Posts Tagged ‘Retention Tool’

Simple Steps To Increase Retention While Making Your Job More Rewarding

Showing students (and parents) that you care can go a long way toward keeping them around for the long haul.

You may not realize this, but retention is a whole lot easier when you invest time in letting your students know that you care about them, both personally and as martial arts students.

Sure, you care about your students… but do they know it?

Let me be the first to admit that martial arts instructors tend to not be the most sensitive people in the world.

Admit it – you probably don’t often express your feelings toward others, and usually just expect that your feelings are “understood.”

Well, unless you’re teaching jedi knights and X-men (mind-readers, in case you’re not a sci-fi junkie like me), chances are good that no one in your school is quite sure whether or not you really care about them – personally, or otherwise.

And, even if you don’t find it difficult to express that you care about other people, you may not even be communicating it in a way they can understand. Often, people have different ways of showing and interpreting appreciation (as any married couple can attest).

So, finding ways to make certain you get the message across to your students is a prerequisite to having good relationships with your students.

Don’t Sweat It – It’s Easier Than You May Think

Communicating that you care about your students really isn’t all that difficult or complex. All it takes is a little awareness and a few extra minutes invested each day in communicating with your students.

Here are a few simple action steps you can take to make sure your students (and parents) know that you are personally invested in their well-being: Read the rest of this entry »

A Simple, Effective Strategy

Mat chats are one of the easiest, most effective ways to increase retention and customer satisfaction in your school among your children’s classes. I’ve been doing them for over fifteen years, and I have consistently experienced greater retention and improved parent feedback in classes where I do regular mat chats. The great thing is, they take very little time to prepare, and when done properly I am positive you’ll find them to be a rewarding addition to your programs.

How to Do a Martial Arts Mat Chat

When to Do Them The best time to do a mat-chat is at the end of your kid’s classes, right before your “fun drill” time. This serves two purposes:

1. It serves as the best time to teach kids life lessons, because they will still be in “focus mode” from their regular class time;
2. It allows parents who may just be stopping in to pick up their child to hear what you’re teaching their children.

Most parents would never know about Read the rest of this entry »