Does your attendance drop during holiday season?

[Cliff Hargrave]

Mine does. I don't know if it's the cold, holiday activities and general time constraints, or all of the above. I usually have 15 to 25 per class. I had 3 last night.

[Mark Barlow]

Big time. Last night I had 5 kids instead of my usual 20 and only 6 adults.

In the past, I used to ask the students if they wanted class between Christmas and New Years and, invariably, they'd say "yes" and, just as invariably, I'd spend that week by myself in the Dojo. Now we break that week in between and everyone seems happy.

[Erik]

I haven't made it to practice this week at all. Too busy Christmas shopping and organizing holiday plans.

And friggin' exhausted, too, somehow.

[Prince Loeffler]

Still in full attendance. Our holiday closure isn't really a holiday closure, all my students have keys to the dojo and they can use the dojo's vacation time as thier personal practice time.

[Webmaster]

Our kids class has dropped off to around 4 or 5. Way down from the normal 15 or more. Adults are dropping off more as the holidays approach. Last night we only had about ten adults instead of the normal 18 or more.

[TonyU]

Yes, always did. It's due a variety of reason, time off, overtime for some, traveling to see or spend the holidays with family among others.
On top of that we see a resurgence and some growth at the beginning of the new year.

[Erik]

On top of that we see a resurgence and some growth at the beginning of the new year.

All those New Year's resolutions to get back into shape....

[FShekosky]

Ours is inconsistent. Hit or miss. Some days full other days quiet. Then full blast again after the new year.

[Eliz]

Definitely!
We have a few students who will show up under any conditions, but the majority of the class drops off this time of year. I usually drop back to once a week myself as Christmas preparations, Holiday concerts, parties, etc claim the lion's share of my time.

[JWhiteSensei]

Gods yes!!!!! Fortunately over the years I've accepted that that is just the way it is and I sort of mentally and financially prepare for it.

btw. Happy Holidays, everyone!

[Defined]

Out of curiosity, do your clubs take time off around Christmas time?

How about during the longer Summer holidays?

[Eliz]

Out of curiosity, do your clubs take time off around Christmas time?

How about during the longer Summer holidays?


Hi Danielle

I know of a quite a few schools that close the week between Christmas and New Years.

As for summer breaks, most participating schools close during the Nationals (the week of the 4th of July).

[Brian R. VanCise]

My group pretty much continues as always with maybe just a little drop off.

[JWhiteSensei]

It's funny. On the 19th I posted that mine did. I put a Sign Up Special on my website a few days before. I have to admit I've spent a small fortune putting ads in the local paper with dismal results to say the least. Due to the ad on my website I've signed up 4 students since Monday!!! One of their Moms came in tonight and signed him up...and paid for two additional months in advance!!! PLUS she is a Yoga / Body Sculpting instructor at the gym where I work out and she seemed interested in perhaps starting a class at the dojo. Now four may not sound like a lot to many of you, but in a town as small as this one that has 6 MA schools, it's pretty freakin dandy!

[JWhiteSensei]

Out of curiosity, do your clubs take time off around Christmas time?

How about during the longer Summer holidays?

Hi Danielle

I tried for a while to close up for a week during the holidays and on the Fed holidays as well. I had several complaints. This week I am closed on Christmas day. I will close on New Years Eve. If Juky the 4th (Independance Day) fall on one of my class days, I will close on that day. As far as any others, I'm there and the students are welcome to attend class if they want to.

[kbarrett]

I usually shout down from the 24th of December until the 2nd of January, from past experience, my students are pretty much gone away for the Christmas and New Years holiday.

Sincerely
Ken Barrett

[Jeff Burger]

We have vacation for kids classes for 1 week for the Christmas, New year holiday.

[wingchundo.girl]

Just wondering if after the winter season, is attendance numbers going up for you?

Starting to see more movement here, now that spring is almost here. It's as though folks are coming out of hibernation.

[JWhiteSensei]

It's kind of strange. April was the worst month I've had in a while/ I keep a running average of my attendance and it dropped by about 4 last month.

[wingchundo.girl]

This summer because its been so humid this past month or so and it looks like no break for the next few weeks, that students are staying away. I haven't even wanted to go to class myself. I've never had a summer as slow as this for my children's program. Vacations, heat, economy. Let's hope that they come back in the fall.

But my adults program is going strong.

[JWhiteSensei]

Geez...thanks Liz. I thought it was because the landlord is completely remodeling the restroom and there is sawdust, paint, and stuff everywhere. :embarrass

[Sensei Tom O'Bri]

I don't know what a doldrum is but attendance is down. My dojo is just a humble garage dojo - no heat in winter & no AC in summer. With the heat & humidity in NYC at the boiling point, no one wants to train. All kinds of excuses. But if you do work-out you are garanteed to lose weight.

Thanks,
Boiling Tom

[JWhiteSensei]

Yay! Mine has actually began to pick back up. Of course now that I'm starting to gain some ground back, my regular job has me going to a relief job for three months coming up soon. I'm going to have to cancel my Monday afternoon class that was starting to become strong in attendance and my Saturday afternoon meditation class. I just added a yoga teacher. She has two classes during the week . Hopefully that will help keep some of the balance.

I sure will be glad to get the next 19 months done so I can retire and do this full time.

[aplechaty]

It seems to be a trend I see very year. During the Summer break my youth student attendance drops about 50%. Fortunately I would say that once school starts back up about 40% return and continue training. On average during the school year I have up between 20 and 25 students in class, during the summer it drops to about 10.

[Sensei Tom O'Bri]

Alan, the same thing happens to me but on a smaller scale. Jim, good luck with your retirement plans.

Thanks,
Tom

[wingchundo.girl]

Geez...thanks Liz. I thought it was because the landlord is completely remodeling the restroom and there is sawdust, paint, and stuff everywhere. :embarrass

So how does the remodel look? A nice bathroom is a plus.

We just had to redo our flat roof. It's nice that the ceiling doesn't leak anymore.

[wingchundo.girl]

Sept 1 is here and things are looking up. The adult program is growing. Signed up eight in four days! What is going on? Not that I am complaining, no.

Waiting for school to start around here to see if we retrieve our numbers in the children's class.

[dojo]

During holidays our attendance drops a lot too. Now, that it's cold and icy, we have less people who show up for classes.

[Mark Jordan]

Mine dropped a little. Maybe because of holiday activities, cold weather that causes lethargy or maybe they are just in a different mood.

[championsway]

It is very standard for a school to experience a holiday drought during the the holiday season. Students are often sick, overwhelmed with year end tasks and holiday shopping, vacationing and spending time with their loved ones.

No matter how much a student loves training, there are always external factors that will prevent them from doing so. The holiday season is full of those external factors! What's important is how you prepare your school for holiday slumps... Your school must be prepared and provide students with extra times to make up for classes and incentives for making up for classes. Here is an example that one of our clients posted to the ChampionsWay Online Community on how he turned the winter holiday slumps into a lead generator:

Several weeks ago we had our first big snow of the season. Of course no one was prepared and the roads were a mess. When all was said and done our school was closed for four days.

"Once classes started back up just about every parent was inquiring about make-up lessons. The problem was that if we allowed everyone to do make-up lessons, all of our classes would be overcrowded. We quickly came up with a solution that not only made everyone happy but to date has brought in three new students.

Rather than allowing everyone to schedule make-up lessons right away we gave them a
voucher that was good for a make-up lesson after January 1st. We explained to them that we were making everyone wait to avoid classes being overcrowded, which the appreciated.

Here’s the catch… the voucher could also be used to bring a friend to class for free instead of doing a make-up lesson. We even printed a mini permission slip on the back so we could manage the lead and campaign information in Perfect Mind. So far five students have brought in friends, three of them have enrolled and we have a meeting scheduled with another one of their parents this week.

I hope some of you will find this useful."