A Lost Student Creates New Opportunities
When a student drops out of your music studio it’s an opportunity to make a final positive impression. I wanted to share two stories that happened to me recently that are making me think about how to handle departing students. The takeaway is understanding the importance of making customers feel like you are more invested in the well-being of their child than making or losing a sale. I suspect that the more invested we are in our students well being the more sales we’ll make!
Story #1 The Overscheduled Child
A customer dropped lessons because she was worried about her child being over-scheduled. She said she would consider returning in a few months. I told her I supported her decision and made no further effort to try and change her mind. When I got off the phone I searched the internet for articles about overscheduled children and found this.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/whats-conflicted-parent-scheduling-childs-summer/
I made a note on my calendar to contact her in a couple of weeks. I wrote “I just read this article online and thought of our previous conversation a few weeks ago. I hope you find this information to be helpful”. The student is no longer a customer at my studio but they can still be a source of referrals. The extra effort I made was minimal but the impact was substantial. The parent seemed genuinely appreciative of this gesture. This particular parent has another child who’s is currently too young to attend lessons. That extra effort of customer care hopefully left her with an even more positive feeling about my studio.
Story #2 Dragging Your Child to Music Lessons
A customer was considering dropping out because she had to “drag her daughter to lessons each week”. The girl’s mother raved about our studio and was so disappointed her daughter was resisting. I sided with the child and said that music education should be a fun and therapeutic experience. I suggested that she take a break and see if her daughter wants to return to lessons when she’s a little older. After the call I googled “why you shouldn’t force your child to music lessons” and found this.
I made a note in my calendar to contact the parent 2 weeks later. I emailed her “I ran across this and thought of our conversation,”
Both stories were about minimal effort and maximum impact. Those little efforts to wow people make them want to share their story with others. A little effort does go a long way.
Dave Simon is the founder of Dave Simon’s Music Enterprise and Dave Simon’s Rock School in St. Louis, MO. DSME offers creative music programs that have helped music schools around the world expand their demographic and increase their profits.
