| Friend,
Our goal for this email series is to help you understand how to teach intro lessons that make new students stick. In other words, I want to help you enroll new students and keep them around for the long haul.
I chose this topic because this info is incredibly useful at this time of year. The fall season is one of the busiest enrollment periods of the year for most schools, and you don't want to let potential students fall by the wayside just because you mishandled them when they came in your school.
So, let's kick this series off by examining why you should teach intro lessons.
Why The Intro?
I know I've mentioned more than once that intro lessons help you enroll students. But why is that? What makes it so much better than just throwing a new student in a group class?
Remember yesterday when I wrote about the first day jitters? Many new students will be nervous or hesitant when they first start martial arts. That nervousness can lead to a distorted memory of events that occur during their first class.
This goes back to our recent series on neurochemistry and student retention. When the brain is bathed in "stress chemicals" like cortisol and adrenaline, it does weird things to perception.
This in turn can result in what would normally be an insignificant event turning into a major issue that causes the new student to quit. In other words, fear and nervousness can cause a student to focus on what they perceive as negatives, instead of focusing on positives.
So, our job is to switch on their positive hormones and brain chemicals, so they have a positive experience in their first class.
Why Can't You Do This In A Group Class Setting?
The reason is simple, and it has to do with controlling the environment and building trust (sometimes called "building rapport"). The first step to calming a new student's nerves and turning on those positive hormones and brain chemicals is presenting them with a non-threatening environment.
To accomplish this goal, you have to be able to control the environment. And, frankly, you can't control what every other student is doing in their first class. So, if another student does something that freaks them out even more, it's not like you can hit the rewind button and get a do-over.
Likewise, it's incredibly difficult to build rapport with a single person in a group class setting. You simply cannot connect with that student as well in a group class as you can one-on-one.
So, teaching a one-on-one intro lesson allows you to focus on that student exclusively for 20-30 minutes, which in turn allows you to gain their trust, and that in turn gives them something to focus on in their first class besides everything that is going on around them.
Furthermore, they'll see you as the person that will "protect" them during their first class, which will help them feel safe and comfortable in that unfamiliar environment.
Knowing the Rules and Eliminating Surprises
Another element that helps new students feel more comfortable is knowing the rules and eliminating surprises. I'll talk more about this later and how to achieve this goal in your intro lessons, but for now just be aware that doing so will increase your ability to enroll prospects significantly.
Building Confidence
Building confidence is another reason to teach one-on-one intros. Part of the rapport-building process will be convincing the new student that yes, they can do this martial arts thing.
That's hard to achieve in a group class, but it becomes much easier in a one-on-one setting. And by building that new student's confidence by setting them up for success in that intro lesson, you are further cementing their belief that starting martial arts was the right decision.
Wowing Parents
This is a big one. Again, it's difficult to wow parents when their kid is in a group class setting. They are not going to understand how you teach, why their kid isn't getting more individual attention, etc.
And, they're likely to miss all the positive, life-changing lessons you are instilling because it gets lost in the noise.
But, in a one-on-one setting you can make sure that the parent gets to hear and see you teaching life skills and character values, building their child's confidence while you prepare them for their first class.
The First Impression
It's all about making a good first impression. That first impression will last and help you convert that new student to a regular paying member at the end of their trial period.
I'll talk more about the importance of the first impression tomorrow. Stay tuned, because I have a lot more tips to help you enroll more students this fall, which will be coming your way over the next several days.
Until next time,
Mike Massie MartialArtsBusinessDaily.com
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P.S. - If it sounds like I want you to handle new students like they are fragile, I do. The relationship you have with new students IS fragile until they get used to the culture and atmosphere of your dojo. So, keep that in mind as we progress through this series. It may be against your instincts, but believe me when I say that doing so will help you enroll more students.
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