Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 22 | Issue 1

EXTRAORDINARY MARKETING
Is Everyone in Your Boat Rowing
in the Same Direction? (Part 1)
by Grandmaster Stephen Oliver
Do you have anyone on your team who is constantly pulling in
a different direction? It doesn’t have to mean that they are right or
wrong, stupid or brilliant.
As owner, you’re the leader. Everyone’s got to be on your
page. They’ve got to march to your drumbeat. If you have students
or staff (especially staff) who are constantly pulling in the wrong
direction, they’ve got to go.
They may be very successful somewhere else. Don’t feel bad
about moving them on to a new path. But you CANNOT have staff
or students who are pulling in a different direction. At best, they’re
a distraction. At worst, they’re a cancer that spreads. Be ruthless in
fixing this RIGHT AWAY.
Over the years I was VERY good at developing
this esprit de corps within my schools.
One significant reason is that it wasn’t
about me. It wasn’t about having everything
revolve around me as the teacher
or “Master.” It was about introducing new
students to each other. About introducing
new students to the black belts and other
senior students. It was about making the
black belts responsible for each other.
It was about creating situations
and opportunities for parents
to bond with one another.
I would organize carpools.
Introduce parents
to each other during class
during class transitions.
I’d create various
“teams.” Black Belt Prep
was a team activity. Senior
“nonpaid” students were
assigned leadership roles.
In many cases, the staff
was much less important
than the senior students in
being the glue that held things together.
I also made sure that NO ONE fell through the cracks. All staff
would talk about every student every week. We’d notice if someone
missed a class. We were on the phone and sending notes
QUICKLY if someone didn’t show up, fell behind, or slacked off.
The other key is held in a comment that Jeff Smith made about
me years ago.
He said, “Before he was an MBA, he was an ABM: Always Be
Marketing.”
In my turnaround role with my own schools, I was VERY good
at filling the pipeline with new students. Of anyone I’ve seen, the
number one and two people in our industry for running a school
up FAST are myself and Jeff Smith respectively. I haven’t seen
anyone else come close.
How I did that varied greatly over the years. In some cases I
could take a school that was doing only four or six enrollments a
month and do 20 or more just by keeping track of all the Introductory
traffic and being effective at closing EVERYONE. In just about
every case, this was where I started. In other cases, I MASSIVELY
ramped up the traffic on new introductory students. Sadly, even
with extensive training, most people only scratch the surface on
their various marketing opportunities.
The same basic strategy, almost no matter what it is, can
have five, ten, sometimes even 30 times the difference in
results with someone who’s maximizing opportunity and really
paying attention.
With everything you do, ask the question WHAT ELSE COULD I
DO TO IMPROVE RESULTS?
GRANDMASTER STEPHEN OLIVER, is a 9th degree black belt and is the founder and CEO of
Mile High Karate schools, and founder of the Martial Arts Wealth Mastery Program.
72 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 1
Photograph by VectorInspiration