England Grassroots Sports Guidance
As many of you will know England Grassroots Sports Guidance has been recently updated and now provides indications and rules for the re-introduction of contact from as early as March 29th based on a Sport England approved plan from NGBs, Associations or Franchisors.
COVID-19 WINTER PLAN FOR MARTIAL ARTS INSTRUCTORS
Exercise
Tier 1 & 2: All can train to ensure you follow strict social distancing protocols
Tier 3: Only Under 18s, elite athletes and disabled people can continue. We understand that adults are excluded based on this “Group exercise activities and sports indoors should not take place, unless with household or bubble. Organised activities for elite athletes, under 18s and disabled people can continue”
This is also backed up by point 58. c. which states “in the very highest tier, indoor group exercise (including sports) will be restricted to people from the same household or bubble”
Lockdown 2.0 – Retention Ideas
Lockdown is here again in England, as as a Martial Arts school you will be once again limited to online training.
But you can do a lot online, and you are not necessarily limited to your usual training – here are some ideas of things you can do over the next few weeks to keep your students entertained, engaged and invested in training at you club.
Lockdown 2.0 What you need to know?
there was lots of attention brought to The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 4) Regulations 2020 documentation which potentially implied that there could be a way for Martial Arts Schools to remain open. Needless to say, both ourselves and our Clients were very excited about the possibility. However having read through all 32 pages, we were extremely disappointed to summarize that unfortunately, the exemptions did not relate our industry. The guidance that has been highlighted as potentially indicating you can stay open is Part 4:
What are the rules for Martial Arts schools
We have built up good momentum over the last few months with students coming back to class and new students joining. Martial Arts schools have worked hard to become covid compliant and to follow the rules and guidelines set forth by the government.
With the rules becoming more and more regionalised and confusing it can be hard to know where you stand.
We have broken down the rules below so you can continue to be compliant.
Rule of 6 and Martial Arts schools – what are the new rules?
With the PMs announcements on the 22nd Sep, specifically regarding team sports and the rule of 6, many schools are wondering how the new guidance affects them. The good news is that we don’t have to lose the momentum built up over these past few months as Martial Arts are not classed as team sports where changes do apply.
5 Things you need to update before you re-open your Martial Arts School.
Keeping up with the pace of the ever-changing digital landscape can be difficult. At the heart of any business is communication and ensuring prospects and current students are up to date and engaged with everything that is happening at your school is a great way to generate leads and retain students.
How Teach Me Kung Fu retain their students
It was a pleasure to have been invited to the Grand Opening of a new venue for Chris and Amanda Saunders of Teach Me Kung Fu Worthing. The guys had never done an open day before so decided to tie in the Grand Venue Opening with an opportunity to sign up new prospects.
GLOSS – The key principles to help reinforce the overall process of greeting prospects
GLOSS stands for: Greeting, Listening, Observing, Showing and Selling. These are the key principles to help reinforce the overall process. Let us look at the intro lesson itself in more detail and how we can apply these principle.
5 ways to attract more Martial Arts students without spending money on advertising
In order to be a successful and growth orientated business you need to attract and retain new students every month. In past blog posts and Facebook posts we’ve spoken about the importance of noise which raises awareness. The majority of Martial Arts schools have the habit of promoting their school and its offering in short bursts when they feel that they need to attract new students. The problem with this strategy is you wont have the consistent awareness that is needed in order to attract monthly interest from students.
5 EASY WAYS TO BUILD YOUR FACEBOOK AUDIENCE
Identifying a target market specific to your school is vital in order to get a higher ROI (return on investment). Facebook offers detailed targeting options that will allow you to narrow the users who are interested in your service or product based on your brand personas.
Wrap Up – What Have We Learned?
Thanks for staying with me right until the end! I hope you’ve seen a positive shift in bookings in the last 3 months We’ve come to the end of our journey! By now you’re an SEO Master and you’re seeing the fruits of your labour as more bookings start to roll in. Hopefully you’re now […]
Improve Your Cashflow With Martial Arts Billing Services
Improve Your Cashflow With Martial Arts Billing Services Using Direct Debit to Pay for Training Really Pays Off… When it comes to any Martial Art, discipline is key, though sometimes it can take a little nudge in the right direction to keep those high kicks high and your reflexes sharp.Clearly it makes perfect sense to […]
Don’t Freeze This Festive Season
Don’t Freeze This Festive Season In last week’s blog we spoke about preparing yourself for a successful 2017, which is all good and well, but what about now!? Not to worry, we certainly haven’t forgot about the present and hopefully you haven’t either! This week we have a few quick tips to help you over […]
4 Tips For a Great Start To 2017
4 Tips For a Great Start To 2017 It’s coming up to the holiday season, which means it’s also not long before one of the busiest times of year for martial arts business owners. The good thing is that you still have plenty of time to get yourself ready and give yourself the best possible […]
5 little things that can make a BIG difference
From a customer’s perspective, it’s the little things that can often make a difference when it comes to their experience with a business. Your martial arts business is no exception to this, so it’s important that you take some time and get those little details right. So, what are some of these ‘little details’ you need to pay attention to?
Your Half Term Preparation…
It’s not long before the kids are going to be breaking up for half term again, giving you chance to get something planned. Last week we spoke about how starting something early can not only be beneficial, but improve your chances of success as well. There is still plenty of time for you to start planning, so what will you do?
Picture This…
Picture This… A young boy of about 8. A quiet, skinny child, he lacks confidence. Confidence that is further undermined by the cruelty of children of a certain age and the boy’s perceived weakness. A boy that could really have used a martial arts class not only to help defend himself from the physical abuse […]
The Road to Success
For the majority of you, you’ll be eagerly awaiting the “back to school” rush and the new students that come with it. Unfortunately it’s not about sitting back and waiting for people to come to you, you need a clear focus on what you need to achieve and a “road map” to guide you to your desired destination.
Schools out for summer
It’s that time of the year again, where the sun finally decides to come out and schools across the UK break up for summer. This usually means lots of people going on holiday and making the most of the weather, and this includes you too. But you also have a martial arts business to run… so do you stay open or close your school over the summer? While we can’t decide this for you, we can help you review your decisions to make sure it’s the best choice for your business.
What’s Your Business Trophy?
During your time and involvement with martial arts, you will have no doubt seen and perhaps even earned your fair share of trophies. These trophies are the way in which people can visually see your hard work and effort being turned into success. But what happens when it comes to people being able to see the hard work and effort you put into your martial arts business?
How to spend your time and your money wisely
How to spend your time and your money wisely
How to manage difficult situations
Let’s be clear here, when we say “difficult situations” we’re really just finding a politically correct way to say “difficult people”. Because difficult situations are pretty much always caused by difficult people! And when we’re confronted with these situations, it really is a fine tuned skill to be able to deal with them in an emotionally and professionally correct manor.
Personal Management Habits We Should All Do
Innovation, business and you
Innovation is a scary word because it makes us think of groundbreaking medical discoveries or futuristic technological breakthroughs that change the way we live forever. But that’s not always the case. Quite simply put, Innovation = making life easier, and this can relate to the tiniest of changes, the one’s you didn’t even think needed […]
Don’t chill out this Winter
As we all know, the winter months are fast approaching. This means that for a lot of Martial Arts Clubs, business will begin to slow down as people are somewhat hesitant to start anything new when the New Year is just around the corner. But that doesn’t mean you should also be slowing down! In […]
Don’t let your Summer Suspensions become your Winter Blues
We see more people heading to local parks for exercise when the weather heats up and I am sure you cannot help but notice that summer is the quietest time for signing up new students. This can be frustrating for those of you running an all year round business. For instance, how many times have […]
Selling memberships to your academy or class
In this week’s blog, Mark looks at some of the key areas involved with converting leads and prospects into students. He has also included some useful advice and tips to help you make sure you are getting the most out of your leads and prospects, along with how to find out if or where you […]
Who’s the Boss?
Who’s the Boss? YOU ARE! Whether it was yesterday or 20 years ago, you made the incredibly brave and exciting decision to become a full-time Instructor. You did what 85% of the UK never had the courage or opportunity to do. You may have slowly evolved into this role or you may have just thrown […]
Why Running a Martial Arts School IS a Picnic!
National Picnic Week runs from the 13th to the 21st of June 2015. I love picnics. Outdoors in the sunshine. With friends, having a bit to eat, chatting, maybe a drink or two. Picnics are relaxed. Picnics are nice. Picnics are easy. Or are they? Sure, going to a picnic someone else has arranged is […]
Seeing Your Academy Through The Customers Eyes
What is it that a new student or possibly a new student’s parents see when they first walk into your beloved academy? Well let me first give you the extreme background of what I walked into when I went boxing every Sunday morning, when I was a teenager. After pulling up behind a scruffy pub […]
Care for your students – care for your martial arts business
It’s a pretty simple concept really; if you care for your customers then the benefits will be reaped by your Martial Arts business. A customer who feels valued and respected by a company is not only likely to keep spending their hard earned money with your business, but they’re also likely to recommend your services […]
Do you make the same excuses as your students?
It’s very frustrating I think you’ll agree when you teach a student who is full of potential and skill and slowly but surely you can see them losing interest, dropping off, not turning up to class. And when you ask them “why aren’t you training?” the common responses are: I don’t have time I’m losing […]
Management Tips – An Eye For Detail
This is my first blog of the New Year and a great time to remind ourselves that selling martial arts lessons and then delivering great classes is just the same as running any other retail or service provider business. An eye for detail is crucial to delivering a consistent experience for the customer/student. January is […]
The Martial Arts School Owners – Naughty and Nice List
By Louisa Turchet, Customer Services Manager Last week, a very astute Instructor asked me “what are the traits of your top Clients”. At first I thought this was a strange question as everyone is different and all Clients run their businesses in different ways. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised […]
2014 Review & Looking Forward To 2015
2014 has certainly been a “game of two halves” as the football commentators say with the first half of the year producing fantastic growth across so many businesses. Some of this growth was lost in the second half, with a disappointing September for some schools. While many will say this is due to good weather, […]
New Year’s Resolutions
Making a New Year’s Resolution is somewhat of a tradition in our country, and the idea of a clean sheet and a fresh start links perfectly with the first day of a New Year. So, what is it that we are resolving to do at the start of the New Year…are we are unhappy with […]
Peaks and Troughs
Seasonal variation is, simply put, the pattern of interest shown by potential students during the year. It’s around this time when we are busy planning for 2015 that we must try to come to terms with this industry-wide issue. The purpose of this message is to ensure that you take action to stimulate increases in […]
Inspirational Leadership In Martial Arts
Over the past two weekends I have had the great pleasure of celebrating success with two very different groups of martial arts organisation – with Andy Norman’s Defence Labs and last Saturday with Leo Maguire’s UKTC Northern Ireland. Both of these groups have underpinned my view that martial arts, whether traditional or specialist self defence, […]
Respect
It is Armistice Day, Remembrance Day or Poppy Day depending on your preference. This year marks the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, and so today as the United Kingdom and Commonwealth remember those who gave their lives in the two World Wars there is an even greater significance to the proceedings. […]
Management Tip – Customer Obsession
As a martial arts school owner you must understand that you are in the business of getting and keeping students if you are to succeed in your ambition of running a great business. The martial arts business can give you the opportunity to have a fantastic lifestyle while doing the activity that you love – […]
Random Acts of Kindness (RAK)
It’s easy to start feeling down about the constant stream of bad news that we are bombarded with when we turn on our Televisions. Easy too to forget about all the good that there is around, and all the positive ways in which people are supporting each other and improving the lives of others. It’s […]
Effectiveness
As a business owner you will be constantly striving to maximise the earning capacity of your enterprise, therefore the productive use of time is of vital importance to you. A simple – yet effective method of getting to grips with your time management is to undertake a review of daily activities. It’s amazing what comes […]
Best Defence – Is No Be There
A very famous line, from a very famous film. But moreover, didn’t Mr Miyagi really hit the nail on the head in the Karate Kid film when he said to Daniel-san “best defence, is no be there” This quote is likely to resonate with most of you, as teachers of Martial Arts you are equipping […]
Parent Power
In the past few weeks, I have been in many meetings with clients discussing retention and specifically the problems surrounding students exiting in the first 0 – 3 months. When we think about retention we obviously have our students at the forefront of our minds, and rightly so. After all if they aren’t enjoying the […]
Renew your commitment to your goals
Here we are at last – September – the best month of the year for the acquisition of new students. Interest from parents in their children’s extracurricular activities, including sport, will be at its highest point as the new academic year starts; and it is imperative that you take advantage of the rising market if […]
The Big Idea
Our civilisation has evolved through the development of ideas and ideals which have guided innovation, best practice and all human endeavours throughout history. The word ‘idea’ stems from the Greek for ‘form’ or ‘the look of things’ rather than the reality, and while we may see this as an intangible thought which could be unique […]
Strengths and Weaknesses
I’ve just finished reading a book which frankly I found refreshing; it was “Strengths Finder 2.0” by Tom Rath. The key point related to the time we all spend trying to fix our weaknesses rather than spending time leveraging the gifts that we have been given – our strengths. We’ve all spent a lifetime listening […]
The Vital Importance of Planning
With many pupils in Scotland due to return to school in the next week or two (followed by the rest of the U.K at the start of September), our attention moves to the most important time of the year for martial arts schools. You are about to reach the key sales opportunity of the year. […]
Customer Centricity…
I was sent an email article from ICMI Call Centre this week, and the headline about customer perceptions of service levels really caught my attention: “Customer satisfaction drops to its lowest point since 2011 and the Government unveils plans to tackle the problem.” The article talks about the rise in customer expectation and the necessity […]
Martial Arts Management Tip – Leadership
As the owner of the business it is your responsibility to develop, manage and run the enterprise and while you will not, and should not, do every task that is required you are accountable for them; as President Harry S Truman was heard to say on many occasions “the buck stops here”, and this applies […]
Create an experience for your customers like no other…
This year we attended our 12th year at the MAIA Martial Arts Super Show in Las Vegas. The show proved a great success once again and we all came away with new ideas, contacts and inspiration for the future. Between us we managed to attend most of the seminars given by extremely successful Academy owners […]
Protecting your martial arts business
I sat through a legal presentation at the Martial Arts Super Show last week; and while we may all have a perception of the USA being, perhaps, the most litigious of all countries it struck me that the lawyer making the presentation was so right when he talked of protecting the martial arts business you […]
Your Tribal Business
For the tenth year we find ourselves in the extraordinarily iconic city of bright lights and slot machines eagerly awaiting the start of the 2014 Martial Arts Super Show. This year the show is being held in the beautiful Venetian hotel where Joy, Louisa, Leanne and I will be attending to bring back golden nuggets […]