My Nickel Jar

Have you ever started a joke, a joke that took on a life of its own? Well that is exactly what happened to me several years ago.

As any one who runs a martial arts school will tell you, we school owners spend a lot of time and effort trying to figure the best ways to attract new students. Ad space in newspapers can be expensive, and even an advertisement in the yellow pages doesn’t guarantee phone inquires.

In the eleven years I’ve had a school, a great deal of time, and trial and error has gone into the this aspect of the business. So far I’ve tried every idea I could think of, short of running a commercial on the local TV channels or radio stations--two ideas that will most likely never happen due to costs.

My frustration with advertising the school is not what media works best. All I can do is inform the public that the school exists. If there is an interest, then people will come. Unfortunately, people either want to learn martial arts or they don’t. It’s not an activity most people can be talked into.

Now don’t get me wrong, I get numerous phone and e-mail inquires every month. At least a dozen, which for a school my size and the limited advertisement we do, is pretty good.

I also make a lot of appointments for people to visit and try out a free class. That’s were the frustration starts.

I don’t understand why so many people make appointments and then don’t keep them. I wasn’t raised that way. If I say I’m going to do something I do it. If something prevents me from doing what I said I would, then I either make other arrangements or inform the interested parties I’m unable to do as I promised. I think that is simple common sense. Simple courtesy.

What is even more amazing to me are the callers who want to come as soon as possible, or tell me how they have been searching for a school like mine for years, and then don’t show up.

Why make such a fuss in the first place. Why bother making an appointment. Is it really that hard to pick up a phone and say they had second thoughts and wanted to cancel their appointment?

Now I don’t think these people are “evil,” and I’m sure many of them have very legitimate reasons for failing to keep the appointment they make. I just think it would be nice if they had a little more courtesy, and kept me informed.

Since I’ve never understood people who act in this manner, I once long ago made the statement that if I had a nickel for every person who didn’t show up for their appointment I would be rich.

To be honest I don’t have a nickel jar. However, each time a potential student fails to show up for an appointment I do put a dollar in my piggy bank. Yes, it’s true that I’ll never be able to retire on what’s in that piggy bank, but I think by the end of the year I should have enough money to buy something really nice for the school.