I need more learner drivers

If as a driving instructor you really need more learner drivers to fill up your diary and help you to continue to earn a living, I fully understand especially after the recent return of the value added tax (VAT) to 17.5%. Apart from increased petrol costs which I've already mentioned, I had a direct debit for my driving school car leasing fee go through today, and it has increased by quite a few pounds over last month's!

So where or how do you get more learner drivers to come to you, and it doesn't matter if you hold a franchise with a national, local driving school or an independent operation, if you want more provisional licence holders to train to pass the DSA driving test and get a full British licence, the following advice should be of use.



1. Work longer hours! I don't work on sundays for personal and family reasons, only work till about 1pm on saturdays and finish during the week by 7pm (I do work late one evening though). If I needed more pupils as an instructor, I could easily add a few more by working longer hours, and most of the people I will be taking on will be employed people who can't take lessons during the day or early evening so are likely to be regulars who will also be willing to pay a decent fee for high quality tuition.

2. Go and find the learner drivers! You might think this is hard, but it is easier than you think. Most people learning to drive or preparing for the practical driving test will visit online forums to get tips or ask for help. Find one or two of these driver forums, register, create an account and spend about 45 minutes to 1 hour helping answer any queries regarding the driving test, learning to drive or performing manuovers. Make sure the forum alllows you to have a signature appended to your answers, this should contain your name, driving school name, phone number, and if allowed a link to your website. If you consistently do this for 6 months, you will surprised by the number of students you might get. Don't expect results if you don't post every day or only do it for a month, it takes time to build a reputation. I used this method to build my own business when I started and I can tell you it worked, but obviously took time, don't expect instant results.

3. Get yourself a driving school website. In this day and age, any business that doesn't have a website is losing out, in fact 90% of my current learner drivers come to me via my very informative online website, the rest via referals, etc.
If you use the advice given in step 2 above, and can also include a link to your website, then you might see results earlier than just using the first 2 only.

Remember your school website should offer something unique to the visitor, so use your local knowledge to great advantage and provide vaulable tips to all DSA test candidates. Promote your website via email, business cards, facebook, myspace and tell your current learner drivers to point their friends to your website even if they already have an instructor or don't live in your area of operation.

There are other ways to promote your business and get more learner drivers, and I hope that you are willing to put in the work and effort that is needed to succeed.