Perceived Value as Piano Teacher

Cost, Value, and Worth are often used interchangeably, though related, they are very different concepts. Their relationship works like this:

· Cost or Price - is the amount of money, time or other resources that must be given up for the item or service;

· Worth or Benefit - is the benefit that the item or service provides, you might measure this in how much money or time you save or how much you enjoy your meal;

· Value - is the difference between Price and Worth. When Benefit is greater than Cost, it has positive value and as the difference increases, the value becomes higher.

The benefit that you are providing the students and their parents is the service of your experience, skill, and time. You must not discount it or sell yourself short, but be confident that you are providing something that is of great worth.

You are a professional teacher and you deserve to be treated as one. The image that the students and parents have of you will be heavily influenced by how you present yourself. When you are perceived as a professional you will be granted higher respect and your efforts higher value. Have rules and expectations and express them clearly. Be flexible to the needs of your students but insist on effort, outcomes, and commitment. If students feel that you do not take what you do seriously, then they will not feel as though they have to.

You will be judged and compared by first impressions, often only in the first seconds. Despite what we are told, books are judged by their covers. The good news is that it is not hard to create a great "book cover", it simply requires a bit of preparation for your business cards, printed collateral, website, and other advertising. These will be the lasting images that they will carry and how you will be judged and compared. They do not have to be expensive, but they should look clean and clear and present you in the best possible light to the customer, in the first few moments.

Putting a label on the back of an examination booklet, printing your business cards at home, and using brochures that have been photocopied time and time again are better than nothing, but having really good ones are so easy and are not expensive. There is no reason why you would not want to have something that shows you positively as posible and every reason to do so! This is where the Piano Teachers Federation can help: The Piano Teachers Federation has modern brochures advertising you as a piano teacher and not a school or methodology, and can help arrange for personalized business cards taking advantage of large purchase, volume discounts.

In today's world, though it is strange to think of it as such, you are not real until you have an online presence. Have a Facebook page for yourself and/or your studio, create a wordpress or blog if you are willing to put the time into it, and create a Piano Teachers Federation profile. It is not enough to create these things once and leave it, content on the internet grows stale quickly and must be kept current to remain relevant. Do not fret, you do not need to spend hours a week maintaining, just a quick note on something you are doing every few weeks and something more meaty every few months. Talk about your upcoming recital or festival, a concert you attended, video or article you came across, or advice for parents or students. You are a wealth of knowledge and people want you to share it.

Potential customers must be able to find you where they expect you to be found, this means online and in person. This is one of the aspects where the Piano Teachers Federation is of great help, you are immediately granted the exposure and credibility of a nationwide organization. This will enhance their perception of you and thus the value that your lessons hold to them. You will look "bigger" and more established and by extension, the customers will have greater confidence in you.

Face to face time is the most critical element. When you interview students, you must build your rapport by expressing yourself, talking about what you do, some of the successes you have had, how you conduct your lessons, what your expectations are. Articulate to the students and parents that you are in control of your lessons, that you are serious and that you expect them to be too. The initial face time allows you to use your abilities to judge how the student will fit into your school and how you can best instruct them or if they need different teacher - your experience will give you the confidence to make this kind of call. See our article on closing students and chime in on your experiences and suggestions.

Referrals which are the traditional method of building a teaching practice. Business cards, brochures, and professional-looking web presence confirm what your existing, happy students already tell them: that you are a great teacher. When you speak to a potential student, their friend or family member recommends you, you have printed literature, a modern business card, and a Piano Teachers Federation profile that highlights what is special about you, they will be duly impressed and give you the respect you deserve right from the get-go.

If you have noticed, the issue of price has never arisen in all of this discussion. If you focus on what you have to offer, your skills, time and experience, then price becomes a much lower priority.

How you conduct yourself is how you will be perceived; and you determine the respect that people perceive you deserve. This applies to rates, to course material, and to the types of students. If you are not confident asking for the rates you set, then customers will perceive less value in your time. If you focus on rates, this is how you will be judged and compared to others. This is not to say that you should charge $200 per hour and refuse to deviate, but you must be confident that your rates are fair to you and equal to the value that you provide the students. Likewise if you let the student dictate the lesson plans avoiding the hard parts, their stagnated progress will reflect poorly poorly on you. However, if the lesson truly isn't meaningful to the student or the direction is not working, it is certainly beneficial to adjust to meet their particular needs.

You must know what your teaching style is and who your suitable students are. Your confidence in yourself will in turn instil their confidence in you. You must present who you are as a teacher, professionally. This is your job and your career and you deserve the utmost respect for what you do; this is the image that you must project to those around you.