Simpedia

Ruth P., North Carolina

I’ve discouraged a student because I felt it wasn’t a good fit. She’d been reading a long time and wanted to continue with that (she’s an older lady) so I sent her to my friend who is a traditional teacher and it worked out great! I’ve also fired a student who was being so negative.

Robin Keehn, Washington

Hi Ian, certainly having taught SM for 20 years, I have said no to certain students. Maybe, more accurately, they have said no to my requirements. Requiring that parents attend with their students has meant some walk away. Requiring that they supervise practice means some walk away.

Requiring automatic payments has had some walk away.

My goal is to lay it all out at the FIS so they know what it’s going to take and make the commitment or walk away.
When I first started teaching, I didn’t make the requirements crystal clear at my free introductory sessions. People, especially parents didn’t understand the level of their commitment and so we get two or three months into lessons, and they would quit. That was so difficult in many ways

Back in the day, we would routinely enroll 100% of the people that came to an FIS and then lose 20 to 30% of them within the first three months

After we got very clear about our requirements and explained them at the FIS, our enrollment dropped to 67% but those students were excellent with parents who were fully onboard and stayed for an average of 6-10 years.

Unmani Meera, Australia

I pretty well always ask what in particular made them choose this method and and how did they find me in particular. The first helps me see if they will be coachable and the second helps me work out if they are just comparing fee costs. It all helps to build a picture of suitability or not.

Gabrielle Krieger, Iowa

Yes, yes, yes and going forward…yes lol.

I’m with Robin. No to requirements means no lessons because I can’t do my job. From what I can glean from your questions, I’m guessing There’s got to be something bothering you about them that’s making you feel that way…whether it’s obvious or unsaid and your instinct.

At our studio we have specific questions we ask during our FIS or phone call intake form. If you form those questions right, people will tell you right away how serious they are. One you could ask is “what are your reasons for wanting lessons for you or your child”…pretty much makes your inquiry an open book. I think if you work backwards from the families you love vs problem families you will find a great questions list and you SHOULD use it. (Side note; I don’t know why in this industry people love to waste our time, so don’t let them)

As long as we maintain our high inquiry rate, we are at a place as a studio where we’ll be using workshops to assess potential students and their coachability. If I think they’re great off the bat (the exceptionally wonderful families) I would allow that step to skip. The bottom line is it goes both ways in terms of seeking out a good fit. If this is a three way relationship, I don’t see why we can’t seek out partnerships that bring us joy. It’s honestly really important as music instructors for loving what we do and making our work worthwhile.

There’s the thinking mind and our emotions, however I truly believe that instinct is a third way of determining people’s motives that when paired with the other two. Utilizing the former and your “gut” is very crucial in our industry. Heck, half of our job is psychology and Neil isn’t kidding about that. He’s absolutely right when he says “you’d be surprised how many people don’t want to be let go”. Look at the mile high club…Something about exclusivity makes people want to be in it.

Sorry to ramble. Just don’t be afraid to set your standards high!

Stephen R., California

Red flags are 1. too much urgency and/or 2. an overbooked schedule even if they are really interested. I wouldn’t want a new student running the show regarding pacing since us teachers really know this program!