There are a variety of ways that music schools give a “sample” of their programs to their prospective students.
Free trial lessons
The 30-day lesson pass
Phone or Zoom consults
These have their place… but an often overlooked structure is the “open house.”
This solution solves many of the challenges that music schools face when enrolling a new student.
And schools that use a group lesson model are uniquely positioned to use this format effectively.
Why the Open House Model Works Well for Group Lesson Schools
Group lesson programs allow for greater capacity in your school and have the ability to significantly increase your margins.
Why delay those benefits?
Why begin a new student in a one-on-one trial lesson when they’re just going to go into a group in the very next lesson?
When enrolling new students, you have the opportunity to bring those students into the group environment from the very beginning.
By seeing students in group from their very first lesson, you can:
- Normalize the group environment for the student
- Build trust with the parent as they see the student succeed in a class format that might be new to parents
- Experience the benefits of social proof as parents see other students succeed in the same group lesson environment
- See up to a dozen beginner students in just 30 minutes during the open house (try doing that with a 1-on-1 free trial lesson model!!!!)
Now – you could just put a new student right into a pre-existing beginner group…
But, that will draw a teacher’s attention away from the current students.
This has the potential to decrease the experience of an enrolled student… and cause a customer relations problem with parents!
Better to have students come to an open house!
What is an Open House?
How does an open house work?
Let’s look at the original Piano Express location in northern Virginia.
Twice a week, the Piano Express Studio hosts an open house… a time that anyone from the community can bring their child to the studio and have their first lesson using the Piano Express curriculum.
The prospective students have the full undivided attention of a Piano Express teacher… and learn the first lesson out of the Piano Express group method.
During that first lesson, students learn class procedures, how to read pre-staff music, how to read rhythm, and use the Piano Express software tools.
Furthermore, it gives a Piano Express teacher the opportunity to demonstrate the Piano Express’ teaching tools, talk about the core values of the studio, and answer any questions that parents have.
This is more easily accomplished in an open house where the undivided attention can be given to the new families and students.
To see an open house in action… check out the video below (you can watch at double speed if you want to save time).
In this particular open house, the parents were only interested in enrolling one of their children.
Greg suggested that they let their younger son participate in the class.
You can see that the parents were shocked at how well he took to the class and the teaching tools!
They ended up enrolling both children… not just one!
Conclusion
Open houses are an effective way to enroll a large number of students for a music school.
And, they are especially effective for studios that are using the group lesson format.
For further thoughts on this enrollment tool, check out Greg’s interview on the 7-Figure Music School podcast about group lessons and open houses.
QUICK NOTE: Click here if you’d like to begin the Piano Express training for free.
Do you have additional thoughts or questions?
Let us know in the comments below!