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UP NOW OFFERS DIRECT MAIL |
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If you would like a quote please choose a mailer or post card design or any downloadable ad from our website. Specify your mailing criteria, example a 5 mile radius of your school to families with children 5 - 12 years of age and a family income of at least $40,000. We will then give you a complete estimate for your campaign.
You will find our prices are some of the best in the business. |
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GOOD QUESTION |
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Hello
What we are finding is that our pricing may be at falt. We charge $100 for one and $200 for the entire family for our basic membership. $134 for BBC $268 for the family. $164 for Leadership/Masters $328 for the family. We are having a tough time getting families of two to upgrade so we reduced the price. Our new prices are Full price for one, half price for the 2nd family member and then double for our family price. (We have called all of our two person family members and told them about the updated tuition schedule and they all seemed relieved to hear what we did. We have seen so many improvements since your visit and have already setup our first school talk for the year. We still had a little hard time getting those upgrades but we are having a great response over the past week. We have 7 upgrade appts in the book for next week. I will let you know how it goes.
Sincerely,
JG
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Hello,
I think you were right adjusting prices during this economy although a 25% discount for a second family member might have worked just as well. Your area of the country has been hit very hard, not to mention the long commute to work many of your students make and the cost of gas is a consideration. As far as upgrades go the most important thing is the “perceived value”. In other words, if you are charging $34 more for an upgrade program and the curriculum consists of a weapons form or sparring the student/parent perceives that as $102 over 3 months to learn one form. Not to mention the cost of the weapon. Not much value there. You need to carefully think like a student buying would, when deciding on what program to enroll in. You need to make sure the look, excitement, curriculum and experience dramatically outweigh the cost involved. Once you do that students will come to you to upgrade.
Greg Silva
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Hello,
I am having a special STICK letter campaign written for UP clients. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am about this project. It will be an extremely simple system (that's the way I like them) to improve retention, Pro Shop sales and referrals.
I will have it ready in about two weeks BUT to be really effective you need to gather some real good testimonials from your students. Get started by sending the e-mail below to all your students. Further instructions will follow.
Greg Silva
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Dear Students,
I hope this note finds you doing GREAT! I really need your help today...would you please take a quick second to hit the reply button (right now) and answer the following questions for me...it's important that we get this today because we've got a staff meeting I'm preparing for and I really need your feedback to discuss with our team! I promise the questions are brief...feel free to answer briefly or if you'd really like to be an overachiever, go into as much detail as possible!
1.) What is your favorite part of being a student / parent at _________________?
2.) Why is it your favorite part?
3.) Have you seen positive changes in yourself or your children since starting your training here? If so, what are they and how do you feel you are benefiting?
4.) If you were going to try to convince one of your best friends or family members to join our school, what EXACTLY would you say to them?
5.) Finally, if you had a magic wand and could change 1 thing about our school...what would it be and how EXACTLY would you change it for the betterment of everybody?
I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out today. Please let me know how I may continue to help you and your family!
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Now, STEP TWO is to send a "thank you" and ask permission to use the feedback you received.
These testimonials are great for advertisng to display in your intro room and for the new program UP is setting up for you, so PLEASE get going on this project.
Now...really important - here would be your next e-mail:
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Dear Charles,
Wow...you've totally made my whole year. What a fantastic e-mail to receive. I'll be certain to bring this up during our staff meeting because it's people like YOU that make our school the special place that it is. So...thank you.
I was wondering if you'd mind if I share your feedback with others who might potentially be interested in joining our school...this is just such a heart warming note, that I'd love to show the benefits that your family is receiving to others. Please let me know as I'd never want to share anything you didn't want me to without your permission.
Once again, we're grateful to play a part in your family's success.
warm regards,
Greg Silva
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LIABILITY INSURANCE AND KIDS
Liability Insurance and Kids
When Parents sign-off on your contracts the child still has their own rights
and could sue you once they become an adult. I have never heard of this
happening but it is a reminder that kids at your school must be supervised
by an adult at all times. You should not allow kids to practice and train
on their own or with others under (including junior instructors)18 years of
age.
The insurance industry has no problem with schools that provide programs for
minors. They do, however, have a problem with minors who are allowed to workout on their own. It is dangerous and the last thing I want to see when I go
to my school is a bunch of kids training or using equipment by themselves.
Plus, it also is not conducive to the self-discipline we teach.
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Your FREE September GOOGLE TIP for Martial Arts Schools!
Lets talk about DYNAMIC MENUS! Those really cool website menus that when the mouse passes over them they either change to a different image or a sub-group of menus miraculously appears. No search engine can read those links and the result is they cannot access your entire site and index those pages as well. The net result is that only the main page of your site will be found in Google's index! OUCH!!
There are 2 ways to remedy this. Create small text links across the bottom of all your pages that lead to all your site pages or KEEP IT SIMPLE. As evidenced in www.pmaredmountain.com, you will notice that the main menu links are simple text links and they still look very cool, don't they??
Google reports that 17 pages of Mr. Silva's school website are listed in their index.
Click the following link to view how Google sees this site! http://www.google.com/search?q=site:www.pmaredmountain.com&hl=en |
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Attendance Card System
Keeping Attendance is a very important part of tracking the success of your school as well as the success of your students. UP has put together an attendance system that is simple and practical. UP knows that most schools are keeping attendance, and have had a lot of questions on how to give it a K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple & Successful). The plastic cards from ASF are great however many schools find the kids forget them or lose them. We have found this system very accurate and easy to implement. It’s also very economical for up-and-coming schools.
On the Business Training Section of the UP site, you will find a zip file that contains everything you will need in 4 Publisher files. |
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You don't get a second chance to make a good first impression
Just as Back
to School rolls around and increased emphasis and excitement surround our
sport, many potential clients will be evaluating martial arts this fall. A
clean and well organized facility can go a long way with parents and may be
the deciding factor in joining your program. Cleanliness is also the
foundation of a safe environment. Here are some tips for cleaning up and
maintaining your facility.
Start with the restrooms. Make them pleasing to all the senses. Continue
this in your lobby, observation areas, front office, pro-shop, and in the
teaching/mat areas.
Focus on the safety and organization of your facility layout. Establish open
pathways and a logical flow through the academy. Identify and eliminate
hazards. Store unused equipment and props.
Establish a cleaning schedule that includes daily cleaning as well as
special operations. Daily cleaning should include:
Straightening up the lobby and reception areas by picking up trash, tidying
magazines, keeping counters free of clutter and replacing used forms and
supplies, wiping or dusting all surfaces, neatly arranging chairs and
furniture, cleaning glass doors and windows, and vacuuming and/or moping the
floors.
Cleaning the gym areas by vacuuming the floor exercise carpet(s) and other
floor surfaces, organizing all mats and equipment, keeping cubbie areas
clean and uncluttered, removing trash, mopping mats and hardwood floors, and
cleaning the water fountain.
Cleaning and stocking the restrooms. Thoroughly clean all restrooms, remove
trash, and replace needed supplies like toilet paper, hand soap, and paper
towels.
Special cleaning needs may include: cleaning and organizing storage areas;
removing cobwebs from ceilings, corners, and walls; detailing carpets;
mopping, disinfecting, and rinsing all mats and hardwood floors; dusting all
areas in the gym; painting (touch up) doorframes, trim, lobby areas, and
cubbies; cleaning bulletin boards, banners, and flags; washing waste baskets
- inside and out; cleaning baseboards; cleaning pit areas and replacing old
foam.
Don't forget the outside of your facility. Clean up the parking lot, pick
up trash, maintain landscaping, clean windows and doors, maintain sidewalks,
etc.
All staff should help with cleaning activities. School owners and directors
may lead the charge, but all staff should take an active role in maintaining
the cleanliness and safety of the facility.
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Mr. Silva,
Thank you so much for the encouraging e-mails you send and thank you for providing the best information in the industry. United Professionals is who taught me all about mass intros. Last night we had a mass intro and 22 children showed up with their parents. The kids were excited because we had been working with them over the past 6 weeks at their day care center and it was time for them to graduate. Our Superstar Karate Performance Team opened up the show with some spectacular xtreme martial arts forms, weapons forms and board breaking. Then it was time for the kids to graduate. They performed their routine a few times for their parents and boy was the energy high. The parents were shocked at all their children had learned during the 6 weeks and couldn't believe how they could stand at attention and lock it up. You could hear a pin drop when they hit their positions. Next we had every child break a board in front of their parents and presented them with their graduation certificate and belt. After that we had one of our instructors play "sensei says" with them while I went over our program with the parents.
All said and done, we enrolled 11 new students on our basic training program at the mass intro. That's a 50% enrollment rate. We could of never done that without the help of United Professionals and Premier Management Group. Thank you so much for all you do for us little guys in the industry.
It's now August 2nd and we have enrolled 15 new students and upgraded 2 to our Leadership Team. I made sure to commend our staff on a job well done but stressed that they can not to ease up any. Our goal is to enroll 30 new students this month (a single month record for our academy). By doing so it would also get us close to our goal of having 350 active students training at our academy.
So again thank you. I hope other academies are making use of the great information you provide to us. It will make a tremendous difference in the atmosphere of your academy, the attitudes of your staff and the lifestyle you are living.
God bless,
Jason Kifer
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Hi Guys,
I just wanted to thank you for your support and great advice for me with the million of questions I have for you. I think it was the best decision that I made to be a part of United Professionals. I can start seeing good things coming. I was able to get into one of the school systems and did an open house tonight. I was able to get 5 people to come to a mass intro that I am doing on Saturday and also had a lot of flyers that I handed out. Other fairs that I did earlier people are starting to come in. It must be because of the school year starting. I don't know. I know this is a temporary energy buster for me but it makes a difference. I know I have much more to do since I am still striving to get into other school systems. I can see with some patience and hard work things do happen eventually.
Thanks once again,
Mark Kreuzman, Head Instructor
Life Systems Martial Arts
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Mr. Silva,
U.P. Rocks! This was such a simple little thing you did, but WOW. What power in such simple little things. I’m continually amazed and pleased to receive SO MANY simple ideas like this from you each and every month.
My decision to come on board with you was definitely a good one and has helped make running a school a lot easier!
With gratitude and thanks,
James Theros
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Mr. Silva,
I did what you suggested about sending the email out to all students. We have gotten some really fantastic testimonials back. Then we sent the follow up email that you sent us and the parents were very appreciative for us asking their permission. How and where would you display the testimonials? On another note, we are getting ready for our Jedi Training Parent's Night Out tonight with 113 kids signed up so far. It should be a very energizing night.
Adam Churchwell
Columbus, Ga
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Hello
Congratulations on getting the great testimonials. Please file them and for use when I send you the new student retention plan. You can also use them in ads. Randy Holeman has 1000 students and he only uses testimonial based ads for marketing.
You are a brave man having 100 kids for a parents night out!!!
Greg Silva
P.S. I was able to get 8 GREAT testimonials from this, AND the last question (the magic wand) allowed me to see inside my student’s and parent’s heads a little bit to allow me to formulate some EXCELLENT communication to them to explain WHY we do certain things a certain way (and why we changed from doing them the “old way”).
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