Last Updated on November 6, 2023
As a driving instructor you may find some pupils disengaging from lessons and learning to drive. This can happen for a few reasons such as lack of time, money or it could be that they have gone on to find a new instructor. Whatever the reason is, there are some ways that may help you to re-engage pupils and get them back on the road on their way to being test ready!
In this blog we are going to cover some of the ways you can reach out to pupils to re-engage them hopefully get them back to learning with you!
Re engaging with pupils can help to build up your schedule, or could help you to clear out your contact list ready for new students to teach.
Remember not to bombard unengaged students with multiple messages and listen for feedback. If a student expresses that they are taking a break from learning or have found a new driving instructor you may wish to remove them from the list of people to reach out to!
Keep track of pupils to re-engage
Firstly, it is important to keep track of your students! You may find the busier your job gets the harder it is to keep up with your diary. There are some apps that can help or you can set up your own systems to help you out. This can help to manage your diary and know who is actively having lessons with you and who has not had a lesson in a while. You could also note down their preferred method of contact, some people hate calls and would much prefer email or text/WhatsApp correspondence. This can be handy to know when reaching out in the future.
By doing this you will know who you can reach out to for possible re-engagement and who is engaged in lessons.
It may also be handy to get contact information for the parents of younger students. More than likely it will be the parents paying and pushing them for driving lessons. This means you will be able to reach the best person for booking and the parent can remind their child when their lessons are taking place.
Pupil re-engagement through texts
Text is an easy and time efficient way to reach out. It is very easy to send a quick text letting students know that you have a time slot available. This means if the student is interested, they can reply to the text, and it puts less pressure on the student.
The benefit with using text is that the pupil is more likely to see it straight away and pick up any available slots that you have. With the bonus that it will not take up much time in your busy driving instructor schedule!
Outreach through phone calls
A quick and easy way to get in touch with students is through a phone call. If a student has not had a lesson for a few weeks, you could give them a quick call to check in and ask to book in their next driving lesson. This way you can check in directly. They can let you know what is going on if they are taking a break or just waiting for payday to book another lesson.
When calling it may be helpful for the student if you can give them a little recap of their last lesson and what went well and what you would be working on next lesson. This can help your learner drivers understand the importance of more lessons. Along with reminding them where they are in their learning to drive journey.
Outreach through email
Reaching students through email is also an option. This allows you to give more information, however email can be less personal than a call or text. The problem with emails is that they are not looked at as often and can be missed.
If you are working on marketing for your driving instructor business you could even work up a newsletter to send. This can be handy for sending updates to your students if you have any special offers or spaces available.
Outreach through mail
For a more traditional method of re-engaging your pupils you could be send out a mailing. You could get leaflets printed to send out as a reminder. This will require a little extra work to get leaflets printed and posted to students.
For designs you could use Canva to create your own leaflet. Alternatively, you can work with a graphic designer to help. You will then need to get the leaflets printed, there are many online services for printing that can be inexpensive.
Although this method does come with additional costs it could be useful for older less tech savvy learner drivers. For younger students this could be a good way to reach their parents to remind them about booking lessons.
ADI Social media
Rather than reaching out to your learner drivers directly you could use social media. This can be a catch-all approach to re-engage pupils.
When you are first working with new learner drivers you can let them know you have socials to follow. You can then use this as a platform when you have spaces available and special offers on. Giving out a business card with your contact information, social media handles and driving instructor website could be a good reminder.
This means you can offer up spaces to students who have previously had a lesson with you and help pupils re-engage with lessons and your business! It also puts less pressure on the student as they have the option to reach out if they would like to.
Discounts and offers to existing pupils
If students are finding it hard to pay for lessons you could offer exclusive discounts to existing pupils to re-engage them! This could be an offer on individual lessons or for block booking discounts. This may make the transition back into driving lessons easier on the student as the cost is lower.
There could even be options of payment plans or pay as you go options for students who you trust and want to keep in your diary.
Offering discounts and offers can be mixed with any of the above ways to engage. For example, you could make a Facebook post saying “£10 off driving lesson this Wednesday for existing students! Now only £30” or send the same message as a text!
Ask for feedback!
A lot of the time students disconnecting from learning will be due to taking a break or the cost of learning to drive. However, it could be that you as an instructor are affecting pupils returning without realising! Make sure you are asking for feedback after lessons and listening to them. You can also ensure you are bringing your pupils into a welcoming environment to help ease their anxiety.
When you are collecting feedback, be proactive in listening and trying to improve as this will help your new and existing students!
Conclusion
Over your time as a driving instructor you may find that some students drop off from learning with you. This may be frustrating and confusing as an instructor. There are many personal reasons why this may happen. Using these tips you can help re-engage pupils or know they are done learning for now! This can make the process of working as a Driving Instructor easier so you can manage your bookings and keep up to date with all of your students.
Make sure you are understanding of your students situations and not pushing too hard if they are not interested. Listen and take notes of feedback you receive and take it on board to improve your pupils experiences.
