How to Find and Retain Music Students at High Rates

Many of you probably still have lesson slots to fill and are actively looking for new students. Maybe your slots are filling up nicely. Or maybe new students are trickling in at a glacial pace (sigh).

But you’ll keep at it. You’ll try new marketing strategies, read more blogs, or hire a studio marketing coach - whatever it takes to fill your schedule and make your checkbook happy.

But what if all the time and effort you put into successfully converting new students is wasted when, a few months or perhaps a year later, many of those students quit?

Gaining a student without retaining them is, in some ways, worse than never converting them in the first place. It’s advertising money wasted, teaching effort that leads nowhere, and just downright discouraging. 

And if you want (or need) to increase your lesson rates, how will you ever feel comfortable enough to do so when you’re always fighting to keep your schedule full?

You might be wondering, what kind of business structure do I need to successfully find AND retain music students?

When I recently closed my studio after 25 years of teaching, I had:

• a long waiting list of students

• a 7-year average student retention rate

• raised my rates 40% over the course of a few years without losing students 

And I’m showing you exactly how I did it in The High Value Music Studio online course which will be available for purchase in just a few short weeks. 

In the meantime, here are 3 things I DIDN’T do to grow a financially successful studio:

1. Teach students who weren’t a good match for me. Early on in my career, when I was just establishing myself as a teacher and starting a studio, I took on any student who expressed interest in lessons. I call this studio building approach “getting musical butts in seats”, and it’s a, um, "strategy" that many of us have used out of desperation. The problem is that this is a short-sighted approach that allows “bad” students to claim precious spots in our studios, including those who aren’t committed, financially dependable, or agreeable to work with. Finding students who truly want what you offer is key to building a successful, stable business - to say nothing of actually enjoying your job. 

2. Lower my rates to keep students. Sure, there are rare occasions where a dedicated student family has a financial crisis and you may want to help them out. But when most parents say “I can’t afford lessons”, what they really mean is, “lessons aren’t important enough for me to prioritize and budget for them." You deserve students who can pay for lessons at your set rate AND prioritize lessons enough to be willing to do so. I recommend you lower rates very rarely (if ever) and only in extreme circumstances for the most dedicated of families. If a student quits because you won’t charge them less, they probably weren’t a good fit for you anyway. Find a better student to fill this slot. It’s important not to sacrifice your long-term business success over short-term financial gain. 

3. Put the students’ needs before my own. It’s so easy to put ourselves last in a service-based business. It’s tempting to think that serving the student at all costs is the only way to compete and be successful. Three words: So. Not. true. I learned this the hard way when constantly subjugating my own needs to those of my students led to burnout and resentment. As the teacher without whom your studio wouldn't exist, your ability to serve your students begins and ends with YOU. Never sacrifice your own needs to those of your students. You are a precious resource you can’t afford to squander. 

Over time, I learned to avoid these three business-crippling behaviors and adopt better practices to find and retain music students.

Want to know how I did it?

Here is a sneak peak of the Growth Blueprint that I cover in detail inside the course. The course walks you through the exact, step-by-step business model I used to build a thriving studio and teaches you how to do the same.

This version of the Growth Blueprint shows the first, middle, and end stages of the process, with some of the stages left out.

Can you guess what the missing stages are? If not, no worries - I’ll reveal and explain the entire framework inside the course.

In the meantime, sign up for the course newsletter which gives you more course sneak peaks and exclusive teaching tips. (PLUS you'll have the opportunity to sign up at the introductory price before the price goes up for good!)

Happy teaching!

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