The Chicken Suit
Posted on | April 9, 2012 | No Comments
A new restaurant recently opened up a few doors down from our headquarters school. The particular building that the new restaurant is renting has had a string of short lived businesses occupy it, all without any luck. We need another diner in the area and I’m sincerely wishing them the best. The place is moving forward nicely. It has new paint, a new sign and fresh balloons are hung daily. The new owner seems to really be going for it and until today….it was looking good.
This afternoon as I’m driving past the new place I notice a guy in a chicken suit waving at people passing by, inviting them to come give this restaurant a try .Sounds fine, right? Certainly. It would probably be a really good idea…..IF the chicken suit was clean…IF it fit right… IF the guy in the suit actually looked like he wanted to be there. But that was not the case. The suit wasn’t just dirty, it was filthy and well past retirement age. As for the occupant of the suit, I try really hard not to pass judgment but he was noticeably unhappy.
Somehow this one quick snapshot, an unhappy guy in a dirty chicken suit, completely turned me off to wanting to eat at this new restaurant . And I’m probably not the only one who got that feeling. I’m convinced that other people driving by had the same feeling. You see, first impressions are important. They help us to form our opinions and they are often right about things. One little thing can totally change a potential customer’s perspective of you, your service or your product, for the better or for the worse.
I don’t know about you, but as for me, I am going to make sure that all of my chicken suits are clean and then I am going to make sure that only happy people wear them. I gotta go now. I need to make dinner. I was planning to bring the family over to the new restaurant, but for some reason I don’t think we would like it.
You Can Always Do More Than You Think You Can
Posted on | March 2, 2012 | No Comments
You Can Always Do More Than You Think You Can.
I had been letting my body heal up a bit since my marathon and I hadn’t run much in a couple of weeks. I finally started to get back into the routine by going on a 3 mile run around a park by my house. I have been doing this for years now and it is usually pretty easy for me. This day for whatever reason, I was having a real hard time keeping my pace up and at about the 2 mile mark I was seriously contemplating walking. Then, at that very moment, I noticed a runner coming up another trail that would soon merge with the trail I was on. From the looks of it, we were going to collide if both of our paces stayed the same. I was now faced with a choice. Do I slow down and let the other runner get in front of me or do I pick up the pace little bit and get ahead of him? Although I was pretty tired, I decided to speed up a bit (What can I say? I guess I’m just a bit competitive). By the time our trails had joined, I found myself about 10 yards in front of him. He was moving pretty fast but I was determined to keep the lead. Then I thought “What happened to me being tired? Just a moment ago I was contemplating walking and now I’m practically sprinting…and feeling pretty good at that”. Then it hit me, “You can always do more than you think you can”. Sometimes you need a just a bit more motivation.
Now this whole incident has me thinking about other areas of my life where I’m tired and thinking about walking. I realize now that the trick is to find the metaphorical runner behind me and then use that for motivation.
Well I gotta go now. I have a ton a projects that I’m working on and for some reason I have a second wind!
How Many Belt Promotions Have You Done At Your School?
Posted on | February 21, 2012 | No Comments
How many belt promotions have you done at your school? If you’ve been in business for a while, you know the belt promotion drill so well you could probably run a belt promo in your sleep. And that’s the problem. You’re so familiar with doing this, that it’s easy to do it on auto-pilot.
But there are some big benefits from giving every belt promotion your absolute A-game best effort. Here’s why:
1) Parents will be reminded how great your program is: For some parents, belt promotions are the only time they come in. If they see a dazzling belt promotion and if their kid shines at the event, they’ll leave with a strong feeling that your program is great for their child. If they see a lackluster promotion and if their child does just OK, they may begin to feel that it’s time for their child to try something new.
2) Children will be reminded how much they love martial arts: The journey to black belt takes years and inevitably, most kids will get bored or discouraged along the way. Imagine a kid like that. Now imagine what can happen if they are well prepped for their promotion and if the promotion event is brilliantly executed. That child walks on the mat with confidence and performs at a very high level. Everyone in the audience is smiling at them. They feel great! And suddenly they remember how much they love martial arts! Quitting is the last thing on their mind!
3) Guests at the event will want to get in on the fun: Here’s the scene: You’re running your best promotion ever! The kids are sharp. Your staff is at their very best. The event is well paced with just the right mixture of fun, seriousness, showmanship, and top-notch demonstrations. Everyone in the audience is impressed. And you can be sure that many of those in attendance will at least curious to learn more.
The keys to making a huge impression at a belt promotion: You all know how to do a good belt promotion. But if you really want to take it to the next level, here are some things to consider:
1) Get students to pack the school their family and friends. Every promoting student should have at least two people come to see them. The more the better! (OK, it may not be so good if Johnny brings in 30 people, but if you going to have a problem, that’s the best kind to have.) It’s fine if your other students want to come to support the friends they train with, but your goal is to pack your school with people who may like what they see so much that they want to start and/or they can’t wait to tell others how great your program could be for their children. You may want to use simple printed invitations.
2) Before the event, make sure that you school is ready. Imagine that the governor of your state is coming. And your mom. Clean everything! If you use chairs, get them in nice neat rows. If you use a sound system, test the levels to be sure they’re just right. If you have anything on your counter, be sure it’s neat. Neaten every piece of gear. Make your school look as sharp as the day you opened.
3) Before the event, make sure that your students are ready. Be sure they know exactly what they’ll be doing at the event. You don’t want them to feel tentative and nervous. You want them to feel confident and excited, so that they’ll shine. Practice in the class(es) before the event and have them arrive early for a “dress rehearsal” of their parts. This particular “Prep Zone” can play a huge role in the success of your promotion.
4) Before the event, make sure that your staff is ready. Be sure they know exactly what they’ll be doing at the event. Have a quick huddle before you get going to go over your objectives and expectations.
5) Put on a great show! Every great show has a great structure. Here’s an overview of what we do:
- Opening: Welcome everyone and fire up the crowd!
- Demonstration: If you have a demo team, have them do a brief but dazzling routine. If you don’t have a demo team, get some top tier students do the demo.
- Review the benefits of what your students have learned, life skills etc. Ask students questions like what they enjoy most about their training and what benefits they’re getting from their training. (Important – Do a dry run with them before the promotion so you know who gives the best answers.)
- Curriculum review: This should also be short and sweet. Be sure to make your students look great!
- The Promotion: It’s a meaningful ritual. Make it a big deal. A little martial arts mystique adds a lot. Remind them of things like “A Black Belt is a White Belt who never quit” and “While there are sometimes challenges along the way, no one ever regrets earning their Black Belt.”
- Closing and Call to Action: Thank the students and their guests. Wrap up the event with gentle encouragement for anyone to give your program a try. (If everything went as it should, at least half the audience should already be thinking about this.) Let the audience know that if anyone would like to learn more about what we do, to please feel free to ask any of our staff.
- After the formal event, circulate in the crowd. Congratulate students and parents. Smile for pictures! Look for younger siblings who may be ready to start. If anyone looks even slightly interested, ask them if they’ve ever considered training.
There are lots of variations to this, but plan the event with these objectives in mind:
1) You want to bring in a big audience of prospective students (kids, parents, and potential adult students)
2) You want every student that promotes to leave the event more committed than ever to continue their training.
3) You want every parent of your younger students to leave the event more committed than ever to having their kids continue their training.
4) You want everyone in the audience to be enticed to give your program a try.
Written courtesy of Mark Seidman, General Manager of Kovar Systems
Flying Keeps You Humble
Posted on | February 14, 2012 | 1 Comment
I’m pretty sure that I travel enough to qualify me for frequent flyer status. Flying can be quite stressful if you’re not careful and you can learn a lot of life lessons in airports if you look for them. Emotional composure is definitely one of them and when I’m flying, I pride myself in not overreacting to things out of my control, such as late flights, broken planes, lost luggage and middle seats. I often find myself watching in amazement as someone chews out a gate agent because the plane is canceled, or yells at the flight attendant because the plane is delayed. When I observe one of these emotional outbursts, I usually pat myself on the back because I’m so “above” that. Or so I thought.
A while back I was waiting in line to board a plane when the lady ahead of me was asked to condense her three pieces of luggage down to two, as is the law. The lady stormed off, completely indignant, mumbling something inappropriate under her breath. I thought to myself, “There is another outburst. Doesn’t she know that the gate agent is just doing her job? She sure does look silly losing her temper. I would never do something like that.” When it was my turn to show my ticket, the gate agent looked down at my bag and said, “That looks little big. Do you mind checking to see if it will fit in the container over there before you board?” Before I knew it, I found myself storming off in the general direction of the plane, saying to no one in particular that “I travel all the time. I know what I’m doing. Can’t she see that? Of course it will fit. The nerve of some people!!” Then it hit me……”Wow, I just did the same thing that I was passing judgment on just seconds ago. It looks like I have a bit more work to do than I thought. I guess I have a way to go on the emotional composure front after all.”
For me, this minor incident was a major reminder to not pass judgment on others but instead use that same energy to improve myself. And by the way, my bag didn’t fit in the container after all. “That darn gate agent. Doesn’t she know that…” Oops, there I go again.
Happy Travels….
Five Core Beliefs
Posted on | February 7, 2012 | No Comments
I am blessed to be martial arts professional. Although it can be extremely challenging, the rewards are worth every bit of the hard work. In order to have the maximum impact on my students today, I always remember that, first and foremost, I am a martial artist. I strive to be the person that my students think I am.
Next, I remember that I am a teacher and I know that our product IS the classroom. When I step on the mat, I am there to teach and serve.
Finally, I focus on the belief that in order to have the most impact on my students, I must run my school as a business and, therefore, I always focus my efforts first on The Five Core Beliefs.
They are:
1) We are the friendliest place in town
- Visitors are greeted quickly and made to feel important every day
- Instructors eagerly approach students every day
- Senior students are reminded to greet junior students every day
- Through bows, handshakes and polite greetings, respect permeates throughout the school every day
2) We are the cleanliest place in town
- The exterior of the school, and the lobby, mat and bathrooms are spotless all the time
- We maintain a family friendly environment
3) We only teach great classes, never just good classes
- Every class is taught by motivated, enthusiastic and well trained instructors who have the students’ best interest in mind
- Every class is a great workout
- Every class teaches age and rank appropriate curriculum
- Every class teaches quality life skills
- Every class stresses student camaraderie
4) We are excellent at student/parent communication, including:
- Inquiry to enrollment
- Enrolment to Black Belt Club
- Black Belt Club to Black Belt test
- Black Belt and beyond
5) Every day we look for opportunities to recruit new members
- Internally by encouraging family members of existing students to give martial arts a try
- Externally by sharing the benefits of Martial Arts with people outside the school when it is appropriate
I understand that the only way that our school can continue to grow and prosper is through staff development, so every day I treat my team as I want them to treat our students. I help them to grow by giving them ongoing guidance and feedback. I am constantly on the lookout for new talent and I’m not shy about it.
Finally, I understand that different challenges will present themselves to me every day and I will greet them head on, with the knowledge that I will get through them and be better for it.
The Magical Effect of Commitment
Posted on | February 1, 2012 | No Comments
“Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
I love this quote and I was reminded of its truth recently in my training. I am a student of many martial arts disciplines. I don’t claim to be very good at any of them, but I love all of them and I still practice consistently.
One of the disciplines I study is Iaido. It is the art of drawing the sword and is considered the peacetime art of the Samurai. I have been training for about 12 years under Shihan Nishiuchi and tested for my first degree black belt about eight years ago.
Technically, I should have tested for second degree about 6 years ago but, truth be told, I haven’t been that committed to it. My classmates and I have postponed our test numerous times because we felt we weren’t ready or didn’t have the time.
A few weeks ago, Shihan Nishiuchi issued us an ultimatum; take our test or he would quit teaching us. (I’m paraphrasing a bit but that was the general message.) I have to be honest that at first I considered discontinuing my lessons. After all, I am an extremely busy person and the requirements needed to pass this test are pretty extreme. But…….after a bit of thought and a lot of encouragement from my classmates, I decided to go for it. I have sincerely committed to being the best I can be by test time.
Interesting things have happened since I have a recommitted to my Iaido training. All of a sudden, I seem to have the time to practice, my skills are improving and I am sincerely enjoying practicing again. Will I pass my test? I hope so, but with Shihan Nishiuchi you never know what’s going to happen.
Either way though……. lesson learned. I have once again been reminded of the importance of aiming high, training hard, enjoying the process and, most importantly, being committed.
Gotta go now, I have some Iaido practice to get to.
What If Chuck Norris Visited Your School?
Posted on | October 5, 2011 | No Comments
The general manager of Kovar Systems, Mark Seidman, put the following piece together for one of our staff meetings. It is so good that I had to share it with all of my school owner friends.
Imagine for a moment that you just found out that Chuck Norris is in your city shooting some scenes for his next movie. And you’ve just been notified that he would like to visit your school tomorrow to get in a little training after a long day on the set. He knows he can’t be anonymous, but he just wants to get in some training with your advanced adult class. After you verify that this is not a hoax, you spring into action:
- You call your staff together and let everyone know that they need to bring their “A” game. You review your plans for every class to be sure everyone is on the same page and ready.
- You make sure that your school looks as sharp as the day you opened it. Your mats are cleaned. Your bathrooms are spotless. Your office is immaculate. Every sign is perfectly straight. Every piece of gear and furniture is exactly where it is supposed to be. You replace any burnt out light bulbs. Maybe even a candle or two to be sure the place even smells perfect.
- You walk outside and take a good look at your school from the street to be sure that it looks great when he arrives. You pick up every piece of trash within 10 yards of your door. You make sure that your staff has moved their cars so he can get a good parking space.
- You’ve been told that he might get there early, so you make sure that every class that day runs like clockwork.
- To be sure that everything goes perfectly, you make sure to have enough help so that every student in every class feels like today’s class was the best class they’ve taken.
- You pay attention to every detail to be sure everything is perfect. You even remind your staff to have a breath mint before they start each class.
- You get to your school just a little bit earlier than usual to be sure that you can attend to any last minute details.
- Just before the day starts, you remind your staff to make Mr. Norris feel welcome in your school. You remind them not to run at him the moment he walks in, but not wait so long to welcome him that he starts to wonder if anyone knows he’s there. Remind them that since he’s never visited your school, it might take him a few moments to feel comfortable there.
It’s not frantic. You don’t want him to feel that you’re all totally on edge. You want him to get the sense that you’re genuinely happy to see him but at the same time, you maintain a low key confidence that tells him that he has come to the best martial arts school in your city.
So when Mr. Norris walks in, he is completely impressed with you, your staff and your school.
And of course, you know that Mr. Norris isn’t really in your town. And he won’t be training at your school today. But what would happen if you treated every day like the day that a very special guest was coming to your school? How great would your retention be if you put that extra preparation and energy into every class you teach? And what percentage of your prospects would enroll if you made that extra effort to make an exceptional first impression?
Going the extra mile every day isn’t easy, but it will make your school stand out from all the other schools in your city. And it will clearly differentiate your program from all the other after school activities out there.
And it will make your school a very popular place to train for kids, teens, and adults.
Internal Referrals
Posted on | September 22, 2011 | 1 Comment
In my travels and communications with school owners, I frequently get asked what’s the latest and greatest marketing strategy that we’re using in our schools to generate new members. I love hearing that because I believe strongly that it is important to pay attention to what’s going on outside of the dojo. It’s exciting because there are new methods of promoting your school – primarily the Internet – that were unavailable just a few years ago.
With that said, the majority of my students (and probably yours as well) come from the referrals by existing members. We all know how much easier it is to enroll someone when their friend is already in the program. This month, I want to focus on how to maximize your referrals.
To begin with, we need to remember that to get a referral two things have to happen. First off, the student must believe in our program. They need to be a raving fan. No one will referral friend to a program that they view as mediocre. Next, you have to be willing to ask your students for referrals. I am amazed by the fact that, however simple this may seem, many instructors just simply forget to do this or don’t feel comfortable doing it.
Now let’s review a few guidelines that will help you in your quest for referrals. I like to keep the following acronym in mind – ABTR. This stands for “Always Be Thinking Referrals.” When you have this mindset you’ll be surprised at how many referral opportunities will present themselves to you.
Next, make sure to constantly work on developing relationships with parents and students. First, you should do this because it is the right thing to do. Secondly, it makes asking for referrals much easier when you already have a relationship in place. Whenever possible, ask leading questions regarding their experience, “How has your training benefited you / your family / your child, etc.?”
If you get a lukewarm answer, don’t ask for a referral. Instead, find out what the challenge is and then do your best to turn them back into a raving fan. On the other hand, if you get an enthusiastic response then the referral conversation will be much easier.
Here are a couple of referral guidelines to work with:
Ask permission: “Would you mind talking about the possibility of you referring a friend?” Or “Do you have a friend or family member who would benefit from the program?” If yes, then ask, “Great, who would that be? Can I give you a guest pass to share with them?” Finally, make sure to follow up the next time you see them by saying, “By the way, did you ever get a chance to give _______ a guest pass?”
Another important thing to remember is that whenever you find yourself conversing in the stands with parents, make sure to ask them if they have ever been interested in training themselves someday. Make sure not to bug them if they’re not interested in personally training. Instead thank them for their family’s participation in the program. On the other hand, if they say they’re interested but they are not ready to enroll at that moment, just politely ask them for permission to bug them in the future. If they say yes, remind them every now and then that you have a uniform that will fit them perfectly.
If you’ve never had a referral system in place, this concept can seem quite overwhelming. It might seem hard to figure out where to start. An easy way to begin is to simply ask one student or parent a day for a referral. Within a few months you will talk to everyone and then you simply start the process over again.
Finally, remember that although we want to always be thinking referrals, we never want to be too pushy. Soft selling is always a better long-term approach. And we’re all in this for the long haul.
One of the Things I Learned From My Dad
Posted on | September 2, 2011 | 1 Comment
This is a story about leading by example from my book “A Dad’s Toolbox for Better Parenting”
I remember being in line with my father to buy tickets for a movie one time when I was a kid. I was fourteen years old, but I looked about eleven. I mentioned to my father that if he said I was twelve, we could save a couple of bucks off the price of admission (I had a friend whose father did that all the time and it seemed like a logical thing to do). I will never forget what happened next…he looked at me and said, “My honesty is worth a whole lot more than the two dollars I’ll save from lying about your age”.
I still hear those words repeated in my head every time I think about cutting a corner.
How to Get to the Next Level
Posted on | August 17, 2011 | No Comments
This month, I would like to discuss 7 steps that can help you get to the next level in any endeavor. Here are the seven steps and some thoughts for applying them to increase your enrollment:
1) Start by acknowledging and accepting where you are – This is pretty easy when it’s about something that can be quantified like student count. Start with your current enrollment.
2) Know where you want to be – Again, it’s pretty easy to set a goal for increasing your student count. The tricky part is to determine a realistic but reasonably aggressive timeframe in which to set this goal.
3) Believe you can improve your situation. What this means is that you know for sure that you can improve your situation (in this case, add more students), if you focus on it and work hard for it.
4) Take action. This seems so simple and obvious, but it’s amazing how often people won’t change their behavior. If you want better results, you have to take new and more effective actions.
5) Stay the course. Persevere. Don’t give up. Sometimes you need to keep at it for a while before you see the results you’re after.
6) Keep your center. In other words, stay cool. Don’t panic when things get tough. And don’t throw in the towel in frustration.
7) Value your relationships above all. This is and will always be a “people business.” Maintaining great relationships with your students and staff will always help as you set out to increase your enrollment.
That’s the philosophical side. Now with the help of Kovar Systems General Manager, Mark Seidman here’s the practical side:
Know how many inquiries you need to get the enrollments you need to hit your goal. Here’s a simple formula that will tell you how many inquiries you’ll need. Let’s say that you have 102 students and that you want to grow to 150 in one year. That means you need to add exactly four net new students to your enrollment each month.
If you’re starting at 102 students and you want to add four this month, it’s obvious that your goal is to end the month at 106 students. So let’s look at the first month of this growth plan:
1) First, estimate how many students you expect will quit this month. Looking back over your recently history, let’s say that you estimate that 4 of your 102 students will likely quit this month. Before any new students enroll, this will drop you down to 98 students.
2) Next, determine the number of new enrollments you’ll need. With a goal to end the month with 106 students, this means you’ll need to add eight new students to hit your goal. (102 at the beginning of the month – 4 quits + 8 new students = 106 at the end of the month.)
3) Then, determine your inquiry conversion rate. Count the number of inquiries you’ve had in the last few months and then count the number of new students that have enrolled from those inquiries. The formula here is enrollments divided by inquiries = inquiry conversion rate.
4) Finally, divide the number of new students you need to enroll (8) by the inquiry conversion rate (40%) to determine the number of inquiries you’ll need. On a calculator, you would take 8 divided by .4 which would give you 20. This is the number of inquiries you’ll need to achieve your goal of ending the month at 106 students.
This may seem a little complicated, but it all makes sense when you apply it. Remember, you’re starting a month with 102 students and you want to get to 106 by the end of the month. If you generate 20 inquiries and 40% of these enroll, that results in 8 new students. If you then subtract the 4 that you anticipate will quit, you achieve your goal of ending the month with 106 students.
About Dave Kovar
Mr. Kovar has been teaching Martial Arts professionally since 1978. Dave is a multi-style Black Belt who has been committed to ever-improving his Martial Arts skills. He updates this blog to provide tips and insights to martial arts instructors around the country. To learn more, click here.
Where Success Stories Begin
Dave Kovar In Action
- News10 - 50 Rounds to Celebrate 50th Birthday
- KCRA News - Basic Self-Defense Strategies
- Jujitsu Black Belt Test
- CNBC - Child Safety Report
RSS