Martial Arts World News Magazine - Volume 22 | Issue 3

NEXT LEVEL STRATEGY
Contract or No Contract? That is
the Question, Part 2
By Shihan Allie Alberigo
Of course, if I need more justification, I simply talk about colleges. No college allows
month-to-month payments with an open-ended agreement. If they did, they would
also be out of business.
I end the conversation with example after example
of people who joined these “no contract” schools only
to later on find one day that they’re out of business.
Sadly, this has happened to 99% of my competition.
She knew nothing of what an agreement
represented, and my competitor
had used the very fact that he
didn’t have them as a selling
tool.
At Long Island Ninjutsu,
we do exactly the opposite,
and it’s quite obvious that in most cases
it worked to Long Island Ninjutsu’s benefit
and not his. We use yearly agreements as
a selling tool, and it has indeed
helped me take my studios
from 50 to well over 1,000
students in less than a
decade!
Remember,
an agreement
outlines the
student-parent
commitment
As in any
school, at Long
Island Ninjutsu
Centers, there have
been students that have contemplated
dropping out for one
reason or another at some time. Having a membership
agreement helps this situation. By directing the student
to the martial arts billing company, where they’ll be
told that, regardless of attendance, the payments must
continue, you have an added tool for motivation. The
school owner is able to reinforce the idea of continued
commitment to training to the parent/student. Aside
from that, what parent wants to pay for something they
aren’t utilizing? Even if the parent/student ultimately
decides not to continue with their training, or needs to
take an extended period of time from training, having a
membership agreement helps maintain steady cash flow.
During the summer, many people take vacations or are involved
with other activities. The buyer will justify that if they’re taking off
two weeks for vacation, they may as well take the entire month
off. We realize that breaks can demotivate students, causing them
to never return to class at all. With an agreement in place, you’re
allowing the payments to continue even if the student or their child
isn’t actually training. An extension of time added to the end of the
agreement will allow the parent to not feel as though they’re losing
out on time that they’re paying for!
Having an agreement guarantees growth and a stable income
for your martial arts business
If I have 200 students on yearly agreements, then I know
that 200 people are paying for their tuition. This stable income
allows me to focus my energy on building onto that 200. Schools
that boast of not having agreements will experience moderate
to extreme fluctuations during summer, holidays, and inclement
weather. Steady cash flow guarantees you the time, focus, and
revenue to increase enrollment and other areas of your business.
SHIHAN ALLIE ALBERIGO is a 7th degree black belt, the founder of the L.I. Ninjutsu
Centers, one of the largest Ninjutsu schools on the planet, the author of 4 books, and an entrepreneur
with one of the first online coaching companies.
62 MARTIAL ARTS WORLD NEWS VOLUME 22 | ISSUE 3
Illustration by Oleksandr Hruts