The pains of teaching actually have very little to do with the teaching as it does with finding the students and then how much they ask you to compromise your beliefs.
I started posting ads and got a few responses. Most of them initially were people who needed to recertify there cards and needed to do it quickly. The most asked question I got was “How much for a CPR Card?” I gave them my price and then asked when they wanted to do the class. Most every time the response I got was “I actually have to take a class?” I was dumbfounded and insulted. These people thought that I was going to just give them a card. Really?
I did my best not to reach through the phone and strangle these people and I lost a few potiential customers because they didn’t want to take the class. In a future post we will discuss the closing of 28 different CPR training centers in California due to that situation.
Another issue I came across was connected to people who had previously bought cards. Students didn’t know what to do in the class and so what should have been an easy class turned out to be a very difficult fight because they didn’t know what to do and didn’t want to be there.
I also had large groups together that would try to sneek in a persons name on the list just to get them a card. It seems that some people were just too lazy to even show up for a class.
The next issue I had with classes was trying to teach someone with a language barrier. Sadly, I only speak English but I would still get customers that mainly spoke Spanish or an Asian language. I have only had to fail 2 students in my time teaching CPR and both were experienced nurses. The problem was a language barrier. I gave her to another instructor and she was able to get the students passed but told me it was still difficult.
The last issue I have had and still have with students are the ones that don’t show up for a class and don’t call to cancel. I have come to find out that in any kind of sales job or appointment based position people just tend to not be reliable. Why that is I do not know.
So these are some of the issue that one deals with especially when starting out.
Next post we will continue on with how we started growing.
Check out our Twitter @cprnmore
And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.