How to Check-in with Your Students - Retention and Referrals

Do you want your students to get the best martial arts training possible, whether virtual or in-person?

Of course you do.

The 8 Step Progress Check was originally developed to verify the quality of training at your school and offer an excellent method for improving communication with students and parents. Now, more than ever, it's important to check in with your students and make sure they don't give up on their training when facing the challenges of these tough times.

It is a powerful tool for strengthening your student retention, adding new white belts with confidence, and dramatically increasing the percentage of students who will keep training. In a world where virtual recruitment and training is the main option, we need the progress check now more than ever, with a few adjustments.

Below is the eight step structure we use at our own schools, adjusted to fit the current status of our world:

1. Thank them for being a student and sticking to the program during this tough time
2. Ask them what they enjoy most about the new virtual training.
3. Ask them how the virtual program can be improved for their needs.
4. Talk about goals that they created at the beginning of the stay-at-home policy.
5. Talk about how far they've come since they started virtual classes (focus on current achievements).
6. Talk about how much they'll continue to grow as they keep training, and have them picture themselves coming out of the pandemic and as a black belt.
7. If appropriate, ask them if they know any friends or family having a hard time with the current crisis or anyone feeling "stuck at home" who could benefit from training.
8. If appropriate, ask them to recommend your virtual program on their social media via their page and local groups they are currently participating in.

Special Note: This progress check can be conducted while on Zoom or online private lesson with the student/parent. It can also work in a group class setting or breakout session (though in that case skip #3), but one-on-one is most effective. Other options are through email survey, social media messengers, etc. Be creative and do the check where you know it will get the best feedback!

This simple student progress check process can make a very strong case for remaining committed to your program no matter the struggle. If you have meetings like this at least once during this crisis for every student, you'll find that many more of your students will train with you for the long run.