“There’s no such thing as saver’s remorse”, proclaims an ad for a California bank. Don’t tell that to Ran Kivetz of Columbia University. Tight times are creating the new phenomenon of saver’s remorse–one that you can warn against in your advertisements for new music students.
Kivetz conducted an experiment with Stanford University’s Itamar Simonson, in which a group of women were asked to enter either of two lotteries. In one the prize was a $80 gift card to a spa; in the other, the prize was $85 in cash. No-brainer, right? Even if you wanted the spa treatment you could take the cash and have $5 left over. End of story.
Yet, more than a third of the women chose lottery where the prize was the spa gift card. One said, “If I took the cash, it would end up going toward rent.” Even in tight times, people need emotional, creative and physical nourishment. That is something to think about in your ads: “Don’t go to your death bed wishing that you’d learned how to play ‘Free Bird’!” “Times are tough, but you can still learn to be a rock star so you can STICK IT TO THE MAN!”
With current students wanting to scale back, suggest bi-weekly lessons, or cutting an hour to half an hour. “You’ve made a lot of progress, and it will be hard to continue without regular lessons.” Consider entering a bartering situation with students who are clearly motivated but are going through tough times. For new students, think about offering bulk discounts (monthly rates, group classes, etc) that might encourage a student to jump right in.
Of course, if you are going to pitch your lessons as an exciting, fun and rewarding way to spend money, you have to make them just that. Many people I know took lessons when they were young and got burned out on them. Don’t be “that” music teacher, the one who sucks the life out of it.
And as a music teacher, don’t be afraid to jump right in too. Make a joke you might not have made otherwise. Teach a song or two that might not be “technically” challenging but just plain fun to play. When you started your instrument, was your goal to play songs you heard on the radio that you liked, or was it to see just how many hours a day you could spend with the G Locrian Sharp Two scale? As an aside, I often find that there are many “teachable moments” in even some of the most banal pop songs ever, with the possible exception of “Girlfriend” by Avril Lavigne.
You can also do your part to help stimulate the economy by promoting yourself–or, more to the point, hiring people to do your promotion. Invest in a new web site, a new marketing campaign or new business cards. And I’m not talking about those one-color-ink on white card stock: it’s been done.
Ran Kivetz says, “People feel guilty about [spending] right afterwards, but as time passes the guilt dissipates. At some point there’s a reversal, and what builds up is this wistful feeling of missing out on life’s pleasures.”
Guest Author, David Lockeretz
Read more of his articles at Maestro’s Musings
Also he has a site at www.findmymusicteacher.com
