Chapter 5: The J4/Progress Check
So we've made it to the final chapter. The couple or individual who came in on the intro special has made it all the way to their final lesson which is called the J4 or Progress Check. They have shown at least a little interest in buying a package and their fancy program is ready to go.
When they come in you start by going over the program you have "designed for them." They look through the collage pages you made. You use the same formula of private to group classes for pretty much everybody. If they looked completely hopeless you might just add a few more private lessons onto their account. In the end whatever you did, the package would inevitably cost close to 1,450.
Then you tell them that the director is going to check on their progress and go over the program with them in about half an hour so they had better cram for the test. So you review the few moves you have taught them and then call the director over after 30 minutes when you are ready to show them off.
When you schedule the four lessons of the special you always tried to get them as close together as possible. If you could get them all done in one week the greater chance you had on selling the students supposedly. If they could only come in once a week or less often, the selling methods in the special didn't have as intense of an effect. You hoped they also managed to try out a group lesson or party first. In the intro package they got something like 4 parties included and I don't think anybody ever used them up.
Every friday evening there was a party for paying members of the studio. Teachers had to dance every dance and weren't allowed to dance with other teachers. There were show dances which we had to practice for and choreograph on occasion. The occasional games and fun like aforementioned Camel Race but mostly it was just a bowl of punch and music. When the party ended at 8pm sharp all the teachers had to stand in a line, gauntlet-style, by the exit until all of the students left. We stood there saying variations on goodbye to the leaving partiers much like flight attendants after you land.
So back to the the J4, the director would come over with some paper for notes and a memorized script of her own. She would jot down some things, encourage the students, make a few suggestions here and there. All designed to get them to sign on the dotted line. It took about five minutes and then everybody headed to the conference area, also known as the closing corner.
The director would then look through the fancy program you made, laugh at the photo collages and then get out the fancy calculator. She would say a few more encouraging things as she pretended she was adding up the privates and group lessons on the jeweled calculator. She would turn the calculator to them with the figure on it and ask them to sign a contract. Well I wouldn't know what it was like for them to sign the contract personally as I never made a sale. My folks would usually say they wanted to think about it, the usual way of trying to politely get out of something there wasn't a chance in hell they were going to sign up for.
Since you basically only got paid for your sales, I made less than minimum wage during my time at the dance studio. I made only about $150 a week or so. I had decent enough savings so I didn't mind much. Everyday first thing there was always a dance lesson for the staff and I thought. "Great, free dance lessons!" I finally threw in the towel after I realized the opportunity cost. When you work full-time at a job where you make no money, you have no time to work full-time at a job where you will make money. If I had worked at a proper job and come to the studio as a student and bought the package I would still be ahead. So instead of paying the studio exorbitant fees for dance classes like the students were, I was getting ripped off more by paying with my time.
OK I lied there is a fair bit more to talk about and I'm out of time for today. There is the pro-am dance competitions, the AP-series, and much more.
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