For us, it is imperative that a private tutor working on his/her own offer his potential customers a free trial lesson because it is the only way to convince them that you are the perfect tutor for them.
It is very difficult, if not impossible, for someone to hire you to give several classes with you without knowing you personally, only attracted by the texts, photos or videos you have on your website. All this says a lot about you and your work, and it is what leads a potential student to be interested in giving classes with you, but he or she needs one last test to decide for you.
When a person receives individual classes they want to feel comfortable with their tutor. There has to be a current of sympathy between the two because otherwise it is very difficult to spend hours and hours alone concentrating on what the other person says or does. And the only way to see if there is empathy with your future teacher is to spend some time with him/her.
The trial lesson is also useful for many other things and has advantages not only for the student, but also for the tutor. These are the five reasons why I think a trial lesson is essential in our work:
-It allows the student to get to know the tutor, both personally and professionally. In other words, it is a first contact in which he or she sees what you are like and what your teaching system is: the types of classes you offer, your educational programs, your materials, your methodology, etc.
-The student can see that it is possible to receive any classes, be it online, In-Person with the same quality with you as a tutor. This is especially important for people who are less accustomed to using videoconferencing programs and who are often reluctant to take online classes. In this first class they can see if your teaching methods works for them.
-The student receives detailed information about how the classes work: the class packages that can be purchased, the prices, the payment formulas, the class reservation system, the cancellation policy, the expiration of the classes, etc.
-The tutor also evaluates each student's level of knowledge in different subjects (grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, etc.) and in relation to each language or skill.
-The student explains to the tutor his/her needs and objectives, that is, what he/she wants to receive classes for and what he/she would like to improve.
For us, the last two points are fundamental because they are the ones that later will allow us to elaborate a personalized class schedule for each student, focused on helping him/her learn what he/she needs.
Despite all these, for some, tge question remains: does it actually work? Is the free trial a viable move that actually leads to demonstrable gains in more student confirmations?
If you guessed that the answer is “it depends,” you must have read this blog before. Different kinds of businesses do it, but it doesn’t work well for all of them.
That doesn’t mean it can’t work for your as a private tutor.
Register today as a private tutor and tick the box of "I offer a trial class" on your profile.
