If you want to feel a little better about your business

Try some marketing reasearch. When I told my student volunteer the other day that I wanted her to do a little marketing research for me, she went silent. I asked her "Do you know what that means?" Her answer: Calling people? No no, I said, it means finding out who your competitors are, seeing what they do, where you are positioned in your market, you know, that kind of thing. Relief. So I put her on the task of finding us on the web (we're pretty much not there in the traditional sense), then getting the info on the others.

To my surprise:

1. There were lots of LIST sites where people can get info on where to do things like take English classes, etc. We are not there (do people use them?).

2. We had more competitors than I thought. But on closer look I realized that some people were LISTED as doing what we do, but really do other things and wanted more visibility.

3. Many language schools offer a gazillion things (every language possible, computer classes, etc) so that they can try to appeal to everyone.

4. Many of these schools are franchises/chains. Like McDonalds for learning languages.

5. Offering tests and certifications are supposed to show that you are serious.

6. Everybody and their mother is a "CULTURAL ASSOCIATION" even when they are clearly a for profit business.

I have to admit this first part of the project got me a little down. After all, how are the little guys like us supposed to compete with multi-nationals, and the sheer number of competitors (I personally can think of only one that feels like an actual competitor) was a little depressing. So I decided to take action and have my volunteer call these other schools (after I told her she wouldn't have to do any calling. I had to explain that this was different. No selling involved-- let them sell to you!)

I wanted a simple piece of information: How much does a private lesson in English cost? To be sure, this was a difficult job for my volunteer, who felt like she was lying to the schools by asking for this information, she was sure they knew she was an imposter, etc. To which I said, you're a student, you're getting information. Basta.

This part made me feel better and here is what I learned.

1. There are schools that charge more than us, but not much more (my fear was being on the low end, which is not a good place).

2. The same schools that offer a gazillion things also charge less and (incidentally, from personal past experience with at least one of them) pay their teachers about half what we do (always pay your teachers as much as you can).

3. One school was going out of business next week (one of those franchises).

4. About half of the schools would not give this sensitive information on the phone. They were also snitty and made my volunteer feel bad. So let's talk about this for a moment.

Bad marketing strategy-- the old "get them into the office so they can't say no" routine. I wouldn't touch one of those places with a 10 meter stick. The idea makes me feel itchy, like they're going to convert me to something strange when I get there. No thank you.

5. Our hours, which are 4-8pm Monday through Friday (well, in summer we close on Fridays) are actually AWESOME. A lot of these places had no one answering the phone after 6, when many people finish work.

So I'm feeling a little better. Yes, there is more work to do (lots), but I know more about who we are and where we are (more importantly) and I am more convinced than ever that transparency is the way to go. People ask you a question about your business, answer them truthfully. You can still respond to your clients' needs, but having different pricing options for different folks just smells funny from the outside.

Thanks, Jasmina, for stepping out of your comfort zone for us yesterday. BTW, I try not make my volunteers do tooooo much, but in this case, I couldn't have done the calling myself. My American accent would have given me away and then my research results would have been botched.