Wednesday 30 July 2008

Enough Work for Driving Instructors?

I really don't know if there's enough work for all of us ADIs at the moment. The fact is - no-one else does either!

Oh the joy of it!

There are lots of posts on the forums at the moment:
http://www.drivertrainingtoday.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,32850.0.html
http://www.adiforum.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1217356506
http://www.adiforum.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1216972910

...and we can never get any agreement.

The fact is, if you expect to just be a driving instructor in this business, you're gonna come a cropper.

Being a franchisee is the nearest to having a job that you can get, but it's the kind of job where your boss can send you home with no pay whenever he likes! Have a look at the last link to see what happens when an instructor trusts to BSM or AA to find them work - it simply doesn't happen unless you do it yourself!

Going independent is not easy, but the fact is that you will be in control of your career. You will live or die (metaphorically I hope) by your business skills.

You will need to:

  • Advertise effectively (websites usually work the best, shelling out £500 to Yell is possibly the worst)
  • Answer the calls that come from the adverts effectively (you can't do this if you're out on a lesson, but a good answerphone message can help to get leads)
  • Convert enquiries into sales (if you're not a natural sales person, employ someone who is, or find out how to do it without feeling like a nasty slimy creep)
  • Ensure your customers are so impressed with you that they tell their friends (reminding them to sometimes helps, or offering incentives for them to can help!)

Once you've done all of these if you can't make it then you need to get out.

There are enough customers for all the ADIs and PDIs out there - unfortunately 95% of instructors are fighting for 35% of the customers.

Think about how you find people.

Find cheap ways to get noticed.

Make sure your service is second to none.

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