Karate… and good customer service!

Karate… and good customer service!

                I have been doing customer service type jobs since I was 15 years old! I mean I did security but I found really quickly that security is a form of customer service really, you don’t want to toss people in such a way that they wont come back and spend money the next week and you also don’t want to leave trouble in the Bar so they tick off those that ARE spending money right now. I also did some site security were I was all alone for 9 hour shifts, but still any interaction I had with the public, be it so small, had to be appropriate. I also teach Karate and have done so for over 20 years. This might shock you…but its about 60% customer service!

                Karate actually needs more customer service in my mind.  When a Dojo collapses in on itself or a program dies because of lack of students most of the time poor soft skills or people skills are at the root of the issue. Karate instructors, especially early on or when they are under moron senior instructors (the monkey see, monkey do duche bag effect) they tend to get swollen heads and think that the black belt they have around their guts is the end all be all and makes them some kind of God. Not all instructors are like this mind you…but those people normally have exceptional customer service skills and are great teachers.

                I always said I can train a trainer, but it’s hard to teach a teacher! Trainers just bark orders and have nothing to do with you outside of putting together a lesson/work out plan and then throwing you into it. A teacher however is someone that does that, plus guides you and interacts with you. I have had “trainers” that were really good teachers and I have had “teachers” that were just trainers. I’ll show you the difference in the two by saying first that trainers don’t have customer service skills, they just have knowledge and little passion beyond the all mighty $$. Teachers would do what they do for free if they had to....and had other forms of income.

                This is not to say that some “teachers” don’t phone it in and still do it for free…No, my distinction is in the “other” skills and personality that make a person a great teacher. Customer service training should be mandatory for any person thinking about opening a club. The next thing required is a humbling by a humble person. Let the instructors know that they are GOING INTO THE SERVICE INDUSTRY and if they come across like giant duche bags then they will fail. And, to be frank….we all have the ability to have an off day, that’s not what I am talking about…its those that sit back and order students to give them respect…without first giving it.

                The first thing that an instructor must learn and master is the ability to communicate well with others.  This does not mean barking out orders in class, this means talking to parents, chatting with students and going out and “pressing the flesh” in such a way as you don’t look like a sleazy car salesman but really show concern for others and open up a bit about your passion for Karate and teaching. Be open and honest and try to reach out to others. You will be shocked how just a small amount of work in the communications department will help.

                Also, you need to keep students informed and educated about the club and organization and goings on. We live in a Email riddled world were its more likely that you will have more text messages (OMG,4 Reelz) than you will actual conversations in a day!  Time to reverse this, not just by keeping students up to date by emailing them and putting out web info on your web site…but by talking to them! Get used to it…it’s been our way of communication for…well since we learned how different grunts meant different things! Far too often we rely on just throwing an email out there and then assume that the students knew the info we were sending and then got upset when they did not show for seminars or did not know that a organization fee was past due! Heck even handing them a paper reminder and saying “DON’T FORGET THAT YOUR DUES ARE OVERDUE” is better than just emailing them and forgetting about it.

 

                We also forget that we are kind of salespeople when it comes to our Dojo’s and even if we have great administrators that talk to parents, talk to the students, get the paper work done and then show the students to the training area…we need to make a great first impression too! When a student signs up for classes or even comes in and shows interest you should be introduced or introduce yourself and chat for a bit. Make a good first impression and get to know the student, and let them see you are interested. This also goes for young students that come in and are going to be training, talk to them and their parents and introduce yourself.

                Making contact and getting that connection could mean the difference between a visiting potential student and a long term training students. Don’t be pushy but out and meet them, then introduce them to a few students to let them get comfortable with the class. This is something I need to work on as an introverted reclusive type, but I fake it good!

 

                The next thing you need to have is patience! NOT MY STRONG SUIT to be frank. I tend to be a HURRY UP AND GET IT DONE type of person. But I am patient with students. I was kind of blessed with a learning disorder…and it made me understand early on that everyone learns at a different pace and in different ways. I will teach a student hip rotation for instance and first I will tell them how to do it, then show them, if that does not work I will give them the science behind it and get them to visualize it…and when that does not work I physically touch them and force the rotation. Then I give them time to train in it and different ways to show the power of the movement.

                Patience is important when teaching, my instructor did me another favor that I will forever be in his debt for…..and hate him just a little for! He gave me KIDS to teach…like for five years. Not only did it teach me patience it taught me I actually liked kids…..in small doses! Or in small groups! Teaching kids also humbles the hell out of you. You cannot intimidate a kid or show ego…they see right through it and you lose them as students. You have to be real, humble and attentive. You have to serve their needs and not fight them and their normally high levels of energy, you have to do things that they want to do and learn to turn the boat slowly back to Karate.

            That brings me to the next point; you have to be attentive to the students’ needs as well…and to some extent to just them and their being them. I have had probably a few thousand students of my own, never mind those that are other instructors students whom come and train with me and I can honestly say I don’t think I ever taught anyone that was the same as the next person (I am pointing out the obvious in a sarcastic way). People all need different things and the nice thing about Karate is that they can get it to some extent here. You have to read people and know what they need and to do this you have to be attentive.

                Being attentive means not sitting in your office till the start of class then rushing out to teach and disappearing like a Ninja after. I had an instructor that did that and the whole time I was uncomfortable with his club. I left and found one that had the instructor training before class and after class with students. It was night and day. Being attentive also means reading the students and taking care of them when something is wrong, being empathetic and actually caring about their wellbeing. Remember they may be customers, but they are also Karate family!    

                I like to talk about “Positive Language” and how negativity tends to crush clubs. I tend to be a problem solver with issues, but I tend to also see the negatives and go after them. My problem is that I talk about the negatives and focus on them, mostly as targets but sometimes it becomes an issue. I have learned, and try to enforce, my talking about the positive things more in the club. I think that when I talk about the negative things it makes me think others feel Im astute for seeing them and not being “fooled” by others. However as I age I am starting to realize I care little for the negative people and negative issues that are associated with them and I am starting to respect the positive people around me more and more.

                If I don’t have a great relationship with a particular instructor because I feel they are bad instructors or bad people I used to mention this when others spoke with me or would talk to my juniors about the “negative” People they may come in contact with and kind of warn them about the whole thing. However, the more I age the more I realize I don’t care about the negatives as much and really just want to be happy and influence the club to be a really positive place.

                The other thing I noted was how some other martial arts do this on purpose in clubs. You see positive signs, you hear positive talk only in the club. Granted you get an instructor alone and they vent for hours about the negatives, but in front of the students…all positive! And they have huge clubs. There is a link I think between being so positive and nice to students and growth of the clubs and organization in general.

                Personally I don’t have an issue with classes that go over when I train or have an issue with people asking for additional help after class to work on Kata or answer questions, my issue with time management is when classes start later than they should, instructors get bogged down in personal stuff and don’t worry about their clubs and students or when instructors give away classes they are supposed to teach at because outside responsibilities always get in the way….let me stress ALWAYS. Hey life happens, the odd class might not run on time or you might have a special event, family responsibility or something and you cant make a class. But when you are never at your own club, give away Friday night classes every week (note Friday classes should never be run in the first place, they suck!) then you have an issue.

                Also, instructors need to make a list of things that need to be done each week, month and year and stick to them. Maintenance of the Dojo, paper work, general cleaning and such and make sure that they are done.  Far to many clubs close because the instructor does not know how to do paper work for taxes, or students get lost in the shuffle and never contacted again. Make time, schedule things and stick to them. Time management skills may be the difference between success and failure.

                My instructor has this presence about him that just calms people down. When I was a kid it was kind of out of fear, but as we both age I noticed that there was a change in the effect, he calmed people down simply by the way that he presents himself. It’s hard to describe, it’s like he is the most gentle person in the world, but I know…and everyone that knows him knows…..he is still pretty darn dangerous. It’s his complete lack of ego and his approach to handling people. He shows more love to people than his ability to harm and it pays off for him. When he comes to the Dojo it just changes the mood of training. Everyone has this increased energy and they all want to do better, not because they are scared of him, but because they want to please him.

                Your presence as an instructor should calm people down, remind them why they train and have them work hard for the sake of working hard, not because they are scared of something. You have to be calm, take surprises with a relaxed approach and really just flow with the changes in the club.

                Remember that the first part of Karate is all about sales, get them in the door and then keep em coming back.  The ability to close the “sale” or convince someone that Karate is for them is important. I am a big believer that Karate can be made to suit anyone and that as long as they are willing to put in the effort they will see the benefits of Karate. I actually feel that people that leave are missing the point and often feel they are weak spirited people….something I see as a personal issue and flaw so don’t worry…Im working on it.

                Closing the deal or helping to convince others that its for them means reaching out to others and contacting them in a meaningful way. Often you need to spend time with difficult or wavering people and work with them to remind them why they are training. Its worth it and you should be able to convince them of the value of training…that’s closing skills.

                The last thing that good customer service and Karate have in common is the need to keep learning and the ability to express your new knowledge. Always be a student. Train hard and look for new things to learn, or go back over old things to get a better understanding of it and learn from failures and how to make successes better by learning, researching and developing a better insight into the people you train with and the students you help and teach.

 

                Sometimes the difference between being a good instructor and being a great instructor with a fantastic Dojo is in who you put in key places. The Dojo is an organic and ever growing, shrinking and changing world but the keys to success are with the customers service an instructor provides. It used to be that any tough guy with a black belt could open a meat head factory and be a success. But that has all changed with the times and Karate needs to be smart about it, we need to grow our skill sets and push ourselves to be better sales people overall….as well as reminding ourselves that we need to be students always.