The ALS Lesson Sheets.

Originally developed by my training manager to aid those candidates in our instructor training program to follow the structure of the DVSA’s client centred learning format. We then discovered that the ALS record sheets we were also an extremely good tool for our qualified instructors to stay on course and ensure they were fully prepared for their Standards Checks.

The ALS sheets now play a major part in our quality assurance program and are fundamental to our unique 9 Star Guarantee that provide our unique selling proposition.

You will be able to download a copy ready to edit for your own use.

Video Running Time

11 Minutes 34 Seconds

The Document is in Word format so you can edit and make bespoke for your own needs.

Click Here To Download

The Quality Assurance Letter.

Rise above your competition and offer industry leading quality assurance.

Impress your pupils and their parents by asking for feedback on your or your franchisees performance and nip any issues in the bud before they hit the social media sites or make a complaint.

The letter also plays a massive part in protecting your local reputation.

Video Running Time

6 Minutes 13 Seconds

The Document is in Word format so you can edit and make bespoke for your own needs.

Click Here To Download

2020 Franchisee Score Cards

Manage your franchises performance by asking for feedback from your pupils and nip any issues in the bud before they are posted to Social media of you receive a complaint.

It’s so important as the Driving School owner that you are aware of what is going on in the car and that you manage your reputation.

Video Running Time

15 Minutes 39 Seconds

The Document is in Word format so you can edit and make bespoke for your own needs.

Click Here To Download

2020 – 9 Star Guarantee

We introduced a far more descriptive version of our guarantee on 1st October 2019 and highlighted the 9 points where we would offer a refund. This has now become the 9 Star Guarantee and has replaced the Try us and See Deal.

Initially this may seem a bit risky but when you check out the ALS lesson sheets, Quality Assurance Letter and the Instructor Score cards and gain an understanding how it all comes together, you will see the potential.

Many pupils and their parents think that all instructors are the same and unless you give a compelling reason for them to choose you, many of them will buy on price and you will be just one of many providers in your local area competing without a Unique Selling Proposition.

Video Running Time

8 Minutes 40 Seconds

The Document is in Word format so you can edit and make bespoke for your own needs.

Click Here To Download

Zero Tolerance Cancellations

In June 2016 we introduced a zero-tolerance cancellation policy and although we had some reservations about how it would affect customer retention, we had no need to be concerned as its one of the best policies we have ever introduced.

We all know that lesson cancellations are rife within the industry and whether you have 1-2 a year or 1 – 2 a week, it’s all lost income that is totally unnecessary and affects your bottom line and profit.

Let’s explore the middle ground and assume that you had 1 x 2-hour lessons a week cancelled during 2017 over a period of 48 working weeks. You may have had more or less!

That’s 96 hours of your valuable time – LOST.

Let’s assume a lesson rate of £26 per hour = Lost income of £2496.

Quick exercise, go check your diary records for 2017 and add up the cancelled lessons and then multiply by your hourly rate.

Don’t dismiss lessons that were cancelled and then rescheduled later in the week, because unless you charged for both, you still lost the time that was chargeable.

Personally. I don’t want to lose a single penny if it can be avoided.

17 years in the industry and I have heard it all. Pupils are very good at providing excuses, even ingenious at times and far too many ADI’s fall for it! Now even if your pupil is completely genuine and you feel sorry for them, it’s still lost income that cannot be replaced.

Over the years, I have tried many different solutions, from giving one or two warnings to simply absorbing the cost, but our current policy works a dream and I just wished that I had implemented much sooner.

I do think that some ADI’s are more like social workers than driving instructors and I get that, but it should also be remembered that as a self-employed person, you are a business owner first and instructor, second.

I will give you a real good example from a few months ago.

A pupil’s parent called the office after she was informed by her instructor that she would be charged for a late cancellation. She explained to me that she thought the charge was very harsh as her son had injured himself playing rugby and he would be unable to drive. She also explained that she had given 37 hours notification to her instructor.

My reply:

I am really sorry that your son injured himself and I do sympathise and completely understand that he was not able to drive. However, you were sent our terms and conditions when you made the booking and it does clearly state that ALL lessons cancelled within 48 hours of the lessons start time would be charged in full.

I appreciate that you gave the instructor 37 hours’ notice, but our terms do state 48 hours and even if you had given 47 ½ hours’ notice, the charge would still apply, as that is what we agreed. Had you been able to give 48 ½ notice, no charge would be made.

We had a highly trained driving instructor, with a very expensive training vehicle scheduled to pick your son up at arranged time. It’s unlikely that we were able to re-book at such short notice and therefore without a charge, he would have lost 2 hours income. As the driving school owner, I have the responsibility of several instructor’s livelihoods and that’s why I require a policy in place to help protect their income. Would it be fair for my instructor to lose income that he would be unable to replace for no fault of his own?

Her reply:

I hadn’t thought of it like that and I do see your point.

Did she cancel her lessons with us, no and in fact we earnt her respect for having a clear and concise policy in place and adhering to it.

This is just one example and I have taken around 3-4 similar calls in two years (thousands of lessons)

This membership is all about ADI Business Success and it’s my aim to maximise your income through tried and tested business practices that we use on a daily basis in our own school.

Cancellation policy implementation:

This is so easy to implement, and should you decide it would be a good policy for your business, it can be done in less than a day.

1. You need to send your terms and conditions to the customer when they make the booking. (They do not need to be signed at this stage) I would recommend sending in the post (along with your GDPR privacy policy if you have one) Sending by email has no guarantee that they will receive or read, and you may then have a dispute to deal with.

2. Download a copy of our own terms and conditions below that can be edited to reflect your own business practices.

3. You will need to adopt a pre-pay lesson policy to ensure this procedure works.

4. Have a separate terms and conditions with a signature field to be completed during the first lessons (assuming they turn up)

Notes!

Sending your terms in advance will cater for those individuals that book lessons and fail to turn up. Assuming they have pre-paid, you simply deduct from their funds on account.

If they are paying on the day – you have probably lost your income.

Leaving a note to pay double on the next lesson rarely works as now they are paying double and if they fail to show again. You have now lost more valuable income.

Having a separate copy of your terms to be signed in the car, will just help confirm your policies.

Many ADI’s are understandably focused on lesson prices and rightly so but for every 2 hours that you lose, will be £52 off your weekly income!

*assuming an hourly rate of £26.

Be sure to visit the Pre-Pay Policy page – LINK

You may also wish to visit the Pricing Strategy Page – LINK

Pre-Pay Lesson Strategy

Let’s explore the middle ground and assume that you had 1 x 2-hour lessons a week cancelled during 2017 over a period of 48 working weeks. You may have had more or less!

That’s 96 hours of your valuable time – LOST.

Let’s assume a lesson rate of £26 per hour = Lost income of £2496.

Quick exercise, go check your diary records for 2017 and add up the cancelled lessons and then multiply by your hourly rate.

Don’t dismiss lessons that were cancelled and then rescheduled later in the week, because unless you charged for both, you still lost the time that was chargeable.

Personally. I don’t want to lose a single penny if it can be avoided.

I will give you a real good example from a few months ago.

My reply:

Her reply:

I hadn’t thought of it like that and I do see your point.

Did she cancel her lessons with us, no and in fact we earnt her respect for having a clear and concise policy in place and adhering to it.

This is just one example and I have taken around 3-4 similar calls in two years (thousands of lessons)

This membership is all about ADI Business Success and it’s my aim to maximise your income through tried and tested business practices that we use on a daily basis in our own school.

Cancellation policy implementation:

This is so easy to implement, and should you decide it would be a good policy for your business, it can be done in less than a day.

2. Download a copy of our own terms and conditions below that can be edited to reflect your own business practices.

3. You will need to adopt a pre-pay lesson policy to ensure this procedure works.

4. Have a separate terms and conditions with a signature field to be completed during the first lessons (assuming they turn up)

Notes!

Sending your terms in advance will cater for those individuals that book lessons and fail to turn up. Assuming they have pre-paid, you simply deduct from their funds on account.

If they are paying on the day – you have probably lost your income.

Leaving a note to pay double on the next lesson rarely works as now they are paying double and if they fail to show again. You have now lost more valuable income.

Having a separate copy of your terms to be signed in the car, will just help confirm your policies.

Many ADI’s are understandably focused on lesson prices and rightly so but for every 2 hours that you lose, will be £52 off your weekly income!

*assuming an hourly rate of £26.

Be sure to visit the Pre-Pay Policy page – LINK

You may also wish to visit the Pricing Strategy Page – LINK

Have a Pricing Strategy,Not Just a Pricing List!

Having a pricing strategy and not just a pricing page has proved extremely successful for our own driving school for the past eleven years.

The overwhelming number of ADI’s and driving schools offer a variety of lesson pricing options and you may think this is a standard requirement and makes perfect sense!

But is it?

Let’s explore:

You promote your core lesson price; let’s just say it’s £26.00 per hour. (The amount you charge is not the issue here, it’s how you package your services)

A lot will depend on where your lesson inquiries have come from.

1. The inquiry is a telephone referral from someone that has recommended you.

2. The inquiry is from the contact number on your vehicle.

3. The inquiry is from a directory.

4. The inquiry is from your website.

5. The inquiry is from Facebook.

6. The inquiry is from your Google Maps listing

7. The inquiry is from a Google PPC Ad

OK, let’s start with number 1.

The inquiry is a referral from someone that has recommended you.

The fact that the telephone inquiry is coming from a recommendation is hugely powerful as they will have probably made the conscious decision to book with you before they make the call. They will often know your prices and will have had some information from the referrer.

In most cases, providing you can accommodate their availability in to your diary, they will make the booking. This is the best kind or inquiry as they are pre-sold, and it’s been the traditional way of generating inquiries in the driving school industry for many years. Many ADI’s still rely on this method today and keep their diaries fairly full, with some even having waiting lists.

The main problem with over reliance on this method comes when the phone stops ringing or rings less frequently. So why would this happen?

* A competitor that teaches to the same group of friends and is offering cheaper lessons may start to attract a larger number of recommendations.

*We enter a general economic downturn (we are long overdue) and new pupil becomes more sparse

* Suddenly having to rely on marketing is a problem because it takes time to establish

* Switching on some form of paid advertising will rely heavily on where you are sending visitors too and the message they receive when they get there.

Numbers 2&3.

2.The inquiry is from the contact number on your vehicle.

3.The inquiry is from a directory.

People making inquiries from these sources will know very little about the services and prices you offer and will almost certainly make a decision based on the price you charge.

If you are one of the cheapest in town, this could be good for you.

Number 4/5/6/7.

Inquiries from your website, Facebook, Google Maps or a Google PPC ad.

The amount of inquiries from these various sources will depend on TWO major factors:

How often your brand/business shows up in the local searches and your USP (unique selling point)

So, if we assume that your business shows up, what content will encourage them to call?

This is where the vast majority of ADI & driving school marketing fall short as they will mostly show a picture of a tuition vehicle, give your qualifications, explain that you cater for nervous pupils and even lead with pass plus. More websites are now featuring customer testimonials, but they often lack the in-depth content that will actually help sell your lessons and that’s assuming visitors actually click to read them.

THIS IS WHERE A PRICING STRATEGY BECOMES VITAL.

You have the task of persuading your visitors why they should pay your prices when they could purchase lessons far cheaper elsewhere!

Be aware at this stage, they generally do not care about you, your grade, your experience or your car and they also think all driving instructors are the same.

The majority of prospective pupils and alarmingly, their parents do not care about safe driving for life and what they are often seeking is the cheapest way to pass their tests!

Your marketing should lead with good quality customer reviews (Refer to the customer review module) to provide social proof and the on-line version of the traditional testimonials mentioned above along with a compelling offer and guarantee as your USP.

What follows is the pricing strategy that we have used with great success in our own driving school since 20017.

Set a good core lesson price, we will use £26.00 in this example but charge whatever you feel is correct. (This is about the actual strategy, not the example lesson price)

Your core lesson price will depend on the perceived value you wish to portray.

You are so convinced that your prospect will love the tuition you offer that not only will you give them a viable discount to try and see, you will also offer them a refund guarantee if they are not delighted with the service and tuition you offer.

So, you offer them a “Try Us and See” deal, where they can quite literally Try You and See over a 10-hour period at a discounted rate and unless they are completely satisfied with both your service and tuition, you will offer them a refund.

(10 hours are the optimum time to build a rapport and retain your pupils)

You now have the opportunity to “sell yourself” over a ten-hour period rather than a one or two-hour lesson before the initial deal ends.

We never offer FREE lessons as Free has a very low perceived value and attracts a high proportion of time wasters. Even buy one get one free tends to be the same.

When the trial period ends, the price reverts back to your core lesson price (£26.00)

Many ADI’s have the mis-conception that offering a refund will cost them huge amounts of money! But not if you do it correctly.

Have a business brand and clear identity

In my opinion as a businessman and marketer, one of the most cost effective strategies you can implement is your LOCAL BRANDING.

You and Your vehicle are 24/7 advertisements to promote your services in the local area.

* A headboard stands out far more than any livery when a tuition vehicle is approaching you. Having the School name big and bold is a major plus.

(The new aerodynamic roof boxes might look quite cool BUT the completely miss the point)

* Full livery on your vehicle will make sure eveyone knows who you are and more importantly how to find you.

* Personal branding on your clothing looks professional and often starts a conversation.

For full details, please download the PDF below.

Click Here To Download

Manage Your Local Reputation.

In the driving school industry, we are very much working in the local business sector and its vital that we manage our local reputation.

This comes down to how local people perceive your business.

Part and parcel of running a business is that we need exposure to sell our products and services. Many ADI’s are anonymous in their local area to the prospects they wish to attract.

Now, if you find that you keep your diary filled without local exposure, that’s fine but time may come when the phone stops ringing and then drastic action will be required.

One of the major ways the general public will be aware of you, will be your tuition vehicle and although “local branding” is covered in a separate module, I will touch on the subject again here. Does your vehicle look professional? does it contain professional looking livery? Or does it have magnetics that can often give the perceived view of being part time or playing with it, rather than a serious business?

Is your headboard clean and in good condition or is it badly faded or tatty, again this can have an impact on how you are perceived. Of course, if you do not use a headboard or have livery, you will be completely anonymous, as people will think you are just a parent with “L” plates.

Is your vehicle generally clean and presentable, does it have rubbish or your children’s toys on the back seat? Is the interior grubby and dusty? Again a factor when people glance in to your vehicle.

Next up is you as a person. How do you present yourself? Do you wear branded clothing with a company logo, clean shoes and trousers or do you wear jeans and trainers? Large companies spend a fortune on their staff appearance for a very good reason as it’s all about how the business is perceived.

Do you smoke? We all know it’s now illegal to smoke in the workplace (your tuition vehicle) whether you are actually working with a client or not. I often see local ADI’s smoking in the vehicle when on their own and by opening the window thinking it’s O.K. Supposing a prospective customer or their parent is thinking of booking with you but then they see you smoking, this could change their decision.

How do you behave? When driving a driving school vehicle you are in a gold fish bowl and the general public will expect a certain level of professionalism.

Your driving should be exemplary at all times, being courteous and polite and also forgiving to other road users mistakes. Where do you pull up or park?

I often witness local ADI’s pulled in to bus stops, double parked, pulled up on yellow lines and stopped for a briefing opposite a junction or right next to one.

Again all factors that will give a perceived vision of your local business.

Your online reputation has become incredibly important in recent years and this subject is covered extensively in the marketing section. However it’s worth mentioning here, as the way you come across with your online activities will have major impact on your local reputation.

Your website will often be the “Face” of your business and the contents will help people form an opinion. Are you perceived as the same as all the other local ADI’s or are you different?

Facebook has become a massive resource for ADI’s and driving schools and the free exposure can be incredibly effective. However, there is a trade off to be made. Potential new customers and their parents are now very savvy when using social media and will often check out your Facebook profile to see what you are all about. Be very careful what you post on your Facebook page, both business and personal and although your stag event in Amsterdam might have been a cracking couple of days, just think how a parent of a seventeen-year-old young lady will view the content!

There is no doubt that customer reviews are now king and a fantastic way to manage your local reputation. This subject is covered extensively in the marketing section and will have a major role to play in the price you can command for your lessons. The system that we use will help you to “manage” what your customers have to say and play a major part in how you are perceived.

There may be items contained in this module that you agree with or not but they are all part and parcel of making the transition from driving instructor to successful business owner. One of the major challenges that we are faced with when working with ADI’s is to get them to think like business owners FIRST and driving instructors SECOND.

You are a businessperson and you run a business!

Teaching people to drive is what you do in that business.

A very high proportion of the U.K’s ADI’s behave like social workers and operate with very few sound business practices, a major reason why the industry is in the sorry state it is. The more ADI’s that see themselves a businesspersons, the more professional the driving school industry will become.

Should you decide to recruit help and franchise your business, the notes above will take on a whole new importance, as you will need to ensure your franchisees adhere to your working practices.

The way you are perceived in your local area will now be duplicated as you expand and getting it right from the beginning will be a major plus to your success.

Phone manner.

Answering the phone correctly is CRUCIAL to maximise conversions and deflect the price issue.

The download is a very comprehensive script with a detailed description of why each element is key to success.

Click Here To Download

1st Point of Contact

No matter how much work we do on marketing and enticing prospects to pick up the phone and call us, all this work can be undone very quickly if the 1st point of contact is poor OR non existent!

Call handling companies and large organisations spend a small fortune on training for those at the front line, as they know the sale is often won or lost on the initial contact.

I get very frustrated when I call a business and they do not inform me whom I am talking too.

To state the name of the business should be an absolute given, so the caller knows they have called the correct place. Adding a personal contact name is the icing on the cake and asking them how you may help them takes you to a different league.

Our Driving School telephone system, presents a message as soon as someone is connected [Welcome to Kelvin White Driving School] it goes on to give the caller a choice of choosing lesson bookings or any other matters.

Once the caller has made that choice, the phone is answered: Good morning Sandra speaking, how can I help you?

Now! You may thing that’s O.K. for me as I have staff to answer the phone!

But you don’t require a phone system to inform and be professional.

You will know by now that I think running a business from your personal mobile phone, is a bad idea: taking calls on a mobile is not ideal especially if you take personal and business calls together. Will you wish to answer with “How can I help you?” when it’s a friend or your mum catching up?

Having a dedicated work phone is a game changer as you can then present a far more professional impression. I also think the very small investment in a local landline number that is re-directed to your work mobile is good practice.

A selection of the calls that I made to working ADI’s, had NO facility to leave a message and just kept ringing and ringing – BONKERS!!!! This is like having a retail outlet in Oxford Street and keeping the doors closed.

At the very least, have a message facility turned on that clearly states WHO YOU ARE and give detailed instructions on what the caller should do.

You have reached the number for [Kelvin White Driving School] I am really sorry I am unable to take your call right now but I am either with a pupil or driving.

Your call is extremely important to me and if you would like to leave your name and contact number along with a brief message, I will call you back the moment I am free.

[One of the reasons why our business model is to have 30 minutes between lessons – traveling and returning messages and calls promptly]

Returning new customer inquiries promptly is absolutely crucial if you are to make a booking. Replying after 2 hours will substantially decrease your chances of a booking (You may wish to use the services of a call handling agency)

Recent calls to ADI’s:

Phone kept ringing, no facility to leave message.
Phone went to message facility but I had no idea whose number I had reached.
You have reached Dave, please leave a message.
You call, is vey important, I will call you back within 48 hours – REALLY!!!
Phone answered by child

I have saved the best to last:

Hi this is Dave, just a minute [talking to someone I assume is driving the car] just keep it straight while I deal with this call a second!.

I might stress that I have simply used the name DAVE as an example.

I also believe that you have to be in the correct frame of mind when you answer the phone. If you have a dedicated business phone, you can be prepared with your business head on which is not always the case if you are shopping in Sainsbury’s or in he pub.

ACTION OF A BUSINESS OWNER:

Have trained staff to answer the phone promptly. (Could be a spouse or friend)
Consider a call handing agency to take calls on your behalf.

Set up a local landline number and re-direct to your dedicated business mobile (We use Tamar communication of Plymouth 0800 772 0000)

Make sure you have a message facility turned on clearly stating who you are and inform the caller what to do.
You know the call is business, so answer professionally like a business owner [adding how can I help you will set you apart from your competitors]
Do not let your children answer the phone.
If your spouse/partner is going to pick up, give them basic training.
Return calls promptly, for each hour you wait will reduce the chances of a booking by 50%

This aspect of running a business is often overlooked but it is THE most important thing you can do.

Using the correct telephone technique to deal with the “How much are lessons?” callers is a whole different subject and will be covered separately.

Please refer to the module on “Telephone Technique”.

E Commerce for your website.

We can offer a done for service for managed service members who have the replica driving school website.

Step One:

Contact WorldPay and open an Ecommerce account.

Step Two:

Use the payment link below to purchase the done for service and we will be in touch for your account details.

Step Three:

We will upload the Woocommerce plugin to your website and configure with your WorldPay account and then run test transactions before going live.

Video Running Time

7 Minutes 07 Seconds

Click Here For Set Up

Should you wish to have Ecommerce on your non-managed website.

Step One:

Contact your website designer and discuss the options for adding Ecommerce to your site..

Step Two:

Contact WorldPay or other payment processor of your choice and open an account.

Website Video Scripts/Text

This is far more than just website content!

The more informed your visitors are about your services, the more likely they will purchase your lessons on value and not on price.

You can download the video scripts from the button below and either make your own videos, have them made for you or just use the text to explain your services.