Sunday, September 24, 2006
Maximizing ESL Revenue, Part 2
We all know the old saying: There are two kinds of people: those who watch things happen and those who make things happen. It’s true in business, and it’s true in ESL. What’s more, it’s especially true when it comes to filling your schedule with well-paying clients. Let me explain.
We all know the type of ESL professional who watches things happen, but let me focus on a couple of salient characteristics:
1. Most people in our business think of themselves as “English teachers”. So when they have a 20 or 25 hours a week, most weeks a month, and have a few privates, they think they have it made. They save a few hundred US$ a month and they’re high on life. If they’re happy, more power to them! But they could do more….
2. When private students come their way, they tend to take whatever they get.
Does this characterize you? It characterized me for many years, I’m ashamed to admit. But to meet the needs of my clients, I started reading business magazines and newspapers, and started thinking differently. I started thinking of myself as a consultant, responsible for creating my own business, and not waiting for someone to arrange everything for me. So, how did I make this metamorphosis?
I have already discussed one key mental breakthrough, which was to stop thinking of myself as an “English teacher”, and to identify myself as a “language consultant”.
But the second step was to become keenly aware of opportunities. Let me tell you about the one that changed my life. Calculating though I am, this one happened totally by chance!
One day I was sitting in my office at the training center I helped run, perusing the day’s mail. One item caught my eye: a letter from one of Taiwan’s leading business magazines, written in bad English, soliciting our participation in a survey. Like many of you, I could have laughed and tossed it. But that’s not what I did. I saw it as an opportunity.
So, I re-wrote it in perfect professional diction, and sent it back, with a letter describing my services. Out of this I was hoping for an editing gig, maybe ten hours a week. Sure enough, they called me and asked to meet with me. Alas, they did not want an editor. Instead, they wanted someone to teach them! But I accepted it. However, that’s not all I did. This is what I said (paraphrasing from memory):
1. “I have extensive experiencing in teaching writing (from cram schools and from the University of Iowa), and I would be happy to work with you.” Note: I took what I could get, hoping to leverage it later, and affirming my premium qualifications.
2. “At the same time (I never said “but”) this is very specialized training, and usually I ask for NT$700 an hour for work like this (this is back in the 1980s), so I hope you won’t mind if I ask for my standard rate”. Note: In fact, this was my first time at this pay level. But I knew I was selling exactly what they needed. And since their company was paying, the premium rate would not hurt them. And by explaining my special strengths, I had made it possible for them to justify this to their manager.
Sure enough, they agreed. And I taught these three people for five years, eventually reaching NT$1000 an hour in the early 90s. Over the years I taught a couple of dozen editors and staff. I edited letters to their foreign business partners. I wrote a few speeches for them. Basically, I expanded my range of services as their needs grew. Besides the good money, two other things came from this.
1. I could give them as a very high-profile precedent when working with other prospects. This made it easier to justify my premium rates, again and again.
2. Through word of month from them I got work at numerous other high-profile clients, from TV stations to consumer goods companies. In fact, one of these clients still pays me US$5000 a year for emailed editing!
Now, why do I share all this? Because anything I did above, you could do as well. The biggest things to learn from this are to be alert to opportunities, and to negotiate your arrangement optimistically/aggressively. And anyone can do that. This is what is known as making things happen.
Or you can watch things happen. It’s up to you.
We all know the type of ESL professional who watches things happen, but let me focus on a couple of salient characteristics:
1. Most people in our business think of themselves as “English teachers”. So when they have a 20 or 25 hours a week, most weeks a month, and have a few privates, they think they have it made. They save a few hundred US$ a month and they’re high on life. If they’re happy, more power to them! But they could do more….
2. When private students come their way, they tend to take whatever they get.
Does this characterize you? It characterized me for many years, I’m ashamed to admit. But to meet the needs of my clients, I started reading business magazines and newspapers, and started thinking differently. I started thinking of myself as a consultant, responsible for creating my own business, and not waiting for someone to arrange everything for me. So, how did I make this metamorphosis?
I have already discussed one key mental breakthrough, which was to stop thinking of myself as an “English teacher”, and to identify myself as a “language consultant”.
But the second step was to become keenly aware of opportunities. Let me tell you about the one that changed my life. Calculating though I am, this one happened totally by chance!
One day I was sitting in my office at the training center I helped run, perusing the day’s mail. One item caught my eye: a letter from one of Taiwan’s leading business magazines, written in bad English, soliciting our participation in a survey. Like many of you, I could have laughed and tossed it. But that’s not what I did. I saw it as an opportunity.
So, I re-wrote it in perfect professional diction, and sent it back, with a letter describing my services. Out of this I was hoping for an editing gig, maybe ten hours a week. Sure enough, they called me and asked to meet with me. Alas, they did not want an editor. Instead, they wanted someone to teach them! But I accepted it. However, that’s not all I did. This is what I said (paraphrasing from memory):
1. “I have extensive experiencing in teaching writing (from cram schools and from the University of Iowa), and I would be happy to work with you.” Note: I took what I could get, hoping to leverage it later, and affirming my premium qualifications.
2. “At the same time (I never said “but”) this is very specialized training, and usually I ask for NT$700 an hour for work like this (this is back in the 1980s), so I hope you won’t mind if I ask for my standard rate”. Note: In fact, this was my first time at this pay level. But I knew I was selling exactly what they needed. And since their company was paying, the premium rate would not hurt them. And by explaining my special strengths, I had made it possible for them to justify this to their manager.
Sure enough, they agreed. And I taught these three people for five years, eventually reaching NT$1000 an hour in the early 90s. Over the years I taught a couple of dozen editors and staff. I edited letters to their foreign business partners. I wrote a few speeches for them. Basically, I expanded my range of services as their needs grew. Besides the good money, two other things came from this.
1. I could give them as a very high-profile precedent when working with other prospects. This made it easier to justify my premium rates, again and again.
2. Through word of month from them I got work at numerous other high-profile clients, from TV stations to consumer goods companies. In fact, one of these clients still pays me US$5000 a year for emailed editing!
Now, why do I share all this? Because anything I did above, you could do as well. The biggest things to learn from this are to be alert to opportunities, and to negotiate your arrangement optimistically/aggressively. And anyone can do that. This is what is known as making things happen.
Or you can watch things happen. It’s up to you.
