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How Our Instructor of the Year Went From Struggling Karate School Owner to Successful After-School Operator

by | Offline Marketing & Sales

Setting Expectations for Martial Arts Students Upfront

Authority is highly influenced by emotion.

While your staff and students may intellectually understand that you are the boss and master instructor, they have to feel it, not think it.

It’s the emotional connection that anchors your authority on a deep level.

If there is one powerful moment in your role as a professional martial arts instructor, it’s in the enrollment conference.

While the parents may see you as the master black belt, they usually don’t have an authoritative reverence at this early stage.

The enrollment conference is a seminal moment for you to establish your authority and gain the respect and gratitude of the family you’re dealing with.

Presenting the programs and their cost to parents can be tense at times. Some parents want to negotiate. Others might object to the agreement. Some want a safety net in case their child wants to quit.

While it’s important that you are prepared to overcome any objections, it’s when the bottom line is signed and the initial investment is completed that you have a critical window to demonstrate your authority.

Many owners complete the transaction and gush with statements like, “Awesome. It’s great to have you on board. Johnny, you did an awesome job tonight. High five! Thanks Mrs. Jones it’s great to have Johnny as part of our family. Let me know if I can help with anything.”

Barf.

Who has the role of authority here? Mrs. Jones and her credit card. That was a missed opportunity.

Let’s try again. You would adjust this script to the age and circumstance, but here is an authority template for the enrollment conference.

Mom has just enrolled Johnny into the program.

You, “Johnny. You want to learn Empower Kickboxing, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good. I want you to understand that your mom just enrolled you into a six month program. You are going to learn a lot of great skills and lessons. It’s going to be fun and sometimes it’s going to be hard. That’s the good part because that means you’re learning. So you have to pay attention and practice at home 20-minutes a day when you don’t have class.

Are you going to work hard and practice?”

“Yes sir.”

“I’m glad. Your classes are Monday and Wednesday at 5pm. When are your classes?”

“Monday and Wednesday at 5pm.”

“Good. You’re a smart guy. That means that you have to be ready to come to class by 4:30 on Monday and Wednesdays so that you’re not late. Will you do that?”

“Yes sir.”

“No matter what you are doing, you will be ready by 4:30, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good. The first lesson is integrity. Integrity means that you do what you say you are going to do. You keep your promises. You promise to work hard and be ready for class, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“No matter what you’re doing. Right?”

“Yes sir.”

“Great. We’re going to be so proud of you. Your mom just enrolled you, so please turn to her and say, ‘Thank you mom.”

“Thank you mom.”

“Alright. When someone does something good for you, you always say thank you. That’s called gratitude. What’s it called?”

“Gratitude.”

“Correct. So you’ve learned two important lessons today. Integrity and gratitude. What does integrity mean?

“Keeping your promises.”

“Yes. What does gratitude mean?”

“Saying thank you.”

“You got it! You are going to do great, I can tell already.”

“Remember, your class is…”

“Monday and Wednesday at 5pm.”

“When will you be ready to come to class?”

“4:30pm.”

“You have a good head on your shoulders Johnny. You’re going to be good at this.”

“Because you’ve showed your mom gratitude and you’re going to keep your promises, here is a school t-shirt for you to wear. Every time you put it on, I want you to think of integrity and gratitude. Will you do that?”

“Yes sir.”

“I just gave you a shirt. How do you show gratitude?”

“Thank you sir.”

As taught in the MATA Certification program, it’s also a good idea to let mom know that it’s important that she control what Johnny is doing around 4:30 which is the agreed upon to be ready for class.

If Johnny is playing with his friends or deep in a video game, it’s going to be harder to get him to get ready than if he is cleaning his bedroom or something he’d like to leave to go to class.

Keep in mind that mom is watching this happen before her eyes. What have you done to establish your authority?

  1. You’ve provided her with a language pattern that both her and Johnny understand. This is huge.
  2. You’ve given mom the “integrity” framework to deal with any reluctance to go to class.
  3. You’ve provided her with a strategy to engage Johnny in less fun activities so that going to class is an easy decision.
  4. You’ve laid out when Johnny should get ready for class without complaint.
  5. Before her eyes, you taught her son important lessons with real world examples. No doubt, your authority sky-rocketed in her eyes and in her heart.

Look for places where you can make these kinds of strong emotional connections.

Demonstrate true authority and leadership. That will last much longer than a trite, shallow compliments like “Awesome! Good job.”

This will help your students to understand how and why they are training with the best school.

Tim McCahan is the 2017 Martial Arts Teachers Association Instructor of the Year.

Tim McCahan is the 2017 Martial Arts Teachers Association Instructor of the Year. Tim and his family generate over $400,000 a year running their school in St. Petersburg, FL PART TIME!

Yes. PART TIME! Most school owners grind out 30 – 50 classes a week and barely make rent.

Tim and his family arrive at the school at 2pm and lock up by 6:30pm after teaching just ONE CLASS and they are closed on Saturdays!

Also, while most schools get $100 – $149 per month per student, Tim has 100 families happily paying him $428 per month.

So, how does Tim:

  1. Work less than five hours a day and get Saturdays off?
  2. Generate 3 – 6 times as much tuition as most schools?
  3. Only have to teach one class per weekday?

In 1997, Tim and his wife Debbie made the decision to forego the traditional business model of running a martial arts school. Instead, they became one of the first schools to use a 100% after-school martial arts model.

I know. I know. I know. What does babysitting have to do with martial arts? That’s exactly what I thought back when we profiled Jim in my Martial Arts Professional magazine over a decade ago.

The truth is that after-school martial arts programs are not babysitting because, by law, it can’t be babysitting.

I’m not a mind reader or a psychic, but I bet you a dollar that you already teach a martial arts class after school. Right? Are you getting over $400 a month per student for that class? I didn’t think so.

Read more: Questions to Ask Before Buying into a Martial Arts After-School Program

Do you know why you are not getting that kind of tuition? I’ll tell you. But, I have to warn you. You will never look at your classes or your business the same way again.

Before I tell you, let me add this nugget. When the country goes into a recession, business goes UP for Tim McCahan and after-school programs.

So, are you ready to find out why after-school clients earn 3 – 6 times as much revenue while working part-time with weekends off while teaching just one class per day?

The answer is that to families, after-school martial arts is a necessity whereas your standard evening martial arts classes are a luxury. That’s it.

Kids have to be somewhere after school. The hours between 3 and 6pm are the danger zone. Right now, you already have students that are attending daycare because parents have to work. The parents place the children in the daycare or after-school care out of NECESSITY!

To be clear, Tim’s school is NOT daycare. It’s a structured alternative to daycare that follows the after-school system. After-school kids take a martial arts class every day. They progress in rank and even earn their black belts, just like a regular school.

To be sure, there are some important systems and protocol that TASMA schools have to adhere to, but that’s where after-school has been so successful. All MATA after-school clients are coached on how to remain compliant with state laws.

So congratulations to Tim McCahan on being named the 2017 MATA Instructor of the Year. Along with the advisory board and all of the MATA members, we are impressed with the amazing business you’ve created and greatly appreciate your coaching to help other owners have similar success with the after-school system.

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