Economic Climate and Driving Instructors

As we all know the current economic climate is affecting many businesses, including it seems driving instructors. Since the economy started to falter last year we have heard a lot about business becoming quiet and some are struggling to survive the downturn  in the economy. But how does this affect the driving instructor?

With unemployment still rising, albeit at a slower rate than it has been, this means that there are far fewer people taking driving lessons. A recent report shows that 20% of under 25’s are currently unemployed, and this, as I’m sure you are only too aware, represents a very large percentage of the people who usually learn to drive in the UK.

And if this was not bad enough, if you consider that even people who are in work may have less disposable income to spend on driving lessons, then this certainly means bad times for driving instructors and the industry.
So what can you do to survive these testing times?

Well below are some tips from my personal experience which you may find useful.

Offer Promotions

Promotions, whether it be reduced lessons or discounted blocks are a good way to entice new custom. People are always after a bargain and even more so when the economy is suffering and so are people’s personal finances.

Giving reduced lesson rates and remaining competitive within your local market is very important. A word or warning however, it is also very important not to enter in to a bidding war or under sell your skills. If you have a high pass rate or generally are a good instructor, meaning that people take fewer lessons with you than with other instructors, then you are probably right to charge a higher lesson rate than someone with a poor pass rate.

The trick is to convey this to potential pupils enquiring by phone or email etc.

Focus Your Marketing

It is more important than ever to market your services in the correct areas. Are you reaching people that want to learn to drive and also have the disposable income? Is your marketing producing poor, if any results? Could you offer a discount to people out of work?

Marketing is a large topic for discussion and an article in itself, but a little investigation and thought in to this area could help you focus your marketing to produce better results during this time and afterwards as well.

Convert More Enquiries

An easy way to gain more pupils is to convert more of the enquiries you receive in to paying pupils. Not only that but to keep them on your pupil list. When you receive and enquiry by email or telephone, are you being as helpful as you possibly can? Are you trying to sell yourself and your school in order to get that potential pupil booked in for a lesson?

Taking a look at some simple sales techniques could make you more efficient at converting enquiries in to paying pupils. It is also of the utmost importance to keep new pupils by building a rapport, but also by making each pupil feel like they are learning something new from every lesson.

Some unscrupulous instructors believe that by stringing their pupils along for longer will make them more money. However people are not as naive as you may think, by doing this you are less likely to get referrals from previous pupils and less likely to spread you reputation by word of mouth.

Join free services

This one is very important. Why not join a free service, like a pupil finding service? It’s free and could get you some more business right? A good example of this is a pupil finding or matching service whereby you can sign up to receive pupil enquiries in your area.

Some may charge a fee per month, although some will have no monthly or weekly subscriptions. Prices for these services will obviously vary and there could be hidden catches so make sure there are none before signing up. Check out Fast Pass Driving School Pupil Matching Service as an example where you pay only per pupil and there is no regular fee to pay. Also you need only accept pupils when you need them.

A key to this kind of service is communication between instructor and service provider as a good relationship here will ensure pupils when you really need them.

Another advantage of being part of a service like this is that you are part of a larger company. This gives, some people think, a more professional look but not only that you will have access to other services such as insurance schemes, discounts and advice.

Websites

Websites are a complex subject and can cost a small fortune, but if you already have one then make sure it is optimised effectively. You will more than likely have to pay for this, but be warned there are some cowboys out there in this field.

My advice is not to listen to Internet Marketing Experts who promise no.1 on Google etc. There are no guarantees! Also social networking sites and forums are free to join and might just gain you a few extra pupils if you are chatty and helpful to friends and followers. As an example; Facebook has 22 million users in the UK of which over 25% are aged 18-24 years of age. This could be a substantial audience to tap in to, if done correctly. So start singing up for social network accounts now.

Fast Pass can offer proffessional websites based on one of our templates for very little money. We also offer an internet marketing package that can help promote your site on Google. With a little time and effort maybe you could appear on the first page?

So there you have it a few simple cost effective ways that may just help you survive the economic downturn and help your business reputation in the process.

I am no expert but a few hours looking at how you could improve your marketing and selling techniques could make the difference between working for yourself, or going back to being a franchised instructor.