 Tommy Lee consults, trains and motivates martial arts staff in the United States and throughout the international martial arts community. His Success Team offers workshop, seminar and on-sight training to evaluate and execute the most effective enrollment and retention programs for your academy. Here, Tommy discusses that when you are running your own business, you have to take the rough with the smooth.
As I’m sitting on a plane enroute to Boulder, Colorado, I’m trying to find a title for this month’s column. We hit some air pockets, which created turbulence, but then the pilot maneuvered the plane so that it was once again a smooth ride. We hit more turbulence and, once again, the pilot corrected the situation. After two times, it left me with the confidence that whenever this happens again, it will be quickly corrected.
Turbulence in your school works much the same way. We find it in everyday events arising from misunderstandings on the floor with children not ready for testing. We have the instances where it’s the student’s fault for not practicing, the parent’s fault for missing classes, or the instructor’s fault for lack of quality teaching. Regardless of why, we have an unhappy, unmotivated student that feels like he or she isn’t good enough to test. Whatever the situation, it needs to be corrected.
I want to concentrate on one area in this column which all “quality” schools that have a good number of students face. This is the area of testing. How do we get the students that are not up to par ready for testing? How do we get the students that have missed classes qualified without making others mad that have been coming regularly? How do we take the really talented students and advance them one or two months early without creating a problem? And how do we get the unmotivated child that wants to quit motivated?
The answer to all these questions is Private Lessons. Let’s take the “Turbulence” and turn it into “Triumph” for the student, parents and the instructor.
Here’s how to make that happen. During the private lesson, the student gets motivated and improves his skill and/or gets extra credit for making up missed classes. The parents get to see the one-on-one instruction that improves their child’s technique and confidence. The instructor gets to improve the child so he or she is easier to teach in class and, at the same time, make a little extra money. The school owner gets a happy student, parent, instructor and $30 to $50 dollars for the 30 minutes he schedules the instructor to spend with the child.
Let’s take our problems and turn them into profits. Here are four areas to look at. Get a pen and list at least six more that you can think of.
1) The student doesn’t have enough classes.
2) The student has the classes, but is not proficient.
3) The student has been out for a while and feels left behind.
4) The student is ahead of the class and needs to be promoted early, but we have to justify his testing before the others.
Let’s examine one of the above issues. It’s time for testing and a student needs, say, 32 classes to test for his Purple Belt. From Blue to Purple Belt takes four months at two classes per week, totaling 32 classes. Students that attend all classes and learn the curriculum proficiently may test. What happens if the child misses two or three classes each month? He can come to a make-up class on the weekend, and get credit for a missed class.
Multiply two or three missed lessons per month by four months and we end up with eight to 12 lessons. Now, assume they make up four classes. They still missed four to eight classes, which translates into one month of training. In order for the student to get enough credits to test, he must take two to three private lessons, which will, in turn, give him credit for four to six classes. There are only eight classes in any given month.
In my studio, I’ve found that if the parents know they must have a certain number of classes, they will not be upset about having to pay for a private lesson in order to catch up. They, in fact, will be glad you offer that program. If, on the other hand, you don’t make it known ahead of time, then the parent will think you’re just trying make a buck on a private lesson. If this is the case, it will impact your school in a negative manner instead of in a positive way.
Once I implemented this system, we have had many more happy students, instructors and parents.
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