1 Knowing Your School Fundamental and Advanced Management of Your School

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Knowing Your School

Fundamental and Advanced Management of Your School.

GoalsFirst: Managing Your School By

Knowing Your School’s Critical Numbers–Fundamental Numbers–Advanced Numbers

Second: Know what the numbers should be and how these numbers relate to everything in your school.

©All materials are copyrighted by The American Taekwondo Association. No unauthorized use is permitted.

IntroductionIn every professional business or

organization there are standard accepted ways to measure:–Some examples:•Disney: Number of People Through the Turnstyles per day. Number of accidents per day. •McDonalds: How any hamburgers sold per day. How many had fries with them.•Hospital: Number of patients per hour that were treated in the ER.


IntroductionWe Have Them Too…– The Fundamental Numbers are the ones you need initially

– The Advanced Numbers are the ones you calculate out of the Fundamental Numbers

– Some of these are easy to count and some are less obvious.

– Notes:• #1: This is not a course in accounting. We will look at a few financial numbers but there are many

you need to manage and track with other professionals. We are going to help you evaluate the ones you need to know specifically to manage your school!

• #2: Don’t get caught in details. Yes we know, this is a lot of details and you want to go teach class. It can get harder if you don’t watch it. Some numbers could be much more detailed - for example testing could be split into midterms, colored belt, tigers, kids, adults – this information is important but for this course’s purposes we are trying to focus on summarizing key elements in your school!

• #3: If you don’t know a number yet (because these are new) use your best estimate! DO NOT skip over it. Later you’ll have more accurate numbers.

Don’t worry! Once you get started it’s not hard at all!

4©All materials are copyrighted by The American Taekwondo Association. No unauthorized use is permitted.

FundamentalsFirst, the Fundamental Numbers you need to

keep track of are:– Number Of Intro Lessons (“In The Doors”)

– Number Of New Member Per Month

– Number Of Students Upgraded Per Month

– Number Of Students Training

– Number Of Students Tested Per Cycle

–Gross Income Per Month

– Expenses Per Month

–You can use the Year To Date Fundamental Numbers (YTD)tracking sheet to record them• Start Now!


Fundamental #1 – In The Doors (ITD)DEFINITION: The number of potential members you try

to enroll.

–These are people who you do an intro lesson with or present an initial program.

WHY: This the a result of your recruitment and marketing efforts – without which you will not have a school.

TARGET: At least 20 to 40 ITDs a month. Common Error: To stay consistent in multiple family

member situations, count the total members enrolled as ITD if they all enroll (only if they enroll and train) and count one ITD if they don’t enroll.


Fundamental #2 - New MembersDEFINITION: The number of new members you enroll.

–Count only members on regular memberships. For families count all members who enroll and train. • Send in your new members to ATA as soon as they enroll.–The member will automatically get a letter and guest passes for

FREE – take advantage of the ATA AutoMarketing Program!

–They’ll be covered by insurance and get other ATA benefits!

WHY: The number of new members you enroll every month directly influences the success of your school.

TARGET: At least 10 to 20 ITDs a month. Common Error: Counting members who are on very

short intro programs (less than 30 days). These are an “In The Door” (ITD) until they enroll in a regular membership.©All materials are copyrighted by The American Taekwondo Association. No unauthorized use is permitted.

Fundamental #3 – Number Upgraded

DEFINITION: The number upgraded is the total number of students who enroll in some membership other than your initial full membership. – Example: If you start with a 6 month basic program, and the student can

choose between Black Belt Club or Leadership next then the number upgrades is how many upgrade to either of the two programs.

WHY: This is not just about upgrading but it is keeping track of how well your processes are working in your school. People upgrade primarily because they love your classes but you have to have good enrollment processes too!

Common Error: Again the biggest area (in knowing the number not in upgrading) is simply not keeping track of it.


Fundamental #4 – Number of Students

DEFINITIONS: There are three different “Numbers of Student” you should know:

1. 1 Week Number: How many different people actually train each week • This is the main “number of students” you should keep track of.

2. 1 Month Number: How many different people actually train each month

3. Number on Contract: How many different people pay each month

WHY: It’s critical to understand how many members are training (not just on contract or testing) – schedule, instruction, retention, attendance can’t be corrected unless you have a great handle on this.

Common Error: The #1 error is not understanding this. This is the most commonly inaccurate number of all.

Notes: Know your up-to-date “1 Week Number” and update every week.• You should update your “1 Month Number” and “On Contract” numbers every month.

• Recording the Numbers: Average the 1 Week Number and 1 Month Numbers and record in the YTD Tracking Sheet.

• Some use the computer but you can just as easily use tracking cards and no computer help for this. Call School Operations for some easy ways to do it.


Fundamental #5 – Number Tested

DEFINITION: The number of students tested in a regular 2 month testing cycle. If you test every month, then you should measure each student only one time.

WHY: This is how we can measure how well your classes are going. If you test a high percentage of members you are preparing them well. You should be honest about your results in this area and look for ways to improve your process, your instruction and all other areas of your school.

Note: Record total (midterms + tested) on the YTD sheet. Again, the details are important but for these purposes we want to know how many of your student base is active by testing (rather than just attending classes) ©All materials are copyrighted by The American Taekwondo Association. No unauthorized use is permitted.

Fundamental #6 – FinancialsDEFINITIONS:

–Gross Income: The total income in a period (usually a month or year).

–Expenses: The total income in a period (usually a month).

WHY: As mentioned before, there are many financial records you need to keep and this is not a course in accounting or bookkeeping (those numbers should be handled by a professional). These are some of the numbers you need to look at regularly to evaluate your school’s performance in many areas.


Fundamentals – Review and ACTION!

You have 6 main Fundamental Numbers to keep track of: – Number Of Students “In The Door” (ITDs)

– Number Of New Member Per Month

– Number Of Students Training

– Number Of Students Tested Per Cycle

– Number Of Students Upgraded Per Month

– Financials: Gross Income Per Month, Expenses Per Month

ACTION!: EVALUATE YOUR SCHOOL: Use the YTD tracking sheet to record these numbers (only if you have them) for 2008 and 2009!– Enrollment Column: There are 0,1,2,3,4,5 and 6 columns for whichever member

levels you use (Basic, BBC, MC, Leadership, Instructor, etc…). Use these however you like but:• Use the 1 Column for ITD

• Use the 2 Column for New Members

– Financial: Only Gross Income is listed on the YTD sheet because you should know this immediately at the end of the month. Your expenses are on your Profit and Loss Statements. Make sure your income numbers match!


Advanced NumbersThe Advanced Numbers you need to keep track of give you insight

into your school’s performance.

They all are figured from the Fundamental Numbers.

Some of these (there are more you may watch) are:– New Student Value

• New Student Cost

– Testing Rate

– Basic Conversion Rate

– Upgrade Conversion Rate

– Retention Rate

Now, you can start to evaluate your school and see which areas you need to work on.– At the end we will show you how to diagnose very specifically what to work on by

combining these numbers.


Advanced – New Student ValueDEFINITION: New Student Value (NSV) is how much the

average member generates in your school over their lifetime.

– Note: This is a lifetime measure not a 12 month measure. You are including income from members enrolled 3 years ago (in billing and testing fees, etc.) so this all averages to how much you are generating per member enrolled. You can do the average over a month period but it will not be as accurate.

TARGET: Top schools NSV are $2,500 to $4,000 per member. ACTION: Figure out YOUR 2008 and 2009 NSV…– If your 2009 NSV is less than $1,000:

• You might need to look at your enrollment process or how much you charge. An ATA Martial Arts school should be charging high rates for the benefits we provide and the hard work you put in as an instructor.

– If your 2009 NSV is less than 2008: • You weren’t as efficient last year. Did you lower your rates? Were your instructors afraid to

ask for money? In the top schools last year this number went up. A high NSV doesn’t mean you take a lot of “Paid In Full” memberships – you can have a high billing too!


New Student Value (NSV) = Total Income Over 12 Months

Total New Members Over 12 Months

Advanced – New Student CostDEFINITION: New Student Cost (NSC) is how much the

average member costs in your school over their lifetime including payroll, fees, gear costs, etc….

TARGET: NSC should be at lower than NSV! The difference is your profit. This difference is how much each member is worth.

ACTION: Figure out YOUR 2009 NSC and compare with your NSV…– If your 2009 NSC is less than your NSV:

• You should already know you’re losing money. Start NOW and figure out how to minimize expenses and if your NSV is less than $1,500 you need to increase income per member.


New Student Cost (NSC) = Total Expenses Over 12 Months

Total New Members Over 12 Months

Advanced – Testing RateDEFINITION: Testing Rate measures how many of your

members test against how many you have training.

– Note: a critical difference is that we are using the 1 Week Number here. This evaluates whether the students who are training test. For the ones who don’t attend class, we need to take other actions (like attendance calls, etc.)

TARGET: Testing Rate should be > 95%!ACTION: Figure out YOUR Last Testing’s Testing Rate. If you

are not sure of the numbers – give it your best estimate. – If your Testing Rate is less than 95%, there are a variety of possibilities:

• Your instruction needs work.

• You are trying to teach too much in a 2 month period (this may be in a particular group, for example if your Tiny Tigers don’t test much, you may have an issue here, if your BBC class is the issue check your curriculum) – we’ll be bringing you training on this soon!

• Your testing process needs work.


Testing Rate =

Students Tested

Students (1 Week Number)

Advanced – Basic Conversion RateDEFINITION: The Basic Conversion Rate measures how well

you can enroll a member when they walk in.

– Note: This only makes sense if your new members are in whatever your first full membership is.

TARGET: Basic Conversion rate should be > 80%!ACTION: Figure out YOUR last month’s Basic Conversion

Rate. – If your Basic Conversion Rate is less than 80%, you need to work on your

enrollment process. We will be bringing this training to you in later installments.

– If your Basic Conversion Rate is around 100%, you may still have some things to work on. Are you measuring correctly? Are you filtering out prospects so only the hyper-interested are coming in the door?


Basic Conversion Rate =

New Members

In The Doors (ITDs)

Advanced – Upgrade Conversion RateDEFINITION: The Upgrade Conversion Rate measures how

well you can convert a member to whatever your next program level is.

TARGET: Upgrade Conversion rate should be > 50%!ACTION: Figure out YOUR last month’s Upgrade Conversion

Rate. – If your Upgrade Conversion Rate is LESS than 50%, you may need to work on:

• Instruction

• Your introductory lesson or first lesson (were they ready for the upgrade from the first day?)

• Your upgrade process

• Your attendance process (attendance calls, miss you cards, etc.)

– If your Upgrade Conversion Rate is GREATER than 90%, are you measuring correctly? Is it too low cost?


Upgrade Conversion Rate =

Total Upgrades

New Members

Advanced – Retention RateDEFINITION: Your Retention Rate measures how well you

keep your students. It’s the percentage of students lost per month. It’s easiest to calculate in 3 parts and it can be done over any period. – First: Determine how many months you want to average over and find out how

many students you had then. This is the “Students at Start”. Usually you should use your 1 Month Number, but since it’s unlikely you have that, use testing numbers for your “Students at Start: and “Students Now”.


Loss Per Month =

Lost Students

# of Months

Lost Students = New Members + Students at Start* - Students Now

• at start of a period (ex: 12 months prior)

Retention Rate = Loss Per Month

Students at Start

Advanced – Retention RateThis one can be tricky – let’s do an example: – Let’s say we are evaluating a school that had these numbers:

• At the start of January 2009 it had 75 members (1 Month Number).

• At the end of December 2009 it had 120 members (1 Month Number).– So we increased by 45 members, right?

• In the 12 month (January to December) time period it enrolled 100 members.

– Here we go


Loss Per Month = = 4.58 Lost Students Per Month Lost Students (55)

# of Months (12)

Lost Students = New Members (100) + Students at Start* (75) - Students Now (120) = 55

Retention Rate = = 6.1% Loss Per Month (4.58)

Students at Start (75)

Advanced – Retention RateTARGET: Retention Conversion rate should be < 8%!ACTION: Figure out YOUR 2009 Retention Conversion Rate. – If your Retention Rate is GREATER than 8%, you may need to work on:

• Instruction

• Testing

• Your upgrade process (if they have goals they will be more likely to stay)

• Your attendance process (attendance calls, miss you cards, etc.)

– If your Retention Rate is LESS than 5%, you may still have concerns. Are you measuring correctly? Are you only enrolling members who are high level (i.e. you could be filtering members out at the enrollment process if they are not already a high performer)


Advanced Numbers - ReviewNow you know how to evaluate:– New Student Value

• New Student Cost

– Testing Rate

– Basic Conversion Rate


– Retention Rate

There are many ways you can identify more specifically how well your school is performing. Let’s show you how to evaluate whether your instruction is good…


Everyone thinks they teach good classes… what do your numbers say?

EVALUATING INSTRUCTION: Three areas which will tell you whether you need to improve instruction:– Testing Rate


– Retention Rate

Knowing Your School - Evaluating


– If only one area is poor:• Check other possibilities

– If two or more areas are poor:• You probably need to see if your

classes are taught well.

• It could be a curriculum/schedule issue (which we will address in the next installment).

Testing Upgrades

Retention

SummaryYou know all the numbers in your

school:–Fundamental Numbers–Advanced Numbers

You can evaluate your numbers and how they impact how you teach, upgrade, recruit and enroll members.

Next installment we will discuss how to improve your schedule and curriculum.


Documents

1 Knowing Your School Fundamental and Advanced Management of Your School