9 Ways to Show You Care

September 30, 2009 by Ryan Wheaton
Filed under Retention

This site isn’t all about recruiting new students… its also about keeping the ones you have. In fact, this is just as important, if not more important, than being able to bring new students in.

If more are leaving out the back door than those entering in the front door, you need to buckle down and work on retention. An often overlooked way to retain students and way to create a loyal following is to show you care.

I love the statement “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”In fact, this quote inspired this post.

Here are 9 ways to show you care to help you retain more students:

Truly appreciate your students. Get to know them well… what they do… where they work…their kids names… spouses name… even the dog’s name.
Call your students once and a while. Some instructors do this every week, some every month or once a quarter. The purpose of the call should be to pump them up and to tell them how well they’re doing in class and that you’re glad they train with you.
Send birthday cards. I know, you’ve heard this a million times. However, that’s because its a great personal touch.
Call, email or text when students don’t show. I do this all the time it really helps get people back into the studio.
Give a surprise gift. Buy gift cards to restaurants, movie theaters or coffee shops and then give this to them whenever they just accomplished something big. You could even give a gift certificate to your pro shop or a tshirt.
Send them a custom video just for them. If you have a computer with a built in camera, this is pretty simple. Then upload to YouTube then send it via email. This could be a simple thank you or an encouragement video.
Hold a student appreciation cookout with a free seminar. This can also a good time to get testimonials along with photos and video clips. Tell people to bring their friends and family who might be interested in lessons.
Take a candid photo with your student then print it out and print a personalized message on it. You can hand these out before or after class as well as drop it in the mail to them.
Send them a thank you card. I know this has been said a million times. However, if you’re not doing it then it’s time to take action. You can just have your logo on the front and leave the inside blank. This way you can keep the cards versatile.

The secondary benefit of doing this consistently is that it can also get you new students. This can be a great way to start some good word of mouth buzz that gets you new students once people know you really care.

The most important thing is that no matter what approach you take is that you must genuinely care in order for people to know you really care. It’s not about just going through the motions.

What are some of your favorite ways to show your appreciation to your martial arts students?

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Tags: retention