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Need some help with Branding

I have a 1 man band driving instructor business - I'm successful I've been running for 1 year and I am full - I'm turning work away. I've got a few instructors in the pipeline starting to train. I am good at attracting customers because the rate my driving instruction as good, but how to I transfer this from being about me to being about my brand?

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6 answers

If people are coming to you personally because they like you, I would be very careful with the people you employ.

My suggestions: 1. Get people who can do the admin or other time consuming activities to free up more time for you to do the instruction. 2. Include different instructions throughout the series of lessons. I had private language lessons at a stage and before the course started I was interviewed to ask what my specific needs were. They then found the best teachers who would be able to help me with those elements. In my case, I ended up having one teacher who was really good with conversation, one that was really good with grammar and another who was really good with pronunciation. About 80% time was with my favorite instructor, the other 20% was an odd lesson with the one guy and then the other.

I found this was super beneficial to my learning as each teacher had a different strength and perspective so I felt I was getting more than what I would have if I only had one instructor.

In terms of actual branding, maybe do something easy like branded clothes or branding the car you use for driving lessons if it's not the clients'. Something that is associated with the personal space, not the external factors like a website or email message.

Good luck!

Report Karin's answer

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Dear Rich, I am glad to hear that your business is doing well. I agree with Karin, that it is a very personal business. But, if you want it to be more than a one person band, you have to think about three questions: in what aspect will my driving school be different? Is this relevant for the clients? And how do I communicate this? It is very important to be focussed. So as an example: suppose you decide to be "the friendly driving school' (friendly price/friendly teachers), you make this important in your selection process of new teachers, and you (for example) create a nice gadget that you give away when people fail their exam. you choose a friendly color, and create logo with a friendly animal or a smile. My point is: This adds up. People will recognize you and because driving and driving exams are scary, they might look for a supportive type of school. Just a fun idea to end my advice: Give all your cars a claxon/honk with a sound that no other car has. It will create story value. And advertising is all about 'storytelling'. Good luck with your business!

Report Serge's answer

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Hi, Rich, and congratulations on your business success. How do you sustain success, in the long run, requires setting up a reliable machine of generating leads and converting them into customers.

I think you must focus on defining your "Marketing Dominating Position". But what exactly is that? (You may ask). It is simply any value-added customer perceived benefit, or a combination of benefits, that differentiates you from your competitors; and does so in a strong enough manner that it makes your business the logical choice in the minds of your prospects and customers.

We offer a FREE 4 part video course that explains more about this and helps you with the first steps on how to define it.

You can contact us at Institute for Business Success, LLC www.topbusiness.coach JR.Gomez@topbusiness.coach Twitter: @CoachJuanGomez

Report Juan R's answer

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It should be about your logo and image and tagline. What types of clients have you attracted.age/category/interests/lifestyle. What is the end result you want your customer to remember, you giving them a comfortable learner's driving experience, high level of expertise, a sound driver training program that is well-respected. Think about those thoughts that customer have or tell you about your driver training company. It make me feel confident, experience, at ease, peace of mind etc.

Report Daryl's answer

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Great posts here. There are some other ways that can assist your customer in moving away from you and become more focused on what the business accomplishes. When speaking to your customers refrain from using I or me (even though your a one man show) use We and Us. Create an energy that your business is Larger than you. If you haven’t created a logo ..do so. Your contracts...receipts...email and social media correspondence should show your logo. Provide a place for feedback where others can review on and offline. What is your referral system like and are there any incentives..what do you want folks to remember about there experience...how do you celebrate success for your drivers...as you incorporate these things let the business do the talking and not you.

Report Bridget's answer

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Get your company name out there in social media. Personal, professional and business branding is occurring regularly, whether or not we are aware of it. From our web site presence to our postings on the sites of others, from our credit ratings to our cell phone records and application navigation, we are tracking others and being tracked ourselves. Deciding to become active in social networking is really a matter of managing personal, professional and business images/brands or having them manage us. Networking is a vital tool in achieving an image/brand. Establish a network like a wheel. The hub is core content (web site, blog, books, articles, useful materials). The spokes leading from the hub are the tools to network content that is linked to the hub. Contacts are the engines that power the wheel. Content is the fuel that feeds the social networking contacts and powers the wheel. As the wheel turns, the quality of the networking improves with feedback and the wheel climbs the optimization hill of the major search engines (SEO). Limiting factors are the quality of the core content and knowledge/persistence in networking.

Report Kenneth's answer

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