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Preparing for your first contact with the new client
You should be well prepared when potential clients contact you by telephone. They will not want to be kept waiting on the telephone as you scrabble around making apologetic noises. Not only will this be annoying for them but they will also be receiving signs of an unprofessional and disorganised office. These potential clients may start worrying that they are ringing the wrong driving school before your sales pitch has even started. Having equipment ready to hand To avoid this situation make sure that you have the following items available: Pens and pad. A telephone response form. This form is, in effect, a list of questions that you ask the client. By the time you have worked down the list you should know all the relevant information about your client. Make sure that the first two questions cover their name and telephone number. If the caller then runs out of telephone credits you can call them back before they have chance to cool off or change their mind. Up-to-date information about the costs of your driving lessons and any current discounts. Your diary and a calendar. Up-to-date information about test fees. The DSA’s website and address and the telephone numbers for theory test applications. The theory test postal application form to include with your brochure. Some clients will not have credit/debit cards, so they may need to apply by post. Theory and practical test forms should be available at the DSA test centre.
Up-to-date information about the driving licence (foreign drivers, ages, special provisions for holders of a full motorcycle licence, etc.). A local street map and area map for out-of-town callers.
Diary calculations
If you are a successful driving school and follow the advice in this article, you may not be able to take on new clients straightaway. You will quite often have a full diary and may need to delay taking on new clients for several weeks. As clients pass their tests, places will become available. If your new client is prepared to wait they will want a definite start date for the future. If this calculation is done on the back of an envelope, it can become a nightmare. The consequences of getting it wrong and ending up with more clients than you can deal with are a potentially serious problem.
Using a spreadsheet
One of the best ways of calculating client movements is by using a spreadsheet. Information about clients’ names, test dates, number of hours each client has done, joining dates of new clients, telephone numbers – in fact, any information you like – can be added to the spreadsheet. This data can then be colour coded for clarity. Very importantly, the spreadsheet should also calculate how many hours you will be working each week. If you want to use the Driving School Pro spreadsheet, we suggest you download it and then create a shortcut to it on your desktop so that it can be quickly called up when necessary. If you have never used spreadsheets before do not be put off - you will find they are very easy to use. Download the spreadsheet to your PC, open it and then save it under a different name. Once you have done this you can experiment with this saved version. Find out what it does, how to enter information, how to organise the information and all the other useful functions that spreadsheets carry out with ease. When you have finished with this copy you can delete it because you will still have the original untouched version to use in the office.
When clients telephone, click on to the shortcut to view the spreadsheet. You may even inform your client that you are doing this to explain the short delay. This will give a reassuring impression of a busy but organised office. A glance at the spreadsheet will tell you all you need to know and will enable you to give your client a future start date.