Marketing

[Saint Louis Ki Society]

"Marketing, the process by which a product or service originates and is then priced, promoted, and distributed to consumers.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® Reference Library 2005. © 1993-2004"

In talking to people at the MKF Intensive last week, we agreed that there could be some benefit to sharing information about dojo operations as they concern marketing. So I am starting this forum topic so we can do just that. We can include what works, what doesn't work, or what we dream of doing.

Marketing can include many things, such as:

• Tailoring the product
• Pricing the product
• Promoting the product
• Customer Service
• Advertising
• Direct Selling
• Distribution
• Research

So let's share. I've learned some useful things from what other dojos have done, and hope to learn more. I also hope that what Saint Louis Ki Society has done can be of some use to others.

[Saint Louis Ki Society]

Quite a few years ago (15 or more?) we made a decision at Saint Louis Ki Society to change how we handled new student tuition, at seemed risky at the time, but I think it has turned out very well. I can’t remember why this first came up, but the Board of Directors began discussing what new students should pay. I suppose it concerned efforts to bring in more students. At the time, they simply paid for a month and started. I think back then, as now, people could take a free class to see what it’s like. I think we talked about charging less to bring in new students. But there are increased costs, or at least increased volunteer effort required for new students. It also can cheapen the experience of training. I don’t remember details of the discussions and reasoning, but we decided on a course of action that seemed risky at the time. We all agreed to give it a try, but thought it might result in fewer new students, lower income, etc.

We decided to require new students to pay a “startup fee”; I think it was $80. The startup covered two months of classes. It actually lowered the monthly rate for new students, but required a greater commitment of time and money up front. We did have fewer students start classes, but our income remained about the same. In addition, the students who did join were on average staying longer. A greater number of students stayed long enough to pay membership (back then, we collected membership along with the first testing fees, 3 to 6 months into training). So we saw the change as a success.

Since that time, we have increased the startup to $120 for three months of training, and we require a $75 annual membership at the start. So it costs $195 to start full Aikido training at Saint Louis Ki Society. We offer some introductory classes that don’t require membership, but to come into the full training requires a fair commitment.

There is a history to the way we handle membership, which is different than many MKF dojos, but I’ll leave that for another discussion.

There is another side to this way of doing things. When a greater commitment is required of students, a greater commitment is required from the organization and the people who take responsibility for it. But it’s also easier to take new students seriously…they just committed to three months. Hey, I can get them to 5th Kyu in that time!

[Ian]

On the other hand, we get a surprising number of people who pay for their first three months and never show up. I never did quite understand that.

[jmswisher]

I see that St. Louis Ki Society offers scheduled free introductory classes, and scheduled 5-week Introductory courses. How does that fit in with "3 months up front" policy?

In Austin, we don't currently do this. We just have classes in our schedule that are labeled "Beginner", and new people can join them at any time. The upside is that a person who decides to try Aikido can start as soon as they make that decision. The downside is that there is no urgency to start, because they can do it any time.

From what I've read about marketing and advertising, it is best to give potential customers a reason to take action. It seems like our current strategy doesn't do that.

--Janet

[Saint Louis Ki Society]

Someone can start any time, using the 3-month startup. Actually, they could start by paying for only a month if they want (plus the annual membership). The 3-month startup is such a good deal that nearly everyone does that. The free introductory class is a way for someone to see and feel what it's like. Aikido is pretty new and different for most people. The 5-week intro course costs $50, and no membership is required. It's designed to be an easy way to get a little deeper look at the training before deciding on a full startup. Plus, many people like the idea of a more gradual and programmed startup, with other new people.

It does seem to work better to have set dates for people to begin. The Intro courses do that. A very interesting thing: for many years we have offered free introductory classes in the first week of the month, and many people start that way. A few years ago we started offering a free introductory class at other times by appointment. Very few, in fact I don't remember anyone, took us up on the offer. But when I started posting a particular date and time each month on our website, people started taking us up on the offer. And about 60% or more start classes afterwards. Sometimes it's a full startup, and sometimes they move next to one of the 5-week courses. We don't do many demonstrations anymore, but when we do, I try to have an introductory course starting within a few weeks. People respond much better to a specific invitation than a general one. Of course we always let people know they can start the first week of any month, but an invitation to a particular set time and day brings in more students.

[Saint Louis Ki Society]

Do any members think MKF could help with marketing and connecting to potential students on a national (or international with Canada) basis? We don't have any financial resources to do this, but a start might be through the MKF website. Could that be developed into something that helps bring people to individual dojo websites for information? I really don't know myself if there is anything the Board of Directors or other MKF volunteers can do. Any ideas?