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For many MI retailers, the unfortunate fact is that simply selling musical instruments isn’t enough to survive and to thrive. That conundrum has led to the creation of the “add-on sales opportunity.” Considering that consumers must train to become proficient when playing instruments, perhaps MI retailers’ best add-on sales opportunity centers on offering lessons.

Lessons can be a tremendous margin driver; however, implementing and perfecting the art of offering the service can be extremely difficult. MI retailers must attract the right teachers, and they must overcome the challenge of students who expect considerable improvement in their skill set after practically the first lesson.

Whether you want to implement a lessons program for the first time or you have an established offering that you want to improve, The Music & Sound Retailer wants to assist you. We gathered three MI retailers with an excellent lessons program and asked them to provide some sage advice. Our participating retailers are Colleen Cranley, Education Coordinator at Florence KY-based Willis Music Co.; Menzie Pittman, Founder, Director of Education and percussion instructor at Chantilly VA-based Contemporary Music Center; and Larry McDonald, Co-Creator and Administrator of Hartland WI-based Hartland Music Center.

Starting Out

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For MI retailers that do not already have a lessons program, many factors must be considered, and many of them are hard to plan for, Cranley stated. “I think the most important thing to start with is to decide how your instructors will be paid,” she said. “There is a fine line in the eyes of the law between contractors and employees, and that’s something you really need to educate yourself on to make the right decision for your business. The debate of employee versus contractor has many pros and cons on both sides. So, learn everything you can about both options and your own state laws.”

She continued, “I also suggest finding some key teachers who want to teach full time. We have about 70 teachers between our five stores.” She elaborated, “Some are full time and many are part time. But, the stores that are really succeeding are the ones that have a few full-time teachers who are staples in the community. Our most successful store has two teachers who teach more than 60 students a week. They really set a great example for other teachers, as well.”

“When you are first implementing a lessons program, you have to be clear on your mission and agenda,” Pittman emphasized. “Then, you need to be clear on the administrative framework and the financial responsibilities for your program.” He elaborated, saying, “You need a good understanding of value, the cost of proper studios, etc. You need to know how you will handle billing and how you will handle finding teachers. How will you promote the program?” There’s a lot, he stressed, to the administrative side of running a quality program.

For a start, how do you find the right instructors? According to Pittman, “Finding great instructors is easier now that we’ve been at it for 27 years. But, I still use the same approach that I used on day one.” He explained further, saying, “I work at cultivating relationships with the best players and educators in our area. We are a boutique dealer in education; we’re not a chain and we’re not a franchise. It’s for that reason that we attract and seek great teachers.” He continued, “Another approach we use is to scout great young players. We’re always looking to excite younger musicians. So, we blend masters and young lions together, which cultivates an atmosphere of excitement for learning.”

“When someone reaches out to me and expresses an interest in teaching, the first thing I do is ask for a résumé,” Cranley affirmed. “I know that seems like common practice, but I find that many musicians who just wake up and decide they can teach won’t be prepared for that question.” She continued, “I would guess that almost 50 percent of the musicians whom I request a résumé from never get back to me. So, I feel I’m quickly weeding out people who aren’t serious.” Explaining further, she said, “During an interview with a teacher, I ask them to teach me a short lesson. I come from a musical family, but musical talent wasn’t in the cards for me. So, I really get a feel for someone’s abilities when they try to teach me how to play a few notes, or a scale.”

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Willis Music is fortunate to be located near the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, Cranley added. “Graduate students frequently reach out to me about teaching, and I love working with them.” She stated, “They need the teaching experience, and I’ve found that they’re very organized and eager to teach. Some people might be concerned about a lack of experience or busy schedules, but I have really had success working with them.”

Every lessons program is built upon the master/apprentice relationship, McDonald emphasized. “That means that the element of trust established during registration must continue to flow to the instructor,” he elaborated. “I can’t stress it strongly enough: The customer must trust that your teachers are of the highest quality and character. There’s a special bond that builds between the master and the apprentice. The student might forget their lessons, but no student ever forgets the character of their teacher.”

He continued, “Often overlooked is the trust that’s established between your registration counselor and the instructor.” Elaborating, he said, “The registration counselor has to trust that the teacher is going to do a great job, and vice versa. If there is any uneasiness between those folks, morale and enrollments will suffer. Needless to say, it is incumbent upon store owners to partner with the best teachers they can find. It takes a while, but it’s well worth the effort.”

Biggest Challenges

Our three-person panel attested to the fact that even seasoned MI veterans face challenges with their lessons program. Each shared the one thing they feel they need to improve upon as regards their own.

“We need to do a better job with morning and early-afternoon scheduling, rather than just relying on the afterschool market,” McDonald shared. “The early-day market is out there, but we need to better address that avenue of revenue. We’ve done a pretty good job with the home-school market, but we can do better there, as well.”

“We’ve really excelled at growing a strong, year-round lessons program,” Cranley began, “but summer group programs are our downfall.” She continued, saying, “We struggle with finding the right teachers to really get a summer program off the ground. We’ve had a few small success stories, but we really need to find a way to get our students into groups.” She added, “We’ll continue to try different methods and, I hope, we’ll have some success to share soon.”

“We started with education in 1989, and I had been teaching for six years prior,” Pittman explained. “My pledge then was the same as it is now: I aim to create an inspirational experience for the student. But, you must remember, I started teaching back when dial-up was an inventive means of connecting to the Internet!” So, he said, the trick is to stay relevant according to today’s standards. “I’m fortunate to have a daughter who’s a music student in Nashville,” he continued, “so I’m the ‘history’ and she’s the ‘now.’ Where everyone has to improve is in blending the trends of today with relevant music history. Technology changes faster every day; to be in tune with today’s music students, a good program must relate to where young musicians are coming from today. He added, “If I have a glaring flaw, it’s that I refuse to believe that music history isn’t important. So, every day, I work on keeping an open mind.”

The Bottom Line

A lessons program is a valuable tool for customers, of course, but it must benefit the MI retailer, as well. Our panelists look at several metrics on a monthly basis to determine the success of their lessons program.

According to Cranley, “Retention rate is a big one for us. If we start to see that a teacher is losing students monthly, I’ll address that quickly to see what the problem is.” She continued, explaining, “I carefully watch the statistics for each teacher every month, and I meet with each manager on a monthly basis to discuss the health of the program in that store. We also look to see just how many new students are signing up each month. Each store is different; however, the more our salespeople talk about lessons, the more successful the program will be.” She added, “We’re creating an atmosphere of learning, and our salespeople have to be on board with that. As employees in the store change, it directly affects our lessons numbers. So, making sure that everyone’s well trained and excited about lessons is very important.”

“The simple answer,” Pittman began, “is that, if your lessons business—or any endeavor—is profitable, then, by most standards, you’re considered successful. That being said, though, you need to be clear on your vision.” He elaborated, “You don’t build music studios one at a time. You have to have the infrastructure in place to grow your lessons business. If your vision is being fulfilled, and if you’ve set things up properly in advance, the numbers should take care of themselves. Then, you can focus on the real purpose of a successful lessons program: helping music students to realize their dream.”

He continued, saying, “It takes years to build a successful program. There are shiny pop-up schools all over my area. The problem, though, is that they lack depth and they have very little character. In my opinion, they do more harm than good, because any approach that doesn’t advance the true purpose of music education will make a music student grow frustrated and quit. Then, we’ll have lost them for life…and that’s expensive.”

“Growing high-quality musicians certainly fills the soul,” McDonald remarked. “And, when the day comes that I retire, I suspect that this will be my career’s most important metric of success. But income is the metric. We have an exceptionally steady stream of revenue from leasing our studios.” He continued, adding, “It’s boring income. Banks love this, by the way. So do I.”

According to McDonald, “There’s a real advantage to having high-quality instruction within your store. It certainly impacts the reputation of your retail establishment. We let the teachers tell us what to stock, and then we look at the profitability of the product. The result is that the teacher has some skin in the game and he or she will be an advocate for your retail operation.”

To close, McDonald offered a final piece of advice: “You can’t let the big-box stores bottom-feed the sales developed by your teaching program. You need to be price competitive, but deliver a service, too. Teacher recommendations of your products represent a great first step, but we regularly go the extra little bit. We always give a discount to our students, include a free service option or offer special sales during recitals and Royal Conservatory Music Development Program events.”

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