Things have changed a lot in the 16 years I’ve been part of the driving instruction industry, and the way in which I have run my driving school has had to change keep up.  One thing that hasn’t changed though is my definition of success.

From starting as an independent driving instructor as soon as I qualified, to starting a multi-car school 4 years later, I’ve learnt to adapt along the way.  So what are those changes I’ve had to make?  I’d like to share them with you, as I’m hoping you may find some of the following information useful.

The Road to Success

Back in 1997, I set up as “Claire Moores’ School of Motoring”.  Right from the start I was incredibly busy.  I think I had the low number of ADIs and the large number of 17 year olds partially to thank.  Other things that I think contributed were:

• Being female – there were less female driving instructors to choose from.
• Using my name – gives a more personal touch and learners looking for a female instructor knew from looking at my car (and looking at me hopefully!) that I was a female driving instructor.
• Doing a good job – Recommendations contributed to probably 99% of my work.
• My desire to better myself – Launching myself headlong into a journey of CPD, this made me a better ADI and my confidence grew with everything I learnt.

4 years later in 2001, I set up a driving school with a business partner, Glyn.  We looked to build a multi-car school.  This went from strength to strength, with 26 instructors at the height.  So what did we do to ensure that outcome?

• I was responsible for training most of the instructors we had working at the school
• We had a great team of instructors
• I used to nag our instructors to do CPD, and not always with a positive outcome!
• We spent heavily on advertising – a whopping £9000 a year on our Yellow Pages advert alone!
• My business partner and I were excellent at converting calls into customers
• We later had to go online and our first website was launched in 2005
• Shopping centre promotions proved a big hit

Things were going good until the recession hit in 2008/2009.  Business got harder and supporting the amount of instructors we had was going to get tough.  We had to adapt.

Changes we made:

• Now all the cars were to be sign written and about 6 instructors didn’t want their cars done (they were their own cars), so we had to part ways
• Prices were reduced from an earlier price rise a year or two before
• We introduced a first lesson half price offer
• A second and better website was launched
• Directory advertising continued
• We had stands at trade shows
• We encouraged the instructors to promote themselves and get more recommendations and introduced a franchise review where the franchise was reduced the less work they took directly from us.

At the lowest point during the recession, we had 13 instructors and from that point onwards it was about growing organically.  We built up again steadily and today we have 20 instructors.  So what has worked and what hasn’t?  We have always monitored where new learners found out about us and this helps target the right kind of marketing.  Here are our findings:

What doesn’t work well?

• Newspaper advertising:  I did this once when I was independent and got one new learner – I didn’t bother with it again after that!  As a multi-car school, we tried it several times without much success.  My guess is that not many 17 year olds read the newspaper!  Is it where parents may look?  Possibly in days gone by, but probably not now in this age of technology.
• Directory advertising:  This worked well for a number of years pre-internet.  Almost everyone used the books to find what they needed.  Again, in this age of technology, the books have become a poor investment for new customer leads.  We haven’t used them for about 4 years.
• Leaflet drops:  These are notorious for their low conversion rate.  Does anyone who lives at that house want to learn to drive?  And if so, will they see your leaflet before it goes in the bin?  Is it likely to be filed ready for when someone in that house is ready to learn to drive? The probable place it will be filed is in the recycling bin!

What can work:

• Directory web sites:  In my opinion, not a good way to invest.  Most people searching for a driving school want to see a driving school website in as little clicks as possible, and going through a directory only lengthens the process.  However, sites that allow reviews can work well and, if linked to your website, can boost your search rankings.
• Trade shows: If targeted properly these can get leads, especially if you are willing to give away lessons as a prize draw; it’s a great way of getting email addresses from potential future customers.
• ‘Staff discounts’ for people working at a particular place.  For example, offering discounts for anyone working at your local McDonalds (most people working there will be in your target age range).
• Printed butty bags:  At carefully located butty shops near colleges, your name will be seen literally every college day by all the students buying their lunch (or dinner depending on where you’re from!).
• Shopping centre promotions: Our local shopping centre was within walking distance of the two main colleges in Oldham and our stand always used to be outside Greggs, which was very handy when the students were queuing to get their lunch!

What does work (for us anyway!):

• Recommendations!  This continues to be one of our main sources of work.  An excellent reputation virtually guarantees referral after referral.
• Sign-written cars:  Especially if Mum or Dad are responsible for finding a driving instructor for their son or daughter, it can create a more ‘professional’ image.  I would guess that the majority of Mums and Dads booking with BSM and AA do so because they ‘appear’ to be the more professional and more established driving schools.  It also makes cars stand out and people notice them more.  I’ve lost count of how many times people say to me ‘I see your cars EVERYWHERE!’
• A top ranking website:  This is a MUST for us.  A website will only work if it features highly on search engines when potential customers look for ‘driving lessons Oldham’ and such like.  I think it’s also important to have good content and make it customer focused rather than instructor led (where have we heard that before?!).
• Facebook and other social media – Love it or loathe it, it’s where our potential 17 year old customers interact.  I’m still learning how to use it (and always will be!), but using Facebook has been the one big most recent change that has found its way into our marketing strategies.
• Under 17 Driver Training – We have run our ‘Head Start Programme’ for 15 and 16 year olds since 2003. It really helps younger drivers get to grips with the basics of car control in a safe, off-road environment before they start driving on the road at 17. When they do turn 17, the majority of them book their driving lessons with us.

None of these strategies would work for long though without an excellent team of instructors to back us up.  Who you choose to represent your driving school is one of the most important business decisions you can make.  Anyone who doesn’t measure up has to go; you can’t afford for the reputation of your instructors to be tarnished by one that isn’t doing anything less than a great job!

I know there are many other things that you can do to market a driving school, either as a sole trader or a multi-car school, but really think about where to spend your time and money.  Find a few things that make a big difference and work on them rather than doing lots of little things that make a small difference.

In future posts we will look at what works well in more detail.

So what’s my interpretation of ‘success’ in business?  If you’re still interested and you’ve read this all the way to the end……

‘Success is finding something you love to do, doing it well and always striving to do it better.  Success for me isn’t about financial reward, it’s about achieving excellence and being the best!’

ACTION STEP:  Write down YOUR definition of ‘success’ in business.  List the strategies that are working for you at bringing in new business.  What strategies aren’t working so well?  What new strategies will you start to implement?  When will you start?

We’d love to hear your stories of what strategies are working well for you and your driving school, so please add your comments below.  And remember, if you liked this article and know someone else that could benefit from it, please hit one of the social sharing buttons below!