How many driving schools in your area use automatics? If very few, then why not have some of that action? What car do they use? Is it large and old? If so, you could consider investing in a small, newer car. Use magnetic signs to advertise boldly on the front and rear that you are providing ‘AUTOMATIC’ driving lessons. On your manual car place magnetic signs stating ‘DRIVING LESSONS IN AUTOMATIC CAR ALSO AVAILABLE’. Having two cars can also be a cost-effective way of managing the family transport problem. While the ADI is using one car, the partner can be using the other. Bear in mind that teaching in both automatics and manuals takes a bit of organising. You do not want to spend your day having constantly to return to base to swap cars between driving lessons. Although you will try to organise your diary carefully – having separate days for each vehicle – this is not always possible, so be warned!
Earlier in the article we touched on the subject of driving lesson fees. In the beginning, you will need to find out (covertly) what your main competitors are charging. This is easy if they have a website. Remember that, when you receive inquiries, the usual opening question from potential clients will probably be: ‘How much are your driving lessons?’ This is only natural. If you want to buy a product you need to know the price. But unlike customers in other walks of life the people you talk to on the telephone will quite often be amazingly ignorant of what they are buying. You have to convince them that there is more to driving lessons than just the price. Try to sell yourself and your product first before answering their question about costs at the very end. Tell them that they will usually get what they pay for. They should be cautious of instructors who are charging low fees and can fit customers in at any time. They should be wary of instructors who will not answer questions about their pass rate. They should be wary of instructors who will not answer questions about how many faults their clients receive on average when they do pass. You should tell them what this suggests about these instructors. Why do some schools have special offers? You should inform inquirers that they should also be careful of offers of free lessons. They should do the maths (number of lessons with an indifferent instructor times the cost per hour times the likely number of hours they will need/receive) and work out if this deal is as good as it sounds. You should also point out (especially if you are talking to a parent or guardian) that teaching someone to drive is more than just about training someone to jump through hoops on a driving test. One in five drivers are involved in accidents in the first year after passing that test. Investing in good driving instruction will help set the pupil up for a lifetime of safe driving.
Inquirers should compare like with like. Tell them that instructors’ standards of instruction vary enormously. If after all this they say that they will phone you back, it probably means they are still after the cheapest. Be big about it. Tell them that shopping around is good but to remember all that you have said: the cheapest is not necessarily the best or the quickest. Therefore the cheapest is not necessarily the cheapest! A driving instructor may ‘string out’ the driving lessons and if they have a poor pass rate, you may well fail once, twice or more. This then becomes expensive with another test plus more lessons. So, the cheapest instructor may cost you far more in the end. Try not to lose them! Ask if they would like a brochure sent. If you have a website and they can access your information there, give them your website address before they ring off. Tell them that, once they have rung around other driving schools, you will be pleased to answer any further questions if they ring back. Offering Intensive courses Not all instructors like or want to give intensive courses. Intensive courses usually mean you will have a customer, say, for about three to four hours each day for a week, or a compromise would be two hours, two or three times a week over several weeks. Some inquirers have often not taken or passed their theory test (when you ask about this), so the pressure to book an early lesson may not be great. By the time they have purchased and read the books, practised the hazard awareness CD and booked their test, three or four weeks may have passed.
To save wasted time and expense, ask them if they have a valid driving licence and can read a car number plate 20.5m away. If they have a licence but have not passed their theory test, then preparing for both tests can be done simultaneously. You can then spread their driving lessons further apart without any inconvenience. Once approaching driving test standard and the theory test has been passed then, with your approval, they can book their practical test online, checking daily for any earlier dates. We suggest that, based on their current standard and the number of driving lessons pre-booked, you should give them a date from which they can book their test. However, for those who have passed their theory and who are looking to pass the practical test as soon as possible, you will need to consult your diary, along with their availability, and try to match the two together. You must consider what will happen to those regular customers of yours who usually have their driving lessons at a specific time each week. But if your present customers are flexible about their lesson times, then this should not be a problem.
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Note: This article was sent to us by: Brandon R. Dewitt at 01172010
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