The Kai said:
Questions I have wrestled with -how hard to try to get someone to join (if they need to be talked into will they make a decent student). If a student lapses how many tmes to call? (again if you beg him back will he respect the protocall?)
Service is about providing the students with what they expect and perhaps a little more. My "service" is to provide an extraordinary class for a fair price. I then go beyond that by offering reasonable seminars, family events such as picnics, occassional movies out, "free" gifts (for achieving advanced rank), etc. I want the students to feel like this is a "family" rather than a gym.
I personally won't try hard to get someone to join. I offer very reasonable rates and an introductory class, so they can see what they're in for. Most of the companies stress that the "selling" is on the floor in the intro class. The official "sign up" is only a formality. If you have to really work at getting people to sign, then there's something that needs to be addressed in the introduction class.
As to how many times I call, most of my students are adults, so I won't call very much. I might call if I haven't seem them in a few weeks, just to make sure everything is all right, but after that I won't "bug" them. I usually send out emails to my current and ex-students, so anyone leaving will still be hearing from and about us if they desire to return. My only other contact is to try to figure out why they wanted to discontinue training; I want to try to "close the back door" rather than beg them to return. If they're leaving, there's something I'm not doing right.
OC Kid: Handing out flyers to promote the change and even having class at your house will not by itself erode the protocol. Just do it professionally and everything will work out. You can talk to them about it, promote it as a great move ahead. Think of it as just moving the school. When you teach at your house, make it as formal as possible, lest the next thing you know they're raiding your fridge.
Make a specific workout area, make specific times for them to be there (if they're late it works into that time), don't let them just hang around way before or after class. Treat it like going to a job so that they don't invade your personal time.
I personally avoid having students at my house (maybe students that I've known for years or someone I'm mentoring) because I want them to see me as their teacher, not their buddy.
WhiteBirch
