Bye bye 2020

 

As we all take a collective huge sigh as 2020 leaves us, I just wanted to close by saying stay safe and stay happy.  I gather that more Covid tests and also vaccination jabs are the order of the day as we enter 2021.  Let's hope that things eventually get better even if it may mean more disruption with driving training and driving/theory tests for the first few months.

If you are monitoring this blog with an interest in joining the BIG TOM Franchise, then what an opportunity these forced breaks provide!  It may not be ideal in terms of the fact that we are off the road, but this is a superb time to reflect on your driving school and how you run your business.  The BIG TOM Franchise offers so many benefits; decreased exposure to Covid, no cancellations, increased pupil retention, advanced payments with no compromise on earnings potential.  But of course, the sooner you get in touch, the sooner we can introduce you to the systems we have in place that surprise and delight our customers.

It's been a tough year, but there is so much opportunity for BIG TOM Franchisees in 2021 - it is a fantastic opportunity to get much smarter about how you go about your business and start taking control of outcomes.

Stay safe everyone.

Customers who want more

 

Some driving instructors might struggle to retain pupils and it is easy to shrug off these customers and move on to the next.  With the BIG TOM Franchise, customers are either purchasing a 20 or 40-hour course, and that kind of loyalty must be fully respected.  It means the customer recognises the value that the franchise offers and understandably expects to receive the same.  

For customers who need it, they are offered the option of purchasing "bolt-on" sessions subsequent to their course; a very clear indication that they are pleased with the service being provided and happy to purchase more.  Why would this happen?  It can be for a variety of reasons.  Perhaps the pupil struggles with a particular aspect of driving and needs some more practice to increase confidence or competence.  Levels of aptitude vary between pupils and some just need a bit more practice.  It makes a great deal of sense for a pupil to continue with the same instructor and driving school car; changing these while learning to drive can be very distracting for some.

Safety is the number one priority of BIG TOM Driving School which is why we don't engage in these utterly pointless statistics that can be seen by other providers.  The key performance measure for us is the satisfaction level of the customer.  Happy customers who are confident and able is the goal.  Thrusting customers into driving tests when they are ill-prepared is not what we are about.

Running an efficient driving school

 

A common cause of stress for driving instructors centres around efficiency.  Most of us by nature like to be smart about the way we organise our lives.  Unfortunately, it is far too often the case that instructors find their plans being ruined simply due to circumstances beyond their control.  Late cancellations, long gaps between lessons, a lesson tagged on the end of a long day; all of these unwelcome aspects of daily work cause stress, fatigue and anxiety - hardly the ingredients that make for a pleasant work environment.

The BIG TOM Franchise is centred around making work more manageable and enjoyable.  It means that franchisees have the power to organise their schedule to be more efficient.  Why work with four pupils for an hour a time, with thirty minutes between each pupil, when it is far better to work with one pupil for four hours?  Less travel time, less possibility of cancellations, less exposure to Covid.

A BIG TOM Franchisee can book up twenty hours of driving training for just one pupil in a week.  That's just the one pupil to concentrate on and really get to know how they tick so that the training can be adapted to their needs.  The great thing is that there is no compromise on earning potential - none whatsoever.  The business support that a BIG TOM Franchisee receives means that there is no need for desperately long days working for £25/hour.  Our experience and knowledge enable you to build your business setting the terms on pricing, working hours and coverage to suit your circumstances.  We can plug any gaps in knowledge or business know-how to help you establish a driving school to be proud of, that pays bills and keeps you satisfied.

Administrative support

 

Driving instructors love their job; they enjoy all the benefits of working outside but without getting cold. More often than not, they have a deep desire to help others. They recognise the importance of their work and see that they add value to their local community.  

What they don't necessarily like is the other aspect of running a successful driving school; let's look in this blog at what some of them are, and how the BIG TOM Franchise helps.

Marketing effort - driving instructors can be great at facilitating learning but not always so good at telling others about the value they provide. The BIG TOM Franchise takes this pressure away from franchisees because it has tried and tested techniques to create your very own 'shop window'.

Technology - websites, SEO, blogs, social media, emails... the list goes on and on. The beauty of having the support of a centralised admin is activities that involve technology are done without our franchisees even knowing. 

Continued learning - franchisees are informed of new things that arise — things like GDPR, safeguarding, presenting at school safety talks, revised driving standards and DVSA procedures.

Pupil retention - some instructors struggle to retain pupils. The Franchise includes this very important topic in the induction training. 

Competition - there may be an abundance of work now, but it doesn't necessarily always remain that way. BIG TOM has the experience of trading in a variety of economic phases and can help you to stand out from the crowd.

All training is provided either online or in-person and reinforced in the BIG TOM Training Manual.  

Willing and able to help

 

The mark of an instructor is what happens when a pupil is struggling.  In any profession, someone can "look good" when all is well, but it is when there are challenging circumstances in our day to day work that the more skilled are still able to achieve good results.  In our Franchise induction training, we dedicate a day of in-car practical training on this subject.  

A pupil may struggle to make progress when learning to drive for a variety of reasons.  As such, it is a skilled instructor who can identify a loss or decline in learning, and create a constructive dialogue with pupils to achieve goals.  Often this will come down to the 'lens' in which the pupil perceives things; so having an instructor who only deals with his or her own perceptions is really not much help.  In addition to that, it is one thing identifying an obstacle to learning, quite another to remove it.

But this is one of the areas where the BIG TOM Franchise really does help to support franchisees.  A successful driving school business relies on creating satisfied customers, and BIG TOM Driving School prides itself on being able to work with pupils who have a range of needs. So if you can demonstrate some of the skills that particularly help pupils who are struggling, then you are the kind of instructor that we are looking for.

How would you like to be treated on driving lessons?

 

I attended a webinar last week hosted by the DIA with guests from the ICO.  There were many interesting topics that cropped up specific to our work as driving instructors such as use of video recording devices inside and outside the car and handling of personal data of pupils.

What I found particularly interesting was the response that the ICO gave when a question was asked about the lawfulness of taking the temperature of pupils prior to a driving lesson.  After lockdown 1, I fully subscribed to the DIA Covid "Toolbox" and implemented a strategy using their guidance as a template.  The kinds of things that I did was keeping rear windows open, health screening questions prior to training, wearing facemasks, no heating air con, hourly disinfecting of the controls, no exchanging of items inside the car, storage of personal items in a clean plastic bag in the boot and yes, taking the temperature of pupils by using a contactless thermometer, regular deep clean of the car.  

Every single customer complied.  After a while, I started hearing about students in classrooms who were sitting shivering at their desk because the windows in schools also had to be open.  I also developed over a period of about a week of driving with windows partially open, a really stiff neck that was creating a great deal of pain because as an instructor we need to be turning our head around a lot in a training session, not relying on pupils observations.  My wearing a scarf to try and protect my neck had no effect as the damage had been done - I was in agony and hardly able to turn my head without triggering really sharp pain.  There were a few evenings when I found myself providing training, and I looked at my pupils who were doing their best at driving when the temperature in the car was actually very cold.  This all started to play on my mind.

I had prepared a set of 11 questions to ask pupils prior to training.  I used to send this off to them by email, the day before training and ask them if there were any differences to the answers that they initially provided.  It included things like the family circumstances at home regarding infection, shielding or isolation or test & trace.  It asked about travel in higher risk areas in the UK or abroad.  So when a customer had provided those answers initially, I would print it off and add it to the pupil record.  I have strict processes in place regarding storage and retention of personal data as I have been registered with the ICO for many years.

But something wasn't quite sitting comfortably with me.  I aired my concerns on a Facebook group for driving instructors.  No-one, not one single person publicly supported my reservations about what we were doing.  But I considered it too much.  I thought it wasn't a dignified way to treat another person.  The personal information being asked represented disclosing of medical facts which did not sit well with me, and on a more basic level, I didn't consider it proportionate to forcibly take someone's temperature - I'm a driving instructor, not a nurse!  I say that because that is what was being enforced here; it may be indirect, but the implication is that IN ORDER for a customer to get a driving lesson, they must allow me to take their temperature.  

So back to the ICO webinar, it was of no surprise to me that when asked about this very question of taking temperature, the reply did confirm that it was disproportionate and therefore illegal.  The host interviewer was naturally rather taken aback by this reply because it directly flew in the face of what the DIA had advised its 10,000+ members across the UK.  But even with some attempted justification by the host, the ICO were very clear, that there are less intrusive ways of vetting someone's health that does not involve the need for taking of temperature - it was a disproportionate action and illegal.

What can we all gain from this?  My stance on these things is to consider how I would personally like to be treated if I were the one looking for driving training.  If you are either a trainee instructor or already DVSA registered, I think this is not a bad idea to keep in mind while you offer your service.  Granted, I am referring in this blog to the disproportionate actions of requesting sensitive medical data and taking of temperature, but honestly, it is just as applicable to the way we conduct our work on a daily basis.   Last night I did a few hundred "ADI" theory questions online and included were the 'instructional techniques' questions.  It does no harm at all reminding ourselves about the core principles of instructional technique because it serves as a reminder about how we should be interacting with pupils in an effective manner that maintains dignity, respect and decency.

Revitalise your driving school in 2021

 

The BIG TOM Franchise will particularly appeal to ADI's who have established their driving school, love their work, but don't particularly enjoy the "business" side of things.  It can help driving schools across the UK with all of the essentials that are needed for a successful business.  It provides the opportunity of all the advantages of an established brand with reliable systems but without the fixed monthly fee.  

Right now, we are enjoying a market full of demand.  But any business person who has been around a while will know that market conditions can change.  With the BIG TOM Franchise, you only contribute to the franchise when you are working - there isn't a flat fee that has to be paid regardless of demand.  This is a significant improvement in the business model offered by other national driving school franchises because it means you stay in control of the finances and minimise your risks.

That's why you see in the strapline - less risk, more control.

If you aren't quite achieving the growth that you hoped for in your driving school financial returns, give us a call.  You lose nothing in understanding precisely how we can help to create a successful driving school.