When you get a phone call from an parent of a potential student asking about studio information, should you inform potential students of your rates first, or should you tell them about your studio first?
I know a fellow teacher who does not answer the “rates question” – even when specially asked about it – until the end of the phone call, after she has told them about everything her studio offers. She chooses to emphasize the quality of the music education she offers in her studio before informing the parent of the rates. Not a bad idea!
Other teachers are very upfront and prefer to tell parents their rates first thing. There is no harm in either method. Personally, I am somewhere in the middle. Unless specifically asked, I save the rates information until the end. Regardless of where you stand, it’s a good idea to plan in advance how you are going to deal with the “rates question” when the potential student calls.
How do you like to handle the “rates question”?
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It’s never good news when a parent asks about your rates first!! I always ask them, how did you hear about my studio? and steer them in a different direction. It’s been my experience that parents who are solely interested in how much you charge aren’t really interested at all. You may also find that you’re being “shopped”-someone who is thinking about teaching is calling around to get rates.
I’ve found that when that’s the first question that comes up, it’s probably not a student you’ll ever see! I’ve even had prospective parents go so far as to ask me to price-match another teacher or studio, regardless of whether we have the same qualifications! When I have a parent ask about rates that I suspect is “shopping,” I give my rates as a semester amount. While I do offer a monthly even-pay installment plan (and most of my families opt to pay that way), I don’t name the monthly amount unless specifically asked. It’s really cut down on folks “objecting” to my monthly rate right away on the phone, or asking about price-matching.