𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗗𝗼 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝟲𝟬 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆, 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝘁 𝗘𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿

It's Wednesday, which means we're not talking about how to get new students, but how to keep the ones we have. 

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If you’ve ever noticed, a lot of the parents sit in the lobby on their phones while their kids train, treating martial arts as just another drop-off activity. 

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And when their child gives them any pushback about coming, it's easy to just send an email "asking if we can take a pause for now." 

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Why is it so casual? Because even if their child has friends in class, parents don't have any social connection. It's just a pit stop after work. 

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If you want your school to have strong retention, it’s imperative to build connections with everyone, not just the kids.

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Here's 2 simple way you can do it, in 60 seconds or less. 

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1) ​ At the end of every class, have students go up to one parent in the lobby, and tell them which class they are coming to next. 

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It sounds funny, but having all the kids run up to one of the moms to talk to them is adorable, and makes the parent feel like a part of the team, even if they never put their feet on the mat. 

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You'll even see people start to coordinate on days they are coming back, so it feels less like an individual activity, and more like a team sport. 

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So easy, and it takes basically no work besides one sentence. 

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But if you really want your school to have unbreakable social bonds, there's another level to this, which bring me to #2. 

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2) Introduce parents to each other

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I like to think of my martial arts school as a party, and if i'm the host, my job is to make sure everyone is smiling and having a good time, so they come back to the next one. 

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The problem is, if you've ever been to a party before where you don't know anyone besides the host, it can be awkward. People naturally retreat into their phones. 

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The easiest and quickest way you can get parents to start talking to each other is to give them something to talk about. In your NSA (New Student Application), have a question asking about the parent's occupation.

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This gives us valuable info about the parent, that we can use to spark conversation. 

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For instance "Hey Mrs. Smith , have you met Mrs. James yet? She's an orthodontist, and Mrs. James is a teacher at Clark Elementary so she works with kids too." 

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Moms usually can pickup the convo from there, Dads might need a little bit more grease for the conversation, but you get the idea.

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It forces parents to get to know each other, helping them form relationships within your school community.

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The more connected parents and students feel to your school, the harder it is for them to leave. When they form friendships with other families, it becomes about more than just training, it’s about community.

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It’s like a spider web. The more connections and lines of web you create, the stronger the web becomes. 

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In this case, those “lines” are social interactions between parents, students, and instructors. 

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The stronger the web, the harder it is for “wind and rain” (like a student trying to quit) to tear it apart.

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It’s so simple, but highly effective for keeping both kids and parents invested in your martial arts program.

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BTW- ​ I have my new website launching soon, and it will be a gold mine of free resources all in one spot for martial arts schools. Excited for you guys to see it. 

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BTW 2: 𝗪𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗽 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀. 𝗜𝗳 "𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹" 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮 𝗮𝗱𝗱 𝟯𝟬 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝟲𝟬 𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝘀, 𝗗𝗠 𝗺𝗲 "𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲" 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶'𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀.