Fred Astaire Instructor

[LateToTheDance]

Monica -

And, be ready for terrible, terrible students like us (DW & I) who take one private per week, and little else. Some students just don't want and don't care about competing and Showcases, and just want to be the best social dancers possible. Even offered a free Showcase formation team participation recently, we just thanked them and declined. So far, the franchise's best sales pitches after a lesson or even in the "little closing room" have proven ineffective against our apathy.

Well, they did get us to sign up for more than the Groupon intro offer that got us in the door a few years ago, and so I'll give them that.

Best wishes to you Monica!

 

[IndyLady]

Monica -

And, be ready for terrible, terrible students like us (DW & I) who take one private per week, and little else. Some students just don't want and don't care about competing and Showcases, and just want to be the best social dancers possible. Even offered a free Showcase formation team participation recently, we just thanked them and declined. So far, the franchise's best sales pitches after a lesson or even in the "little closing room" have proven ineffective against our apathy.

Also, for students like me, who, not grasping the big picture and being frustrated by repeated sales pitches and constantly being asked to spend money here or there, has blown up at people behind closed doors (or sometimes not behind said doors) when I'm at the end of my rope. I'm not proud of that, but on the plus side I pretty much don't get a whole lot of sales pressure anymore, probably because I established something of a reputation due to those conversations. It sticks even though I have mellowed out a lot since then, now that I have a better understanding of everyone's agenda. For example, when I first started taking lessons I was annoyed at how pushy my instructor was to re-schedule a lesson if we couldn't make it, rather than just cancel that week... because I didn't understand that was affecting his paycheck. I also had an instructor who I swear asked me to do something every single lesson (participate in event, help promote something, buy something, etc etc... not just "take a heel lead here") and I finally called him out on that, not very diplomatically. Just sayin', even people who love dance may not respond positively, or even politely to the sales pitches, especially if they become frequent or increasingly high pressure (which may be a function of what your management asks you to do).

(which is good salesmanship, right? Getting a feel for what makes a person tick, and using that in the sales pitch). Or, sometimes I didn't, and I would just say no. But just because I can recognize it doesn't mean I can succeed at doing it myself--so, we'll see!

In theory yes... but when I know myself well enough to know that you are trying to use what makes me tick to sell me something... well, this can get tricky.


To be clear, I am not trying to rain on the parade... just want you to be aware of some of these dynamics so it doesn't blindside you in a bad way.

 

[Rhythmdancer]

"Do you want to make you art commodity? Answer that. Because the choice is the most difficult choice you're going to have to make. That's going to guide and effect everything else that you're doing. When I think about how that's shown up in my life, it's shown up in some incredibly beautiful and some incredibly difficult ways. When art is your commodity, when you're just a poet, and you're doing it as a hobby, it's like " I want to show up at this open mic and rock my love poem, you know I'm in love. I want to rock my heartbreak poem because she just left me. Or I want to do my suicide depression poem because I'm feeling down." And now when your art because comes your job, it's like "I've got to rock this phone bill poem" - Sekou Andrews

It doesn't matter what studio you go to or which teachers you ask. You have to seriously ask yourself, do you want to turn your art into a commodity? You go to teach at a studio with the best sales and dance training programs but, if you aren't ready to commodify your passion, it won't work.

 

[singndance]

Hi Monica, although I am not an instructor, I've been a student in the Fred Astaire system for a long time. The regional owners here seem to invest a lot in their franchise owners and instructors. They are always bringing in good coaches to elevate the dancing, but I know they also run many seminars to teach their people good sales and business practices. Over the years, I have seen many, many instructors do very well, and go on to open their own studios. I have also seen instructors leave to take sales positions in other industries and do very well, having benefited from the training they received at Fred Astaire. Since you are young and enthusiastic about what you have experienced already, how bad can it be to give it a try? You may decide after a year or so that it is not for you, but the time is not lost or wasted as long as you have dedicated yourself to learn the business. Best of luck to you.