1 tip on being the greatest karate school. We live in a cost-driven world. Big box stores dominate retail commerce. Online services are driven to text and email interactions. Finding a phone number for a conversation with a vendor is a 20-minute search. And when you do get a person on the phone, they are often somewhere else on the planet working for a fraction of the cost.
Asked For It
This is what consumers want. We want cheap, fast, and enough service to get the job done. Then we want to complain about the world we have made.
As a rule, I assume when I am dealing with some business, I am responsible for quality control. I don’t like that role. It means I am working for the company for free. I’m doing their job for them. But that appears to be the world we have.
Recently I was speaking with a company that asked for the account number so they could access my status. The voice coming over the phone in a monotone replied “That is not one of our numbers.” My response was, “It says account number and I’m reading it from the email you sent me.” The voice replied, “It’s not one of our numbers.”
A condensed version of what you do not want to happen between you and your students.
Unreasonably Helpful
This is where you, running the greatest karate school become unreasonable. Unreasonably Helpful.
Unreasonably Helpful looks like this. The moment at hand may well be the other person’s responsibility, their fault if you want. But you are going to fix it in spades. It’s the 1 tip on being the greatest karate school.
“Did we pay you for this month?” “I don’t have that information right now, let me check on it and I’ll have an answer for your next class, does that sound good?”
They are relieved of responsibility and you made their world easy. And, we have no idea what kind of hell their week has been. Go ahead and round out the sharp edges of the world for your school members.
Have I not gotten paid for a uniform sent home with a, “You can pay online later.” I sure have, but the value of being unreasonably helpful has paid off in a positive tone and a good experience. Positivity and good experience are spreadable, they are contagious.
In a world of limited, cost-saving customer service, go so far in meeting your student’s and client’s needs as to be unreasonable.
An Example of Unreasonably Helpful
I’ll leave you with a story of being unreasonable. A student came to class without his belt. The Divorced dad was standing behind him apologizing as his son’s belt didn’t find its way to the dad’s house that afternoon. “Just a moment.” Excusing myself for a second I produced a yellow belt.
Seconds later the kid was on the floor happy and kicking. The Dad asked, “How much for the second belt?” “I got you on this one,” extending my fist for a fist bump.
This moment isn’t about the cost of a belt, it is about being unreasonably helpful. Referring back to the earlier experience on the phone about the account number not working. It’s about a policy of extending one’s self.
Setting the experience of your martial arts school separate from the rest of the world. This separation is important. The discipline, the physical and mental challenges, yes, we all get that, we all do that, but it is about the margins it is also about being unreasonably helpful and running the greatest karate school.
Look for it and the 1 Thing Will Appear
The great thing about this policy is when you begin to look for it, it will appear. And you get an opportunity to set your school aside from a world that often doesn’t cooperate with your students.
What a wonderful place for your school to be held in their minds. Special, helpful, easy, and fun.
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KRIS WILDER
Kris Wilder is a martial artist based in Seattle Washington. He has authored many martial art books, including the classic, The Way of Kata. Making no apologies for his obsession of Football he can be found telling any who will listen about the nuances of the Canadian Football League.