How do you keep enrollment up?

[Holland]

It depends...

I mean, I run a school with about 150 members on the active roster. I charge very little though (40 dollars a student as opposed to the 80 dollar average in my area.)

If you charge 100 dollars a student and have 30 students...each one you lose really hurts...but if you have 100 students paying thirty bucks each it does not hurt as much.

I offer family discounts as well .. its forty for one student, 55 for two, 65 for three and ten for each additional. While this seems to be throwing away money, what I have found is that family units that take karate with me stick with it. If one student gets discouraged then the others in the family keep them going. This is especially true in my adult class.

Admittedly though, my philosophy is not to make money at karate. I charge enough to cover my building costs (I have a 4000 square foot building leased) and I can keep the lights on. I teach because I love what I do.

I also vary workouts a lot. I am a high school P.E. teacher and there are nights where our warm up is a game of dodgeball. We laugh and joke and I try not to have a superiority complex just because I am senior in training.

[Sibylla]

Jeffrey: To keep the adult I think it's the same as with the beginners, but just more. You have to know them enough to cater to some of their needs, especially if they have trained for a while. Far from all adults are mainly rank driven, they may be interested in competition, judging, instructing, organizing events, demoteams etc. If all they are left with is mediocre (?) exercise and rank, maybe they'll reach a point where they look at other options. For instance local gyms or other dojo that are more in line with their interests and needs, and not to forget their busy time schedule.

One club I trained in managed to lose about every adult that wasn't an instructor (including me), and all they offered was basically the same lesson over and over plus some (dubious) low rank. Just a little bit of work in regards of gradings, education of instructors etc could have turned it around. It was a shame because there certainly was people who were capable of doing that work in the club, but the leadership didn't want any changes.

[Lupin1]

I think in this economy the key is just to offer a lot for the money. Offer several classes a week, make every class unique, have social events where people can hang out outside of class to help them connect to the school better and make it their social circle (hooking people socially can be a big motivater for them to stay), hold special events every so often-- a tournament or an in-school competition or weekend "karate retreat" intensive program, etc. Just give a lot of options to keep things fresh and exciting-- at least one special event every month or so. If people feel like they're getting a really good deal for the money they're paying, they'll stay.

[ninjanurse]

Adults seem to have bigger confidence issues than kids so you have to tread lightly sometimes....finding the balance can be tricky. You have to make classes challenging yet not beyond their reach and expect more of them than they think. Encouragement for a job well done-rather than patronizing them-is far more beneficial to retention than empty praise.

[sensei8]

but the leadership didn't want any changes.

A well known business axiom dictates....Change or die!

But, what must change in order for that martial arts school to maintain and/or increase ones enrollment, especially in todays economic downturn where doors are still closing faster than lightning?

So...what must change? You? OR Your business model? OR Both? I believe that one must want to succeed! Another well known business axiom dictates...Actions speak louder than words! Change is hard to implement and even harder to sustain. If changing yourself is hard, how can you change an entire business or organization or process or department?

The ability to change, while remaining focused, is an integral part of maintaining and/or increasing student enrollment and business 101. Business is a game, and those who play the game the best, win!

[JohnASE]

... an environment that isn't very homogenous is easier to "fit into" than for instance joining a club filled with white middle aged men. If your group of students is homogenous to start with, it takes more leadership to make it open for other people. A "boys club" going to the pub and patting themselves on the back, is only inculsive to some.

This is a tough one to make happen, but it's a good point. I know of a dojo like this. All men. Various nationalities, but many foreign born. Not all middle-aged, but I don't think they have any young men. All have trained together for many years. It's only natural for a new person to feel excluded, especially if it's a woman or kid. If such a dojo wants new blood, they'd have to make a special effort to make newbies feel comfortable.

How do you attract the Adults or better yet how do you keep them? The Head Sensei is always trying to figure out ways to keep people. Like Sibylla mentioned as members we have all tried to get to know the new people by name and help/encourage them learn and have fun. Is the work out to tough and then get discouraged? I’m not sure. Any advice is good and I can pass it on.

I hope people have suggestions for you, but can you find out from the people who quit, either before or after? If the former students will honestly let you know why they quit, that'd be your best source. It might be hard to talk to them, so maybe you can get some info before they leave. Since many leave within the first month, maybe talk to new students after a couple weeks, and see what they say? What do they like and not like about the school? Are their expectations being met? What were their expectations? This is just a thought I had. Anyone have any experience with this or other thoughts?

[DWx]

How do you attract the Adults or better yet how do you keep them? The Head Sensei is always trying to figure out ways to keep people. Like Sibylla mentioned as members we have all tried to get to know the new people by name and help/encourage them learn and have fun. Is the work out to tough and then get discouraged? I’m not sure. Any advice is good and I can pass it on.

I hope people have suggestions for you, but can you find out from the people who quit, either before or after? If the former students will honestly let you know why they quit, that'd be your best source. It might be hard to talk to them, so maybe you can get some info before they leave. Since many leave within the first month, maybe talk to new students after a couple weeks, and see what they say? What do they like and not like about the school? Are their expectations being met? What were their expectations? This is just a thought I had. Anyone have any experience with this or other thoughts?

Think this brings up another point, in order to get feedback before (or even after they quit, I think instructors and higher grades / long times have to be approachable. I quit going to my uni TKD club because it wasn't really meeting my expectations but mainly because I felt I couldn't ask the instructor to discuss it or help it meet them.

[jaedeshi]

Economically, things are tough right now. Many schools are having trouble maintaining a stable student base. To help each other out, what would you say was the single most important thing your school has done to either keep the students you have or to gain new students, and what was its affect?

Is it a Bring-A-Buddy day? Black belt club program? Contracts? The head instructor teaches every class? Karate parties? Weapon seminars? Participating in tournaments? What works best for you?

I say what has helped the most is continually searching for new students and responding promptly to inquiries about the school.

What always worked is finding out what the student is looking for out their training and suppling the type of training that will help achieve their goal.

[mr_obvious]

....You always see a large group of white and yellow belts and than fewer orange and fewer still of the green, blue and maybe one or two brown belts. I’m pretty sure this is like most cases in other Dojo’s.

The biggest challenge is the adult class. It seems that we get 4-6 new white belts and by the end of 1st month there is maybe 1-2 still there. Sort of depressing sometimes....

I suppose it varies by location...and age. In my area, the trend indicates a continual supply of "kid business" and (turnover). Not so much market for adults, or beginners at least. Majority of schools in my area are comprised vastly of low-rank kids, and advanced-rank adults. Not much in-between. Maybe the MMA advent has drawn the beginner adult crowd away, I dunno.....

How do you attract the Adults or better yet how do you keep them? The Head Sensei is always trying to figure out ways to keep people....

Just my $0.02 as an "adult consumer" of martial arts training schools. Opinions, observations and conjecture, perhaps, based on what I've seen and experienced through the years:

1) Tap into the parent market. All those big people waiting for the little people's class to end, are potential students themselves. Maybe offer a parent's trial night / lesson once per quarter....

2) Don't combine adults and small kids classes. Even if one market is far smaller than the other; training methods *DO* differ, even if the end material is the same. Except....

3) Offer an occasional "family night" where parents and their children can train together. Not to be substituted for #2.

4) Be a teacher, first and foremost. Don't let business, or administrative stuff become a burden. A great example is today's automated billing and check-in systems (that sound alarms and flash lights if a non-auto-payer is late, lol). Not having to remind your entire student base, monthly, that you're running a business....removes a distraction.

5) Don't be a salesman. If you offer other, specialized classes (private lessons....knitting, underwater basket weaving, whatever), passively advertise only. Sales pitches, in this economy.....especially while "on the clock" with existing clientele, has a high-potential for bad perception.

6) Depending on how "intimate" a particular school is, maybe set aside a few minutes before / after class for open discussion. Perhaps freely advertise / welcome students to chat after class, in-private, about any concerns....

7) Happy people, students, prospectives, etcetera....are a good thing! Foster this atmosphere

Again, this is from the keyboard of a martial arts student-consumer. At my point along the path, I neither aspire to, nor am working towards any sort of "Senseidom." So take it, as-it-is.

[bushido_man96]

Not bad ideas at all, mr. obvious.