Since I changed my driving school car lease to the Toyota Yaris, I have been having a lot of vafourable comments from students who have really been enjoying their driving lessons in this cute little japanese car.
The 1.0 engine in the Toyota yaris is very economical on fuel a big bonus for instructors, but this does have the downside of meaning that it takes time to build up speed on dual carriageways so you need to persist in making progress during the test so the dsa examiner does not mark you down for hesitation.
The other comment other learner drivers make is how smooth the gears and general driving is in the car, which is reflected in how easily they can carry out driving test maneuvers they've been struggling with (especially after a little injection of advice from myself).
It looks like I made the right decision in changing from a ford focus to the yaris when I leased my car from Driving Instructor centre, as the increase in business is surely welcome in this current credit crunch climate.
Monday, 23 November 2009
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Driving Instructor Recommendations
Driving instructor recommendations from former pupils is a great way of getting new learner drivers for your driving school, however it doesn't always work to your advantage for a couple of reasons.
It can take time for recommendations to start getting to you, either because the person who passed the test doesn't encounter anyone who needs your services, or the person interested keeps putting off learning to drive.
Your learner driver could move areas from where he/she learnt to drive with you as their driving instructor and thus the people might live in an area you do not cover or is too far to be economically viable for you to undertake.
Prices might not be right for the potential client. While the person you taught to drive might have been happy paying £20 per hour of tuition, the recommended client might be looking for cheaper driving lessons, and might call hoping to haggle and bring down the price either due to student status or the current credit crunch.
For all these reasons, a newly qualified instructor will need to do more than rely on pupil recommendations or referals to keep their business running, considering other means of marketing, and I still think that you can't go wrong with a properly setup driving school website, because it will bring the right sort of people to you and generate enquiries that will more likely convert into a sale.
It is no use for someone looking for driving lessons in hampstead northwest london, being recommended to you when you are based in Clapton, E5. Your website will spell out all the information a potential client needs, and if they give you a call after going through all the details, then it will usually be a case of the price being right. Remember that business marketing should be part of your normal operating procedures, and is an important life line to keep you running.
It can take time for recommendations to start getting to you, either because the person who passed the test doesn't encounter anyone who needs your services, or the person interested keeps putting off learning to drive.
Your learner driver could move areas from where he/she learnt to drive with you as their driving instructor and thus the people might live in an area you do not cover or is too far to be economically viable for you to undertake.
Prices might not be right for the potential client. While the person you taught to drive might have been happy paying £20 per hour of tuition, the recommended client might be looking for cheaper driving lessons, and might call hoping to haggle and bring down the price either due to student status or the current credit crunch.
For all these reasons, a newly qualified instructor will need to do more than rely on pupil recommendations or referals to keep their business running, considering other means of marketing, and I still think that you can't go wrong with a properly setup driving school website, because it will bring the right sort of people to you and generate enquiries that will more likely convert into a sale.
It is no use for someone looking for driving lessons in hampstead northwest london, being recommended to you when you are based in Clapton, E5. Your website will spell out all the information a potential client needs, and if they give you a call after going through all the details, then it will usually be a case of the price being right. Remember that business marketing should be part of your normal operating procedures, and is an important life line to keep you running.
Thursday, 5 November 2009
Driving Schools in Winter
It is almost winter time here in the UK, and it is the time of the year when driving school businesses start to struggle due to the normal down turn in the number of people taking driving lessons as they divert their money towards christmas presents and take time off to travel with family and friends.
This is however a time when the instructor or business owner should use to work a bit more on their driving school marketing efforts not only inorder to get more learner drivers at this time of the year, but also to strengthen the position of the franchise in preparation for the new year when all those 'I want a full driving licence resolutions' take place.
If you don't already have a driving instructor website, then take the oppourtunity to start one, it doesn't cost a lot to create and start one especially if you do it yourself, and by the time winter is over, you could start reaping the benefits of the online advertising that a website will do marketing your services.
If you have a website, then use any extra time you have in promoting it, by spending time on learner driver forums answering questions about the test, maneuvers, making sure that your profile and signature include you website url. Remember the forums will be there for a long time and will serve as a constant referal for you especially if you are very helpful to those that need help passing the DSA practical driving test.
Other ways of marketing yourself during winter could be parking your car outside colleges of learning and education, and handing out your business cards (it is not going to be very effective, but if your card has a website address on it, then you might get more viitors, and maybe a new client or two. It is better than sitting at home with your car in the driveway doing nothing and hoping that someone will call looking for driving lessons.
Personally, I don't believe in leaflet drops, but if you have any advertising material at home that is gathering dust, then you might as well go round the local streets dropping them through post boxes, you never know you might post it at the right time for someone.
Whatever other things you can think of to market your driving school services, then by all means do it (encouraging your current clients to refer you to their friends can be effective especially if you give them a free lesson in return for block bookings or after a minimum lessons from their friends), but if you are thinking of advertising in newspapers, other websites, don't believe what the sales people tell you, consult other local instructors and ask their opinions, not only costs but more importantly results of the campaign, as there is no point in spending money on any non effective marketing resources.
Additional Reading
The new BSM driving school car AKA the Bubble.
Learning to drive - Roundabouts
Reverse Maneuvers on the Test
cheap BSM lessons.
This is however a time when the instructor or business owner should use to work a bit more on their driving school marketing efforts not only inorder to get more learner drivers at this time of the year, but also to strengthen the position of the franchise in preparation for the new year when all those 'I want a full driving licence resolutions' take place.
If you don't already have a driving instructor website, then take the oppourtunity to start one, it doesn't cost a lot to create and start one especially if you do it yourself, and by the time winter is over, you could start reaping the benefits of the online advertising that a website will do marketing your services.
If you have a website, then use any extra time you have in promoting it, by spending time on learner driver forums answering questions about the test, maneuvers, making sure that your profile and signature include you website url. Remember the forums will be there for a long time and will serve as a constant referal for you especially if you are very helpful to those that need help passing the DSA practical driving test.
Other ways of marketing yourself during winter could be parking your car outside colleges of learning and education, and handing out your business cards (it is not going to be very effective, but if your card has a website address on it, then you might get more viitors, and maybe a new client or two. It is better than sitting at home with your car in the driveway doing nothing and hoping that someone will call looking for driving lessons.
Personally, I don't believe in leaflet drops, but if you have any advertising material at home that is gathering dust, then you might as well go round the local streets dropping them through post boxes, you never know you might post it at the right time for someone.
Whatever other things you can think of to market your driving school services, then by all means do it (encouraging your current clients to refer you to their friends can be effective especially if you give them a free lesson in return for block bookings or after a minimum lessons from their friends), but if you are thinking of advertising in newspapers, other websites, don't believe what the sales people tell you, consult other local instructors and ask their opinions, not only costs but more importantly results of the campaign, as there is no point in spending money on any non effective marketing resources.
Additional Reading
The new BSM driving school car AKA the Bubble.
Learning to drive - Roundabouts
Reverse Maneuvers on the Test
cheap BSM lessons.
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