If you’re passionate about tennis, a career as a tennis instructor can be a dream come true. You get to spend all day doing something you love and have the freedom of self-employment.
The problem, though, is that it can be difficult to build your client base when you’re first starting. If you want to kick your business into high gear, try these tips:
Tips for Building Your Client Base as a Tennis Instructor
Whether you’re a new tennis instructor or you’re a long-time instructor who’s hit a lull, these tips can breathe new life into your business:
1. Participate In and Attend Tennis Events
You don’t need to walk through the stands handing business cards to everyone (and you shouldn’t). However, tennis tournaments and other tennis events are great opportunities to meet clients.
If you’re a participant, it’s a great opportunity to show off your skills to potential new clients. If not, you can attend it as a networking opportunity. Just avoid getting overly pushy.
2. Talk to Your Club About Website Placement
If there’s a local tennis club that you have a rapport with, find out if they have a way for instructors to get involved in their website.
If they don’t already have a list of available instructors on their site, suggest that their members would find this helpful. They could even allow members to book tennis lessons online.
You could also offer to wrote expert guest posts for the blog on the club’s site. This gives them new content and helps you put your name out there.
3. Attend Community Events
Many cities have free community education events throughout the year. A health and wellness fair, for instance, could be a great way to reach an interested audience.
You could also buy a booth space at more general events like community festivals. People use these events as a way to see what’s new in their cities, so it’s a great networking opportunity.
4. Set Up a Client Referral Program
If you have a few clients already but not as many as you’d like, get those clients to refer their friends to you. Create an incentive program: if you sign up a new client who was referred by an existing client, give both clients a discount on their next lesson.
Referrals can be the key to keeping your business strong. In fact, customers who were referred by another customer have a 37% higher retention rate than customers who weren’t.
5. Build Your Social Media Presence
Social media is an easy and inexpensive way to market your new business. Put out the word that you’re accepting new clients, and advertise your referral discount as well. If you choose to include paid ads in your social media strategy, you’ll have an even greater chance of success.
6. Ask Current Clients for Reviews
40% of US consumers always or almost always read reviews before making a first-time purchase. Having a good reputation with strong scores on various review sites will give you credibility and get your phone ringing. Start by encouraging your existing clients to review you on Yelp, Google, or another site.
Creating a Successful Business as a Tennis Instructor
For a tennis instructor, your reputation is one of the most important ways to build your business. As you follow the tips above, remember to provide quality work for your existing clients at every step.
For more ways to grow your business, check out more articles on our blog for tennis professionals.
