There are now nearly 50,000 ADIs in the UK and a further 60,000 in the training pipe-line. This number continues to grow year on year and as the recession bites many teenagers are using public transport, understandably putting off their lessons until they are a little older and have a little more money in their pocket.
This makes selling more driving lessons a harder task than ever before. With the relentless hike in fuel prices and the extreme weather conditions, making a decent wage is getting harder than ever before. This article will show you 5 simple strategies to put in place to make sure you are best placed to increase your on-line sales.
There are some ADIs doing very well. I have spoken to literally hundreds of instructors like you in the last 6 months. Some are fully booked with students coming out of their ears, chuckling to themselves every time a booking notification comes through on their shiny new iphone, wondering where to fit another student in and still get those 3 weeks in Cyprus...
If this is doesn't sound like you, read on for some tips that will help you reach more customers, fill your diary, shift some of those less popular slots and improve you brand especially online - even more important now that the core target market you will be selling to have lived with the internet their entire lives.
Selling Driving Lessons and improving your ability to do this online is a continuous process rather than a one of event. Services like Low Price Lessons make the whole process a lot simpler but that doesn’t help to keep one foot on the train. Many of us (including me) can disagree on what particular action to take when coming up with a strategy for the web, pointing to different business values or older more traditional routes to sales, but whatever your approach there is always room for improvement. I am going to offer the top 5 actions to take for any business looking to increase sales. And by "business" I mean anything from an Indie ADI to a national School of Motoring.
Oh, and please feel free to reblog this wherever. Just be kind and link back to the original article.
5 top tips to Help you Sell More Driving Lessons
1. Listening always comes first;
Ask questions your current students questions. Take 5 minutes at the end of each lesson to ask the student if they feel as though it was a better than average or similar. Ask them which lesson was they enjoyed the most and why. Always listen for ways that you can improve your service to increase recommendations and positive referrals. Ask your students to go to Low Price Lessons and leave you a positive review. There is even a “Tell your friends” function where they can tell their peer group they passed their test and how good an instructor you are via email, Facebook, Twitter and more. Make sure they do it as soon as they pass when they are most grateful and likely to recommend.
Finding customers just by listening is entirely possible. Read up on what learners are asking instructors on-line before they book their lessons and be ready with the answers. Learners may want to take some lessons with their parents first and later discover they would prefer a local instructor, you can be top of the list if you have advised them previously about locations to practice or how to make sure they are insured.
2. Build a profile online;
The key to increasing sales is in identifying where your customers are then delivering your message. Much of the decision making process is done on-line and if you are not reaching out here then you are haemorrhaging customers to your competition.
Engaging with people on the internet is really quite easy if you follow these simple rules; be polite, open and helpful. At each stage of the buying process a learner has specific priorities, understanding what these are will help you give the most useful advice and will naturally mean they are also more likely to book with you.
Many of us use services like Facebook and Twitter, Driving Instructor forums and Youtube ourselves, we know the utility of these applications. Turn that utility into a useful business proposition with Low Price Lessons,com all you have to do is sign up to the service and it starts taking care of this side of the business for you. Our large community of learners are already comparing local ADIs and booking lessons online. Low Price Lessons: Instructor is where you go to sign up so that pupils are able to approach you, discover your USP and book your lessons online. For more information Watch our handy video (also hosted on our You Tube Channel along with other instructional videos from ADIs just like you).
Of course your competitors will use LowPriceLessons too just make sure you keep you profile and offer up to date.
3. Organise your diary so that popular slots are free;
Quite often new students will request lessons at similar times. This is particularly true online and quite normal if most of your learners are of a particular demographic. Once a student books lessons with you move them to a time which is beneficial for both of you. This way when new customers enquire you will be available on the dates they prefer giving you a huge advantage when they make their final decision on which instructor to learn with.
Staying on top of your diary and organising your lessons is a crucial aspect to selling more lessons. Look at least 6 weeks ahead when adding new students. Make sure that gaps in your day are plugged either by moving students or reducing the price of your lessons for those slots. Ideally you will be looking 8 weeks into your diary when taking bookings or making little changes to your prices.
Use applications like Google calendar and link it to the diary in your mobile phone so that your changes are updated wherever you are without having to scramble for a pen.
4. Spend time updating your business, keep your image fresh;
I don’t mean go out and buy a new car every 6 months, I am talking about simple changes. This is a dynamic industry; keeping apace of all the changes will make you seem like a very competent instructor from the outset. Update photos of yourself, your car and your business showing the weather as it is now. If it is snowing outside right now and you have recent photos showing you with a newly qualified driver in a snowy area then put them front of house so learners can see themselves learning with you. Photos of you on your Harley won’t help you connect with learner drivers or sell any lessons.
If you have a blog or you are thinking of contributing here make sure your updates are consistent. Once a week or every fortnight is a good level, anything less and your readers will lose interest and fade away.
Unless you are planning on regularly making changes to your website then avoid using things that will become dated. This includes ‘fancy’ designs and functions. When these become dated your service will seem out of touch. Try and keep it clean, simple and basic with a focus on utility.
For those of you already using Low Price Lessons to sell driving lessons check your rating and your dashboard stats to see where you can make little improvements to your search ranking and help keep your profile as relevant as possible.
5. Use innovative marketing techniques;
There are lots of free ‘off-line’ marketing tools capable of driving sales on-line that any serious business owner should be taking advantage of. Log on to Low Price Lessons and download our free marketing tools. Here you will find all sorts of things from widgets and buttons to attractive and effective flyers easily customisable with your logo for libraries, supermarkets, local shops and coffee shops, post offices and anywhere else your customers spend time. We also have contact info posters and other materials that you can tailor to suit your current branding. This will help you increase your profile and grow your business.
You can personalise our widgets and add them to your own website or blog. If you want to making some ‘quick wins’ then log on to the site and make good use of our free features to reach more customers.
You may use this article as a disposable guide, implement the ideas and go back to your normal operations, and that’s okay but you will get much more back if your commit to updating your sales techniques to include a web strategy. You may have some really great ideas in which case add them below.
What else would you add? How are you increasing sales for your driving instructor business?
However you approach selling your lessons I wish you lots of success in 2010.
Jamie Curran - Senior Account Manager
Jamie has extensive experience in sales, currently he works with Low Price Lessons where his enthusiasm and energy goes towards helping ADIs sell more driving lessons. Before this he worked with multinational organisations in the finance and retail. With a Masters Degree from Edinburgh University and previous experience launching his own company he is a valued member of the team here at Low Price Lessons.com
This makes selling more driving lessons a harder task than ever before. With the relentless hike in fuel prices and the extreme weather conditions, making a decent wage is getting harder than ever before. This article will show you 5 simple strategies to put in place to make sure you are best placed to increase your on-line sales.
There are some ADIs doing very well. I have spoken to literally hundreds of instructors like you in the last 6 months. Some are fully booked with students coming out of their ears, chuckling to themselves every time a booking notification comes through on their shiny new iphone, wondering where to fit another student in and still get those 3 weeks in Cyprus...
If this is doesn't sound like you, read on for some tips that will help you reach more customers, fill your diary, shift some of those less popular slots and improve you brand especially online - even more important now that the core target market you will be selling to have lived with the internet their entire lives.
Selling Driving Lessons and improving your ability to do this online is a continuous process rather than a one of event. Services like Low Price Lessons make the whole process a lot simpler but that doesn’t help to keep one foot on the train. Many of us (including me) can disagree on what particular action to take when coming up with a strategy for the web, pointing to different business values or older more traditional routes to sales, but whatever your approach there is always room for improvement. I am going to offer the top 5 actions to take for any business looking to increase sales. And by "business" I mean anything from an Indie ADI to a national School of Motoring.
Oh, and please feel free to reblog this wherever. Just be kind and link back to the original article.
5 top tips to Help you Sell More Driving Lessons
1. Listening always comes first;
Ask questions your current students questions. Take 5 minutes at the end of each lesson to ask the student if they feel as though it was a better than average or similar. Ask them which lesson was they enjoyed the most and why. Always listen for ways that you can improve your service to increase recommendations and positive referrals. Ask your students to go to Low Price Lessons and leave you a positive review. There is even a “Tell your friends” function where they can tell their peer group they passed their test and how good an instructor you are via email, Facebook, Twitter and more. Make sure they do it as soon as they pass when they are most grateful and likely to recommend.
Finding customers just by listening is entirely possible. Read up on what learners are asking instructors on-line before they book their lessons and be ready with the answers. Learners may want to take some lessons with their parents first and later discover they would prefer a local instructor, you can be top of the list if you have advised them previously about locations to practice or how to make sure they are insured.
2. Build a profile online;
The key to increasing sales is in identifying where your customers are then delivering your message. Much of the decision making process is done on-line and if you are not reaching out here then you are haemorrhaging customers to your competition.
Engaging with people on the internet is really quite easy if you follow these simple rules; be polite, open and helpful. At each stage of the buying process a learner has specific priorities, understanding what these are will help you give the most useful advice and will naturally mean they are also more likely to book with you.
Many of us use services like Facebook and Twitter, Driving Instructor forums and Youtube ourselves, we know the utility of these applications. Turn that utility into a useful business proposition with Low Price Lessons,com all you have to do is sign up to the service and it starts taking care of this side of the business for you. Our large community of learners are already comparing local ADIs and booking lessons online. Low Price Lessons: Instructor is where you go to sign up so that pupils are able to approach you, discover your USP and book your lessons online. For more information Watch our handy video (also hosted on our You Tube Channel along with other instructional videos from ADIs just like you).
Of course your competitors will use LowPriceLessons too just make sure you keep you profile and offer up to date.
3. Organise your diary so that popular slots are free;
Quite often new students will request lessons at similar times. This is particularly true online and quite normal if most of your learners are of a particular demographic. Once a student books lessons with you move them to a time which is beneficial for both of you. This way when new customers enquire you will be available on the dates they prefer giving you a huge advantage when they make their final decision on which instructor to learn with.
Staying on top of your diary and organising your lessons is a crucial aspect to selling more lessons. Look at least 6 weeks ahead when adding new students. Make sure that gaps in your day are plugged either by moving students or reducing the price of your lessons for those slots. Ideally you will be looking 8 weeks into your diary when taking bookings or making little changes to your prices.
Use applications like Google calendar and link it to the diary in your mobile phone so that your changes are updated wherever you are without having to scramble for a pen.
4. Spend time updating your business, keep your image fresh;
I don’t mean go out and buy a new car every 6 months, I am talking about simple changes. This is a dynamic industry; keeping apace of all the changes will make you seem like a very competent instructor from the outset. Update photos of yourself, your car and your business showing the weather as it is now. If it is snowing outside right now and you have recent photos showing you with a newly qualified driver in a snowy area then put them front of house so learners can see themselves learning with you. Photos of you on your Harley won’t help you connect with learner drivers or sell any lessons.
If you have a blog or you are thinking of contributing here make sure your updates are consistent. Once a week or every fortnight is a good level, anything less and your readers will lose interest and fade away.
Unless you are planning on regularly making changes to your website then avoid using things that will become dated. This includes ‘fancy’ designs and functions. When these become dated your service will seem out of touch. Try and keep it clean, simple and basic with a focus on utility.
For those of you already using Low Price Lessons to sell driving lessons check your rating and your dashboard stats to see where you can make little improvements to your search ranking and help keep your profile as relevant as possible.
5. Use innovative marketing techniques;
There are lots of free ‘off-line’ marketing tools capable of driving sales on-line that any serious business owner should be taking advantage of. Log on to Low Price Lessons and download our free marketing tools. Here you will find all sorts of things from widgets and buttons to attractive and effective flyers easily customisable with your logo for libraries, supermarkets, local shops and coffee shops, post offices and anywhere else your customers spend time. We also have contact info posters and other materials that you can tailor to suit your current branding. This will help you increase your profile and grow your business.
You can personalise our widgets and add them to your own website or blog. If you want to making some ‘quick wins’ then log on to the site and make good use of our free features to reach more customers.
Promotional code for 3 free months is: “HEADSTART”
-----You may use this article as a disposable guide, implement the ideas and go back to your normal operations, and that’s okay but you will get much more back if your commit to updating your sales techniques to include a web strategy. You may have some really great ideas in which case add them below.
What else would you add? How are you increasing sales for your driving instructor business?
However you approach selling your lessons I wish you lots of success in 2010.
Jamie Curran - Senior Account Manager
Jamie has extensive experience in sales, currently he works with Low Price Lessons where his enthusiasm and energy goes towards helping ADIs sell more driving lessons. Before this he worked with multinational organisations in the finance and retail. With a Masters Degree from Edinburgh University and previous experience launching his own company he is a valued member of the team here at Low Price Lessons.com
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