Winter is upon us driving instructors, and for many it is the most dreaded time of the year because business slows down as many learner drivers either take breaks to travel visiting family or divert money usually spent on driving lessons to the festive christmas gifts and this year will be no exception, but with the current credit crunch some might feel the effect more or even earlier than normally. Well this is time you can use to step up your driving school marketing efforts not only to get more learner drivers during the less busy christmas period, but more importantly for that new year rush when people renew their resolutions of getting that highly desired full British licence.

Even national organisations like AA, BSM, LDC and Red driving school recognise this trend and normally offer their franchise holders either a week or two of fee free benefits to boost earnings and help lighten the financial burden at this time of the year.

Now if you don’t hold a franchise that has these benefits, or are an independent operation that still has to pay for the driving school car lease and other running costs what marketing efforts can one do to make good use of the extra time we might have on our hands while hopefully finding a few more clients that might want our services. I’ll share a few tips that might help.

Marketing is one of the most ignored aspects of a business for many instructors, we spend time on administration (you keep records for the tax man I hope), accounts, checking with current pupils on lessons for the days or week ahead, clean the tuition vehicle, but not enough on advertising our services to generate more learner driver clients.
Being a good instructor is good, and will get you recommendations (some of which you have to turn away due to distance, I live and operate from Mill Hill and while I’d be willing to give driving lessons in hampstead which is slightly out of my normal coverage area, I can not give tuition to someone in Hackney E5 even if an ex-pupil recommended me), but you need to consistently market yourself to generate regular enquiries.

You need to learn from Red driving school and how they are agressively advertising to take advantage of the current economic climate, while I don’t condone their business model, if you ask anyone in the UK about becoming a driving instructor, RED is probably the name they will mention, because their presence is everywhere, TV, newspapers, online. You don’t have the budget of LGV, but there are still things you can do to make people aware of your services and increase your visibility to potential learner driver clients. I will list a few below:

1. Get a driving school website, or work actively at promoting the one you already have or see if there are any improvements that need to be done on it.
A website can be one of the most effective driving school marketing tools available to the instructor to promote his/her business and if setup and promoted properly could be the only means of pupil generation required to keep those enquiries coming in and one’s diary booked with adequate work, and contrary to what you might believe, setting up and maintaining an online presence need not cost a fortune. You can have an effective driving school marketing website for as little as £10 a year.

2. Make use of your present pupils as advertising and marketing resources. Most instructors might mention on a new learner driver’s first lesson that they can be rewarded for introducing a friend, and that is the last time you mention it to them. While you don’t want to hound them every week, think of times when it is worth mentioning to them again. If you have any special offers going for new learners, let them know to inform their friends, also remember that it might be for things like mock tests (you can sell the fact that doing it with a different instructor will more closely simulate the dsa test, as the friend will be assessed by a stranger thus more realistically let them know how prepared they are).

If your learner has had a particularly good lesson or session, that would be an appropriate time to remind them to blog about it (if they have a blog and include a link to your website), or post a comment on their facebook profile, they might be more willing to do it, and this could be a re-occuring referal for you.

3. Follow up on previous enquiries. If someone has given you a call in the past about learning to drive, call them up and find out if they are still interested in getting their full British licence (note I said ‘getting their full licence’) they might have rejected your services in the past because they wanted cheap driving lessons, but having gone down that route of £15 an hour (yep people expect me to offer them tuition at that rate in London) and failed due to improper instruction, or found out that a lot of information had been held back from them, they might wise up and consider paying for high quality services from honest fully qualified instructors like you. I prefer to call rather than text, as it is more effective in converting enquiries to sales.

4. Be of help to learner drivers on online forums. If you show yourself to be knowledgeable and consistently helpful to provisional licence holders who are either being taught by another instructor or family and friends, then you might start seeing people wanting to use you either to pass the test after a failed attempt or transfer to you from family in order to increase their chances of passing. Make sure you include a link to your website in your profile and signature that is appended to every post you make if allowed (see why you need a school website?). If you need more learners to take driving lessons with you, then you have the time to do this, and while the results might not be immediate, it will come if you persist and are consistent in being helpful to others.

5. Check up on lost pupils. Some of your old learner drivers might be thinking of returning to driving, and a call from you might be all they require to kick them into gear.

6. 6th form career advice. If you have a college near you, then you might try and see if you can give a talk on topics such as ‘Being self employed and running a your own business’. This might generate some enquiries in addition to the opportunity of giving out cards to 17 and 18 year olds.

7. Put graphics on your driving school car. While having a roof sign is good, it doesn’t advertise your services when you are not giving a lesson and don’t have it on your vehicle. If you lease your car, then you could opt for magnetic marketing signs which can easily be peeled off.

There are many other ways of marketing your instructor services, be creative and hopefully you will start to see the rewards. Remember which ever advertising methods work for you, should be continued, the most successfull brands keep advertising to keep their number one position (you will probably be seeing a Coke advert on the TV shortly this christmas season!).

More Reading
Driving Lessons Mill Mill
Why I became an Instructor

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Please let me know your views by posting a comment on the blog at
http://www.ukadi.co.uk

You are probably aware from your driving lessons that the sun is very low in the sky in winter especially early morning/evening and that visibility can be reduced at crucial places like when emerging at junctions, where road signs are placed, or when meeting traffic on narrow streets. So for this very reason you need to be extra careful when taking your driving test in winter, and that you adjust your reaction to changes in conditions.

Here a couple of useful tips that might prove valuable for those of you taking the DSA practical car test during the winter months here in the UK.

1. Use sun glasses. There is nothing wrong with wearing a pair of sun shades when driving, as it reduces the number of times you have to take your hands of the steering wheel to adjust the car sun blinds as the car moves in different directions in relation to the position of the sun (leave them in the car on the dashboard when you get to the test centre to meet the examiner, and put them on at the beginning of the test after you have answered your show me tell me questions). You probably will notice that the examiner will also have a pair of sun glasses too!

2. Use the appropriate speed for the conditions. It might not be safe to drive at the speed limit if you are facing the sun especially if the road has a lot of junctions or cars parked on it. Don’t get pressurised by cars driving too close behind you, do what the examiner will expect you to do (maintain SAFE progress).

3. Don’t miss those road signs. During my giving driving lessons, I find a lot of test candidates don’t pay attention to road markings and signs, SLOW is painted on the tarmac for specific reasons, and in winter with roads being slippery due to black ice and poor visibility from the low sun in the horizon, ignoring this helpful information will only increase the likelyhood of you commiting a driver error which could classified as serious or dangerous. You could also find yourself being failed for being too slow if you miss the national speed limit sign on the A1 in Mill Hill for example on the approach to sterling corner roundabout, so do your very best to remain focused and pay attention to everything around you. This is one of the reasons why the DSA advices to have lots of practice once you have learnt the skills required on the practical car assessment, as if you learnt to drive a car in summer, but your test is booked in January, you might not have enough experience in winter driving to successfully deal with everything that might happen during the 40 minutes drive with the examiner.
4. Observations during maneuvers. It is very important when performing your driving test maneuvers in winter, that you take effective observations because it is even easier at this time of the year to not see a silver or gray car coming towards you either due to it blending into the background, or light reflections. This is not the time to rush because you want to end the test ASAP, and if you take the time to concentrate on controlling the car, it will be easier to look around without having your vehicle running out of space to complete the test maneuver.

The current UK driving test is tough, and you need to give it the proper respect it deserves, you will not get that desired pass certificate, if you show up half prepared, and you can’t blame weather conditions or other road users for your failure (well you can if you want, but it doesn’t take away from the fact, that it is your responsibility to demonstrate to the examiner that you’ve got what it takes to keep your car safe no matter what is happening around you).

Here is to wishing you success on your next attempt, having used those driving lessons (private or with an instructor) to gain enough experience to give you the skills, confidence and ability to make it.

Thinking about becoming an instructor? Don’t just make a decision based on the red driving school TV advertisement, do the proper research and know all the ADI training options available to you.

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Please let me know your views by posting a comment on the blog at
http://www.ukadi.co.uk

I am a DSA approved instructor (not member of IAM advanced driving organisation) based in London, and can offer driving lessons to those of you resident in the NW postcodes who need pratical help, advice and practice to pass the car driving test who don’t currently have an ADI, have learnt to drive with a friend/family member and need their skills assessed or are looking to change instructors for whatever reason.

I say this for a few reasons, I don’t work for the DVLA, and therefore can not help you with queries regarding whether you will receive a driving licence ban for whatever offence you were caught committing, nor can I tell you how many points a magistrate will give you for things like driving without insurance on a provisional licence not displaying ‘L’ plates alone and unsupervised. These anwsers can be provided by DVLA staff, solicitors who specialise in traffic offences and generally not by driving instructors who mainly give lessons to prepare you for the test and obtain a full licence.

In recent weeks, I have been getting a lot of emails or comments on this blog regarding points on licenses, asking if they will get banned for specific offences or what the DVLA will do now that they have 9 points and recently passed the test. Unfortunately I’m unable to answer any of these emails or comments (there are a lot of them for that matter), so please don’t get offended if your email or comment has been ignored, as it will be too time consuming to reply to everyone even if only to say sorry I can’t help you.

If you are concerned about losing your licence, then you need to seek legal advice in respect of your individual case with lawyers that are able to stop you from getting banned, otherwise you just have to wait and see what will happen. For those of you who are committing driving offences and haven’t yet been caught by the police, now is a good time to amend your ways, as sooner than later, the long arm of the law will get you.

If you are thinking of using cheap driving lessons to learn to drive, you might want to think again about your choice.

More Reading
The New Drivers Act and 2 years probation.
Provisional licence, points and driving test

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Please let me know your views by posting a comment on the blog at
http://www.ukadi.co.uk

Before starting any of the 4 driving test maneuvers that you might be asked to do by the dsa examiner, it is okay to adjust your mirrors to help you see more easily the bay parking lines or the curb for the reverse round the corner exercise. Just remember to put them back to the position for normal driving immediately you complete the maneuver before moving off.

Now because you are allowed to adjust your mirrors while performing a practical car test maneuver, don’t stare in the mirror and forget to take effective observations around you, or you will miss the pedestrian walking behind the vehicle or the silent hybrid toyota overtaking you which you are swing out towards.

If you move off without re-adjusting your mirrors, don’t panic, find a safe place to pull up on the left as soon as possible. Remember the candidate that passed the test with one error, he changed the mirrors to reverse round the corner, completed the exercise, was told to turn left, he moved off and turned into the new road realised the mistake, stopped on the left (mentioning he had to re-adjust his mirrors, not that he needed to), corrected the mirrors and continued with the test. At the end, the examiner did not mark him down for it.

If you are thinking of using cheap driving lessons to learn to drive, you might want to think again about your choice.

More Reading
DSA test routes
Dealing with other road users on the test
Handbrake use on practical test
left bay parking refrence points

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Please let me know your views by posting a comment on the blog at
http://www.ukadi.co.uk

During your driving lessons, you should have been taught by your instructor that when performing test maneuvers other road users have priority, and you should in no way hinder their progress. To this effect, you should have had experience of going round other learner drivers performing the ‘turn in the road’, ‘parallel parking exercise’ or ‘reversing round the corner’.

Your instructor would have taught you how to know when it is safe, to make progress round learner drivers, so the question is why when on a test with a DSA examiner in the car, you don’t do what you have been taught, but stop in the middle of the road waiting for the learner driver to complete a manuover?

Today not for the first time, I was out practising with a provisional licence holder the ‘turn in the road’, we had just done the first stage moved to the other side of the road, noticed a learner car approaching, so my pupil stopped to allow it to go behind us, but instead the car stopped, my pupil made eye contact (I had meanwhile noticed the examiner in his high visibility jacket) still the test candidate didn’t go, so we finished the exercise.

I would expect at the minimum a driving error for hesitation, but the point I’m trying to make is don’t change your driving habits on the test because you think you are being safe. You must be confident that what you have been taught is right, and be able to demonstrate this during your practical car assessment.

Thinking about becoming an instructor? Don’t just make a decision based on the red driving school TV advertisement, do the proper research and know all the ADI training options available to you.

Subscribe to Driving Test Tips so you don’t miss any future articles or get updates direct to your inbox by Email.

Please let me know your views by posting a comment on the blog at
http://www.ukadi.co.uk

Should a driving instructor take learner drivers out on the road for lessons in snowy and icy conditions?
Many full licence holders will say no because they are going to slow us down, and just be a nuisance to us.

The snow that fell in parts of the UK on Friday was perfect for giving driving lessons to some learner drivers on how to handle a car in icy conditions and also deal with other unsafe road users who might be ignoring the conditions.

I could demonstrate ABS kicking in, how stopping distances are greatly multipled, skidding when going round junctions, we even witnessed a car braking too harshly and running into parked car, not to talk of going round a junction to face a taxi reversing into the road and failing to stop even after using our horn to warn it of our presence. I had just been telling the pupil the importance of being extra slow at junctions in icy conditions!

As a provisional licence holder, you should take advantage of any driving lessons in snowy or icy conditions that may come your way (I havs had to cancel tution of conditions were too dangerous), as you don’t want to find yourself driving a car in snow for the first time after passing your test with no previous experience.

If you are thinking of using cheap driving lessons to learn to drive, you might want to think again about your choice.

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Please let me know your views by posting a comment on the blog at
http://www.ukadi.co.uk

Following my last ADI check test incident, the DSA had booked me in to see the SE-ADI at my local Mill Hill driving test centre for the 23rd of Dec at 09.00am. I had made up my mind that this time I was going to go for a role play test this time, and had completed the reply slip saying so, my expectations was that I’ll be offering a remedial driving lesson, especially since I have been pretty busy this winter with many learner drivers wanting these.

The recent snowy weather last week hadn’t made me have high hopes of the check test going ahead since neither Hendon or Mill Hill centres had carried out any driving tests since Friday, but since I hadn’t heard from the examiner, I attended anyway, and wasn’t surprised when I was told the assessment of my teaching ability will not be going ahead.

So I now have to wait again for another appoitment to be arranged in order for me to get my ADI grade sorted out and remain on the DSA register.

Thinking about becoming an instructor? Don’t just make a decision based on the red driving school TV advertisement, do the proper research and know all the ADI training options available to you.

More Reading
Taking up a Red driving school car franchise.
ADI Number and online test booking.
Fit and proper person to be instructor.
How to know illegal driving instructors.

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Please let me know your views by posting a comment on the blog at
http://www.ukadi.co.uk

Wishing all you regular readers of my driving school blog a Merry Christmas, have a nice holiday, stay safe whether you are driving or taking public transport, be cabwise if using mini-cabs and extra cautious if being supervised in your own car especially if it snows again.

Those of you preparing for the driving test don’t forget a copy of your highway code for ocassional reading, and wish you the best especially if you have a practical car test next week and are hoping to celebrate a new year with a full British licence (hopefully the weather will hold up for you).

I’ll see you the other side of Christmas.

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Please let me know your views by posting a comment on the blog at
http://www.ukadi.co.uk

In a previous post I mentioned a practical test being terminated due to a fault with my then Ford Fiesta school car. In that blog I said that I will be changing the vehicle once my instructor car lease expired.

Well I have now moved over to using a 3 door Toyota Yaris as my school car for offering driving lessons to my clients here in NW London, and it seems to be much more reliable than the Ford Fiesta I was using previously. The reverse gear does not stick, the bonnet has no problems closing, nor does the seat tilting mechanisim fail. I’m looking forward to a few years of good service from my small Toyota Yaris 1.0, and though it is slightly less power full than the ford, I can live with that especially since it is more fuel efficient, and I’ll be spending less on petrol costs.

The change to my school car has had a 2 sided effect for me as an instructor, while I haven’t lost any of my current learner drivers, I have seen a few enquiries lose interest in taking lessons in the Yaris insisting in being more comfortable driving a Ford Fiesta. Having said that, many new provisional licence holders have commented on how smooth and enjoyable they have found learning in the Toyota yaris, with some saying the higher driving position has boosted their confidence behind the wheel.

While not all learners will allow the type of car used to affect their choice of driving instructor, for some (especially if close to a test), then the vehicle could sway their decision.

If you are thinking of using cheap driving lessons to learn to drive, you might want to think again about your choice.

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Please let me know your views by posting a comment on the blog at
http://www.ukadi.co.uk

As a provisional licence holder preparing for the DSA practical test you will make mistakes in the run up to your appointment day, it doesn’t matter whether you are taking driving lessons with a Department of Transport approved instructor, or you are taking your ‘tuition’ with a family member or friend, you however want to make sure that the number of mistakes are kept to a minimum, but more importantly they are not serious or dangerous errors.

If you are taking lessons with a driving instructor you should never be afraid to make a mistake while in training, you have a better chance of passing the practical test if you don’t think too hard about how to do things but operate out of habit, this usually means doing the first thing that comes to your mind. I always encourage my learner driver pupils to do this, your actions will either be right or wrong. If what you did was correct then you can be confident that on the test this is what the DSA examiner expects and you can perform that skill, if it is wrong, then as an ADI I will inform you of the right thing to do, we will then practice this until we get rid of the bad driving habit and start to perform the skill at the dsa standard (this could take a lesson or more depending on the individual).

If you are always tense on your driving lessons afraid to make a mistake because you dread your instructor shouting at you, calling you stupid or an idiot then you have a problem – get rid of the instructor! Everyone learns at a different pace, and what took your friend a one hour session to understand could take you 3 hours (over 3 seperate sessions), as long as you are given the necessary support, practice and don’t get a flustered person sitting next to you, then it is nothing to be concerned about.

Even on the day of your driving test, you might make a BIG mistake on the lesson as you make your way to the DSA centre, this doesn’t warrant being told off for, but rather a learning experience, with emphasis being put on how to approach the situation if the same opportunity presents itself during the assessment. It is much better to make the mistake with your instructor beside you, get the proper feedback knowing what to do when it really matters than to hold back because of fear of an angry reaction, then do what comes to your mind on the test and fail.

Making a mistake gives you the chance to learn a lesson, and it is more likely that if treated in the right way will easily be remembered in the future.

If you are thinking of using cheap driving lessons to learn to drive, you might want to think again about your choice.

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Please let me know your views by posting a comment on the blog at
http://www.ukadi.co.uk