my early days of teaching clients rarely cancel at the last minute because no one likes to lose out on $100 or more.
How to Navigate Your Missed Class/ Late Cancellation Policy
1. Write it into your intro email or session notes and discuss it upfront
When someone signs up to do a series of private classes with you. Make sure you highlight your cancellation policy and discuss it verbally with your students. You don't need to go into great detail about this to be professional. Simply say:
"If you do need to cancel your class please give me as much notice as you can and I will do the same. I do charge the full fee of the session if you cancel your class within 24 hours. This is my policy across the board with all my students and I want to make sure you feel comfortable agreeing to that before we book your weekly sessions."
If someone is not comfortable with that agreement you might suggest that they simply book one-off classes with you to better suit their life if things are too hectic for them to commit.
2. Uphold your end of the deal
It probably doesn't need to be said, but if you expect your students to give you notice do the same. You can't flake on your clients and expect them to uphold your policy.
3. When you get uncomfortable enforcing your policy, imagine your other students finding out other people are getting special treatment.
When I wrote the book The A-Z of Being a Successful Yoga Teacher, I had to be sure I was sticking to my guns on my professional standards. In fact, I turned down a job at a studio that asked teachers to teach an unreasonable amount of unpaid classes and didn't pay staff on time. I wouldn't work there because I hated the idea of giving advice I wasn't living.
The same is true about my missed class policy.
What if I give special treatment to one person who didn't want to pay their cancellation fee because I am uncomfortable enforcing my own rules and one of my other students who also missed a class but respected me and my policy found out?
What a mess that would be?!
Not only would I lose all respect and integrity with my client who was on board with my cancellation plan but it might poison my teaching relationship with them altogether.
4. Sticking to your policy doesn't make you "mean" it makes you a professional.
With students in my training courses I am even more tight on my policy with missed classes. While I try to be flexible with money (giving ample opportunity for early bird discounts) and time (gathering input about when our sessions will be held and trying to make as many of those possible to join via webinar), I also require students to attend 100% of the required hours.
When training teachers this is doubly important not only to uphold the integrity of the program and ensure that people meet the minimum hour and participation requirements but it teaches teachers to be professional and prioritize their commitments like a professional.
Think of it this way, if you book a session with a physical trainer, a life coach or a RMT and cancel at the last minute you will be charged for the time you booked. As teachers if we aren't willing to also pay for things we commit to and then miss how can we expect our students to?
5. Work with people who respect your time.
I floundered with these policies for years until I sat down and took stock of the impact cancellations were having on my business. After calculating the financial costs I had to absorb and the time I wasted my eyes opened. Sadly, when I justified "giving someone a break, just this once" they would expect it again and continued to undermine my policy.
My advice is to find a cancellation policy that works for you and stick to it across the board. If you are always making special cases you will drown in the mental chatter of having to decide what to do each time a student misses a class or cancels at the eleventh hour.
Do yourself and you students a favour and be clear and respectful of you cancellation policies. Once these things are dealt with and agreed upon it is easier to get to the work of being a teacher rooted in integrity.