Recruiting

How to fill your schedule with new students

Some people know they want to become pilots -others have not yet caught the "bug" but would, if exposed.

Have you ever noticed how some flight instructors' schedules always seem to be packed, even when everyone else is slow? How the heck do they do that? The answer is simple enough - those go-getters recruit many of their own students and always have more waiting in the wings. Whether self-employed or working for a flight school, most CFIs find that to be really successful they must do a certain amount of student recruiting themselves.

Despite rumors to the contrary, there's no shortage of aspiring pilots. The problem is that not everyone interested in flying is aggressive or confident enough to come to the airport and sign up for lessons. Some know they want to become pilots - others have not yet caught the "bug" but would, if exposed.

The trigger, for many would-be fliers, is meeting the right instructor. Once they've identified an expert they like and trust, and perhaps had a few nagging questions answered, those long-postponed flying lessons can finally begin. The best recruiting opportunities come from meeting these closet aviators at early stages of interest.

Hardly an instructor alive has trouble selling flying to those already interested in learning, but where can we find more of those prospects? Flight instruction is not so different from professional services offered by doctors, accountants, and attorneys. Rather than advertising, most of those folks build their business through networking, or "word of mouth." Through community involvement, they develop prospects for their services. That approach works just as well for selling flight lessons.

So our first tool for attracting new students is visibility. Sign on as tour guide at the local air museum - you'll be explaining airplanes to visitors already intrigued by flight. Volunteer to work at aviation events your prospects are likely to attend. Air shows are great because they draw aviation enthusiasts from the general public, as do airport open houses and pancake fly-ins.

Obviously, it's important to work the information stand at such events, not direct traffic in the parking lot. The objective, after all, is to interact with as many people as you can. In fact, for larger events it often pays to set up your own booth. Construct a professional-looking sign and make yourself available to answer questions about flying and airplanes. If your flight school won't cover the cost of the booth, split it with other CFIs and share the duty. There should be plenty of business for everyone.

Next are speaking engagements. Have you ever noticed how many community organizations have monthly meetings? - the Chamber of Commerce, Lions, and Kiwanis clubs, church, charitable and civic groups, men's and women's organizations, and business and professional associations for everyone from car dealers to doctors. Every one of these organizations is looking for speakers. Work to get on the agenda for at least one of those functions every month. The topic? Flying, of course.

Yet another way to attract new students is through teaching. A good performance in the classroom defines you as an expert to your pupils. They'll beg you to take them on as flight students. That's why it's so important to teach private and instrument pilot ground schools whenever possible. Getting the assignment is easy enough because many CFIs don't want to do it. Even if someone else is already teaching the ground school you can volunteer as an assistant. By your helping attendees with labor-intensive topics such as flight planning, prospective flight students will recognize you as an expert. Ground schools are such great recruiting opportunities that if your school doesn't offer them, you should volunteer to set one up.

Many community colleges offer introductory pilot ground school courses, too, but few offer flight instruction to go with them. Talk about opportunity - your pupils will be quizzing you about where and how to do the flying. Contact your local community college and offer your services. (In some states you may need to apply for a community college teaching certificate.)

Then there are seminars. Many people interested in learning to fly don't know much about it. Address that group through an "Introduction To Flying" course at your flight school. Pick an evening when most people can attend, send an announcement to the local newspaper's community events section, scour the presentation room spotless, and order some simple refreshments.

These introductory presentations should emphasize the benefits of becoming a pilot, more than the process. Offer some tonight-only specials for attendees to enroll for lessons right away. The best incentives go beyond the introductory lesson. Think about offering a ground school enrollment discount, a solo package special, or "take four flying lessons and receive the fifth one free." The more lessons you have to get them hooked, the better.

Attendance at seminars of all kinds varies tremendously based on its title, day of the week, and dumb luck. One session may be packed while the next is unattended. (Be prepared to eat all those chocolate-chip cookies yourself!) So rather than offering just one seminar, it's important to plan a series. Schedule them all, promote them, and see them through.

Many CFIs work other jobs while getting their instructing business off the ground. These can be great marketing opportunities, too. For example, large companies often have newsletters and bulletin boards for gainfully-employed people who can afford to fly. Post some notices, and put up some airplane pictures in your cubicle and see if anybody notices.

Fine restaurants, country clubs, and golf courses are places where you can make good money while meeting plenty of successful people. Sure, not everyone is going to be a prospect, and with most patrons the topic of airplanes will never come up. But if you do a good job at work, it's surprising how many people will chat with you about your "other" life. The regulars will come to know you as "that flight instructor who works at the country club," and next thing you know, they'll be referring students.

By now you should be asking yourself, "Gee whiz! How can I possibly talk with enough people at all these places to find out who's interested in flying?" The answer is incredibly simple. You don't have to talk with everybody. Just wear something aviation-related, wherever you go. That way while you're doing your volunteer work, playing a round of golf, out for dinner, or working out at the gym, others will know instantly that you're a pilot. T-shirts, hats, ties, everything aviation is noticed by those who care.

Even when working as a bartender or golf caddie, you may be able to wear a playful airplane tie or shirt. On uniforms and suits, aviation tie tacks and lapel pins are noticed far more often than you might think.

The point is that for you to attract students, everyone must know you're a pilot, and that you love flying. The farther away from the airport you get, the more important it is to wear your profession on your sleeve, or your lapel, your tie, or wherever. When someone at the swimming pool asks you about your "Lucky Lindy" bathing trunks, odds are pretty good that you're the only aviation expert around. Now you've got yet another new prospect - even if your business cards are all wet.

Speaking of business cards, what we CFIs are selling is excitement, adventure, and fun, so that's what we need to convey on our business cards. The best way to do it is with a smashing color photo. Everyone who touches your card should see something like a Cherokee soaring over Monument Valley at sunset, and exclaim, "Cool! You actually fly airplanes? I have always wanted to do that!"

With a dynamite business card, you don't even have to raise the issue that you're a flight instructor. If the person on the receiving end of your card is even slightly interested in flying, or knows someone who is, you're going to hear about it. What's more, with every pass through the business card file, he (or she) will be reminded just how cool flying is, and that you're the lucky person who teaches people how to do it. (Yes you can afford them. Color business cards are available for as little as $100 a thousand. Write me at Flight Training if you can't find a source.)

Those exciting new business cards are going to infect you with the irresistible urge to hand them to everyone you meet. That's terrific, but remember to hand over your new cards to prospective students only after collecting theirs. That way you'll have their address and phone number for follow up after meeting them.

We've covered a lot of ground in the last few paragraphs. Not every CFI can do everything we've discussed at one time. But the more visible you are as a CFI, the greater the demand for your services. Get out there and broadcast to everyone who will listen that you're a flight instructor, you carry the key to the most exciting activity on Earth, and you're proud of it. Before long you'll find people waiting in line to sign on!