I was speaking to an AA Driving School Instructor recently at the soon to be closed Hendon test centre, and he was saying that the AA Bristol call centre was not able to fill his diary at the moment with pupils.
This fully qualified ADI has held an AA franchise for over 18years, was available for work for 60 hours a week and covering about 9 North London post codes and yet not fully booked. This is obviously the effects of the current credit crunch economy, and I woud wonder how a newly qualfied driving instructor would be coping with an AA driving school franchise, especially after the 10 weeks discounted period is over and you still have to pay £200 pounds a week minimum franchise fee, could be more if you've had pupil introductions (£30 per learner driver no matter how many lessons they eventually have).
This is one of the reasons why I decided to become an independent driving school instructor. While I can't charge as much as an AA instructor, I can freely market myself as I like, don't have to use a 1600cc Ford Focus car for driving tuition, have a less expensive monthly car leasing fee to pay and generally have less strees in my life. The biggest reward is of course the fact that I'm now promoting my business, and everytime some sees my car, it is promoting me, not the AA.
If you've taken out a national driving school franchise to get yourself established in the industry, I wish you the best, but I would recommend you always have setting up your own driving school up at the back of your mind.
PS I've just had a letter through the post inviting me to join the organisation, offer a weekly franchise fee of £28 gradually stepped up, claiming to equate to over £1000!
Showing posts with label Instructor Franchise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Instructor Franchise. Show all posts
Get cheaper AA Driving lessons
If you really want cheaper AA driving lessons, then instead of calling the 0800 number on the side of the car, contact the driving instructor directly and haggle the price with him or her as this means the ADI doesn't have to pay for the introduction. You can do this even if you had registered with them recently, as long as you didn't take any lessons with the new AA instructor.
How do you know what will be a good price to pay for AA driving lessons? Go to the website and get a quote, if the price for your area is not given online (large city prices are not quoted), call up (make sure you withhold your number otherwise someone will call you up) and ask for a quote. Once you know the price, you can then ask for a lower price when contacting the Instructor directly, a good starting place is £3 lower than the official price, though it is up to you to decide what you can afford, and see if the instructor will accept this or not.
Many AA Driving Instructors are short of work, so they will gladly take something rather than nothing, especially when they have to pay £200 every week to the AA driving School for their franchise.
Don't be afraid to knock on the door of a house where you see an AA driving school parked outside, especially during the week, it might be that the ADI has not got any lessons booked which is why the driving school car is parked outside, so this could also be a sign that you would be able to get bargain AA driving lessons.
One of the joys of being an ADI with the school is that learner drivers are always looking for high quality AA Driving Lessons. The strong brand name attached to the organisation means that people want to have the best value tuition that their money can get, though not all of the learner drivers will necessarily want to pay pull price for the privildge, some opting to have just one or 2 remidial hours, while others would want a large discount on the current market price, you as a driving instructor will have to consider your individual circumstances and treat each case with your business hat on!
As an instructor holding a franchise with them, giving AA Driving Lessons was a joy, being associated with such a large brand doesn't come cheap as reflected in the weekly franchise charge by the driving school (£200 in 2008), which is one of the reasons why I decided to operate my own independent driving school. While working for myself without a franchise will not allow me to command the high premium I was able to with the AA, I can choose which car to use, market my business more aggressively without fear of breaking some terms and conditions set by the organization.
I must confess I do miss giving AA driving lessons in the Ford Focus car, but not all pupils who used the services of the driving school where totally satisfied with the level of tuition they got, judging by some reviews on consumer websites or learner driver forums. This is not completely down to the organisation, as all ADI's are self employed, and not employed by them so can run their business as they like under the general franchise umbrella.
My advice to anyone learning to drive a car in the UK who have paid the high premium for having AA driving lessons is they should contact the customer advice centre in Bristol if they are not happy with the level of service they are getting (you should always speak to your instructor in the first instance to iron out issues), and request another ADI.
How do you know what will be a good price to pay for AA driving lessons? Go to the website and get a quote, if the price for your area is not given online (large city prices are not quoted), call up (make sure you withhold your number otherwise someone will call you up) and ask for a quote. Once you know the price, you can then ask for a lower price when contacting the Instructor directly, a good starting place is £3 lower than the official price, though it is up to you to decide what you can afford, and see if the instructor will accept this or not.
Many AA Driving Instructors are short of work, so they will gladly take something rather than nothing, especially when they have to pay £200 every week to the AA driving School for their franchise.
Don't be afraid to knock on the door of a house where you see an AA driving school parked outside, especially during the week, it might be that the ADI has not got any lessons booked which is why the driving school car is parked outside, so this could also be a sign that you would be able to get bargain AA driving lessons.
Giving AA Driving Lessons
One of the joys of being an ADI with the school is that learner drivers are always looking for high quality AA Driving Lessons. The strong brand name attached to the organisation means that people want to have the best value tuition that their money can get, though not all of the learner drivers will necessarily want to pay pull price for the privildge, some opting to have just one or 2 remidial hours, while others would want a large discount on the current market price, you as a driving instructor will have to consider your individual circumstances and treat each case with your business hat on!
As an instructor holding a franchise with them, giving AA Driving Lessons was a joy, being associated with such a large brand doesn't come cheap as reflected in the weekly franchise charge by the driving school (£200 in 2008), which is one of the reasons why I decided to operate my own independent driving school. While working for myself without a franchise will not allow me to command the high premium I was able to with the AA, I can choose which car to use, market my business more aggressively without fear of breaking some terms and conditions set by the organization.
I must confess I do miss giving AA driving lessons in the Ford Focus car, but not all pupils who used the services of the driving school where totally satisfied with the level of tuition they got, judging by some reviews on consumer websites or learner driver forums. This is not completely down to the organisation, as all ADI's are self employed, and not employed by them so can run their business as they like under the general franchise umbrella.
My advice to anyone learning to drive a car in the UK who have paid the high premium for having AA driving lessons is they should contact the customer advice centre in Bristol if they are not happy with the level of service they are getting (you should always speak to your instructor in the first instance to iron out issues), and request another ADI.
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