Business Building Blog

Member Education: An Important Key to the Success of Your Business – Allie Alberigo

  

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With the inevitable attrition of members, we need to always and forever be on a path of discovery – meaning we need to be looking for and finding new students, and securing and retaining our existing students. One of the easiest and most effective ways to strengthen retention is by making an effort to educate your members.
  
A member who is uneducated in what you do is a lost member or a soon-to-be-lost member of your school. I will use Member Solutions as a prime example of how to do it right.

Other billing companies collect money. So does Member Solutions. But the real question is “Who does it better?” If you are a client of Member Solutions’ full-service billing, you know the true value of Member Solutions’ customer service and payment processing ― and know the answer to that question.

The other question is “Does Member Solutions just provide billing and servicing?” The answer … “No.” They provide dozens of best-practice resources through their online client community and consulting services, they host an annual Business Bootcamp, and they provide many other business-building solutions to make your business and life much easier.

You need to ask yourself if you are doing enough to educate your members about your programs, services, staff and school. Do they know why you are so good for them, and why their money is being well spent, so that if and when “crunch time” comes, you won’t get cut?

Take the time to e-mail, make personal appointments, and work with all students to help them achieve their goals. And remember don’t hesitate to toot your own horn through member education. If you are talking positively about what you do, it is not bragging, it is education.

Considering all that we do and all the times people have said to me that I have changed their lives, I have come to realize it is essential to talk about it. I believe that all school owners should take the time to educate their students and students’ parents on the reasons why the Martial Arts is so special, but most importantly, why you are.

One way of educating your members is through “Did You Know?” statements.

Here are a few examples I wrote and sent to my students:

• Did you know that we are celebrating our 20^th year in business this year?

• Did you know that we have promoted hundreds of Black Belts in the last 20 years?

• Did you know that most of the Black Belts you see teaching started as children or young adults in our program, and that it takes a minimum of five to six years to acquire a Black Belt in my school?

• Did you know that Sensei Frank Olmeda is a fourth-degree Black Belt and holds the title of Renshi and has been training for over 20 years with Kyoshi Allie?

You get the point, right? The goal here is to educate your members about the important things going on within our schools. If you don’t let them know, then how will they find out? Not all of them have the time or desire to become investigative reporters and researchers. Just because it’s on your website doesn’t mean they’ve combed through your site and know all that you do. Simply put, they only know what you tell them.

You can also use the “Did You Know?” method to pre-frame your members for special events and seminars. This is a good, subtle way to market future events, and create a welcoming, exciting culture within your school.

The more you communicate, the better it is for both you and your members. Believe it or not, there are so many things that they do not know about you, and will never know unless you tell them.

Heck, half of them don’t even know how hard your task is and many hours you work. If they did, many would treat you differently. There is nothing wrong with educating them. Member education is a critical step to strengthening member retention and building your business.
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Allie Alberigo has over 44 years of Martial Arts experience, and over 30 years as a professional full-time instructor and owner of Long Island Ninjutsu Centers, in Long Island, New York. Allie also heads the Martial Arts industry’s first step-by-step approach to consulting, www.TakingItToTheNextLevel.com. E-mail kyoshi@lininja.com for a copy of Allie’s free report on educating clients. Warning: You will be added to Allie’s email list and continue to receive amazing resources.

Now it’s Your Turn!
How have you educated your members about your business programs, services and staff?