Lesson Payments (All Teachers)

[Eliza Fyfe]

Apart from the first cash-in-hand lesson, I don’t accept anything less than 2 or 4 lessons paid for in advance, which covers a full month of weekly/fortnightly lessons. This shows commitment for at least a month of rent!!

Still doesn’t eliminate the risk of people cancelling all lessons forever, 48 hours’ before their next scheduled lesson, which they have a right to do. I don’t mind this though, as this still gives me enough time to rebook the slot (hence 48 hour rule) and then for the regular slot renewal, I just take someone off the waiting list, which can be quite quick too.

Ts&Cs are covered upon booking either face to face or by email. They are included in more detail on my invoice which they get after their first lesson, ready to start paying advance blocks of lessons.

I like the idea of 2 weeks notice for stopping lessons – I might try this. But to be honest, having monthly lessons paid for upfront sort of eliminates this anyway, as like you say, people know the system is monthly, so can tell me ahead of time.

This also brings me to the issue I keep hearing about – first lesson cancellations. What Matthew calls “bad debt”!

One solution might be to keep a “non teaching hours” slot free each week for people to piss you about in, so that you care a bit less.

[Kat Hunter]

Up until this year students were paying me lesson by lesson. Now I ask for payment in advance (although I’m not very good at this all of the time), and people have the option of buying 4 or 10 lessons at a time, at a discount. I don’t ask for notice when people quit. I do try and ask for feedback when it happens so that I can understand if there’s something that I can do to better my teaching…. but really there’s very little we can do.

I know it’s not really helpful, but I find mindset plays into this a lot for me. I think I’ve just finally accepted 4 years into this job that people are going to not show up occasionally – this happened with a brand new student this morning in fact! There are ways to prevent this, such as maintaining a solid line of communication with the student about their needs and to make time for calling them if the alarm bells go up that they may not be engaging with your business as you’d like. At the end of the day though, you’re a service. And when people stop prioritising that service or have second thoughts or it becomes no longer as important to them, they’ll just stop coming in. in fact if they think they’ll be reprimanded for quitting, they’re probably MORE likely to cut off all lines of communication when they stop showing up, as hard as this is for us.

One way to not feel this as harshly is to be booked out so much that the break is a welcome relief (if only this was me haha!). Another point is that if the student really cared so little about you that they gave you no notice, then perhaps it’s a GOOD thing that they’re gone. And an opportunity now arises to work with someone new in that time slot who is far more enthusiastic. This will make your work much more fulfilling as well. I know this sounds bleurghhk but at the end of the day there are pros and cons to this job. The pros are getting to inspire new people all the time and helping them unleash their creativity and having the flexibility that comes with working for ourselves. The cons are that people will piss off and may take for granted the time and effort you put into them, and chasing them up is only going to make them resent you more, even though it represents a loss of income on your part. It’s bleak, but unavoidable. For me personally, even though I’ve currently made peace with this as much as possible, I know that in the long term this unpredictability will probably take its toll (what? there are jobs where you get paid leave and predictable work hours and guaranteed income?? sign me up haha) and I’ll find a more stable line of work. Sorry if that got heavy and philosophical haha.

[Eliza Fyfe]

No, well said. I don’t tolerate any bad behaviour but that’s an interesting, positive angle to take! I do welcome the break sometimes and also agree that I’m glad to not have to work with people that don’t show up!

[Mark Palmer]

I don’t think its healthy(for us as teachers) to make expectations that could on the worst side of a situation, leave us feeling let down or out of pocket. What works for me personally is students paying for booked time in advance, i expect no more than that and i always end up with what i expect financially, and consequently I’m rarely annoyed or let down. This wasn’t always the case!

If they want to quit at any point, i accept that its their prerogative to do so…in other words you can’t control their decision(we would all like to think they would play ball with our T&Cs when they agree and start lessons with us). Trying to enforce particular T&Cs that are seemingly unenforceable is a road to frustration when dealing with certain types of people. Make your T&Cs so that you’re guarded by them, rather than relying on someones decency or expected social etiquette(even if you have made it clear and they agreed to them). Some people will always take the road of least confrontation/friction…telling someone that their services aren’t required seems to be too much for some people and they will avoid that at all costs.

Its disheartening, esp when you’ve made it very clear, but the reality is people will behave this way. Protect yourself and your time with advance payments and then let the rest happen, if they’re messing you about by not turning up or stopping before they agreed, then they’re making room for a new student with a better attitude

[Kat Hunter]

“Some people will always take the road of least confrontation/friction…telling someone that their services aren’t required seems to be too much for some people and they will avoid that at all costs.”

Yes, this is so true. Totally agree with your points, Mark! I think by nature a lot of us music teachers are sometimes quite assertive, organised or upfront, as these are often skills that come with the job. So sometimes it’s hard for us to put ourselves in the shoes of those who would avoid talking to you about whether or not your service is still relevant to them at all costs! We need not be disheartened though. 1. You can never please everybody 2. Even the people you do please may not be the right fit for you forever. Sometimes people just decide no. 2 of their own accord haha.