EFC – Educational Funding Company Ltd UK & Ireland

Michael & Kaori Nebgen

Q-Your gross went up to $60,000 in the last one year. What steps did you take that helped improve your gross?
I watch the stats closely and prioritize our daily activities based on our C.I.A.s (critical impact areas) where we want to see improvements so we determine a weekly M.A.P. (massive action plan) for the staff to work on collectively and individually. This allows us to be as effective as possible. So our Monday staff meeting is when we establish that. We also have a brief “productivity meeting” on Tuesday and Thursday after instructor training, to ensure focus on weekly goals.

Q-How did you train your staff for this big change?
Well this “big change” did not happen over night. I remember Master Keith Hafner said years ago, “We don’t hit a lot of home runs at our school, but we try to get base hits every day. “The metaphor made a lot of sense then, and it makes even more now. Signing up a big contract or a big cash amount on occasion is great, but consistently writing gold paper day in and day out is the right way to solidify your contract amount and A/R. We are still learning!
We always attend the EFC Summit, and I regularly attend MAUI. The combination of these keeps us highly motivated and on the cutting edge of the best practices and principles in the industry.
We meet every Monday with our entire staff for an extended lunch meeting that takes two hours. During this time we iron out objectives and challenges, plan the week, watch teaching videos, listen to audio messages, and review procedures.
I also try to hire staff to D.I.E. for! That is my code for hiring dependable/intelligent/enthusiastic people. So we try to start with great people and make them even better!!

Q-What steps did you take in terms of extension and renewal of contracts?
Of late I have spent a lot of time looking at our quit rate. By watching this stat and assessing a value to it, I can emphasize more easily to staff members the high value of retaining students vs. replacing them… this is very motivating. While we certainly do not want to diminish the personal and human aspect of training by “numbering” a student, we must peek at things like quit rate and student value in order to accurately monitor the progress of the business… after all, a prosperous school is in the best interest of everyone, owners, staff, and the student!
We constantly monitor the status of upcoming renewals. (By the way the new EFC online report “accounts to be renewed” really helps—thanks). We facilitate VIP enrollments at every opportunity.

Q-What actions did you take to keep your retention high?
Over the last couple of years we have:
- Implemented an Elite STORM Team. This has provided a high level goal for many young students to aim for after Black   Belt. We have seen some better retention from post-graduates as a result.
- Implemented a rotating curriculum that allows better skill retention on the mat, resulting in higher student   satisfaction.
- Eliminated some non-productive or time-wasting activities.

Q-What is your recommendation for school owners who want to see a similar improvement in their monthly grosses?
- Train, train, train.
- Keep you eyes on your stats—be a stats master. I know it sounds dull but there is no easier way to see what to fix.   Stats give you the big picture. And only you as the owner, have the power to make changes.
- Be a marketing master—get good at it, then keep at it!
- Network—you are among the best and brightest, what more could you ask for!
- Stand guard at the door of your mind—think, act and be around the positive!
- Monitor where you spend time—you might be surprised were you could be more efficient!

Over seventy dedicated Martial Arts School owners and their staff battled their way for up to six dark hours through torrential rain and high winds to John Lynn’s Black Belt Academy in sometime sunny Rhyl in North Wales.  Some might question why these men and women were so enthusiastically giving up their time and energy, but to these  ‘Business Black Belts’ the journey was a minor hurdle.

These outstanding entrepreneurs were travelling to attend one of EFC UK’s famous Meeting of Minds Business Seminars, featuring top USA school owners Keith and Debbie Thompson, top UK school owner John Lynn and new super star Vince Cassar.

The meeting was a fantastic experience for every one.  John and Lynne Lynn and their staff were wonderful hosts making every one feel welcomed and their school was a superb venue.  Keith and Debbie Thompson are very busy people running two terrific schools (soon to be three), as well as their extensive duties as members of the EFC Board of Directors and EFC Advisory Board respectively.  Somehow they managed to find the time to make their second visit to our shores to help their friends in the UK and Ireland.

Keith kicked off the meeting to talk to us about the essential elements of professional martial arts success, which was

very illuminating.  Following a very tasty buffet lunch the attendees were split with Debbie talking to the staff and Keith the owners.  Debbie talked to the staff about how they should best use their time when they start in the morning, how they should start thinking like an owner and how they can improve their income.  Meanwhile Keith talked to the owners about staff training and building staff to ensure that you have bench strength.  John Lynn explained the systems he uses, which not only allow him to run JLBBA, but also enable him to run his Merit Badges business, all while living in the USA for much of the year, very impressive!   The attendees then reconvened together and Debbie talked about event planning and how to run a successful Pizza party and Keith told us the keys to student retention.

It was then time to get on the floor for some Ninjutsu training with Keith before retiring to a local hotel for a very pleasant evening meal and lot’s of networking.

Sunday morning started with a bang as the ever enthusiastic John Lynn taught every one his famous chants or ‘Focus Anchors’.  This was not only useful for waking up any sleepy heads, but also taught great techniques for use in any martial arts school.  John was followed by Vince Cassar who was speaking at his first EFC seminar.  At the Summit I asked Vince how he had managed to grow by 300% in just nineteen months from £5K to over £15K.  He said ‘I just stopped getting in my own way!’ and that was the subject of his talk.  Vince detailed in a very practical commonsense way how he broke down his own objections in order to make sure that he introduced all of the EFC systems and the success followed.  Vince’s advice to every one was ‘Stop getting in your own way’, which I think could well become a popular maxim within EFC.

Keith then spoke about marketing to attract more children and the purpose and value of networking followed by a lively and enjoyable Q&A session.  After a great deal of networking over another excellent buffet lunch the attendees said their goodbyes to their host, the presenters and their new EFC friends.   Loaded with notes and action plans they made their way home on a warm and pleasant afternoon all now clearly knowing exactly where they are going!

The feed back from the meeting has been very positive and we are all grateful to our hosts John and Lynne Lynn, Vince Cassar and of course to the wonderful team of Keith and Debbie Thompson.

Mike Allen
EFC UK General Manager

Find linked below the summary of the fantastic Programme Directors’ Presentation from Garland and Bridget Johnson at the EFC Summit.

Programme Directors Presentation.pdf

Buzz Durkin

Every business should have the following five things:

1. A friendly greeting. Be happy and thankful when someone comes in through the door to do business. We have a “stand up” rule in our school. If someone speaks to you, you stand up.
2. A personal interest in the customer/student is necessary.
3. Make the customer/student feel special. Each student should feel as if s/he has been taught a private lesson.
4. Every school should have not just a “no problem” attitude, but a “my pleasure” attitude.
5. Schools must think about staying in business for the long-term by being forward-thinking. Instead of thinking about the achievements of the last year, you must think about the goals of the next five years.

All this adds more value to the student experience, preventing them from thinking about leaving.

Bridget Johnson

At the Summit I talked about how to answer the phone. First, when a parent calls, nobody answers the phone in many martial arts schools. But we have students join our school just because we answered the phone. Second, I conveyed a whole script on how they should answer the phone. When you answer the phone, your goal is to set an appointment, getting information instead of giving information, and taking control of the conversation with questions. Another thing we covered was the extension call.

The other area we covered was the introductory class, which is very important. We include the Seven Magic Questions in the personal analysis that we hand out even before the introductory class. Through the personal analysis, we get a sense of what they are hoping to get out of martial arts. So when we go into the introductory class, we have the personal analysis form to look at to help us to a better job.

After you’ve done a fantastic introductory class, you ask the magic question: “Are you ready to start classes?” So we go ahead on to the paperwork.

Dave Kovar has just released a new blog filled with great tips and valuable
insights on a variety of topics of interest to all school owners and instructors.

At Mr. Kovar’s blog you’ll find:

·        Mat Management tips

·        Inspirational thoughts

·        Business and Marketing Tip

·        Videos of Mr. Kovar’s renowned character development cirriculum
·        And much more

Mr. Kovar’s blog can be found at: http://kovarsblog.kovarsystems.com

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