Learn to fly handout

[Josh]

I'm working on rewriting (or really doing for the first time) a sheet of paper to give the folks that walk in the door wanting information on learning to fly. We currently just have a list of rates here for plane, pilot, checkride, written, medical, etc type of costs. No real details on what any of this stuff means. Guess I should have kept copies of all the files from the last place I worked :dunno:

I can come up with the typical requirement list, and a few pictures or whatever to put on there.

Just wondering if anyone has an example of how they did a layout of this stuff, or any other content to drop on the sheet.

I'm setting it up as a single page kind of thing. Ideally, I may fold it into a pamphlet of letter size/legal size paper folded in half to give 4 pages to work with.

Easy to list this stuff in an email, or web site, and put links to more info. I'm just wondering what y'all have out there to hand out at your work when someone walks in the door.

Thanks,
Josh

 

[carlos]

I'd suggest that you focus on making flying sound fun, interesting, exciting, and useful. In other words, don't just list the FAA requirements for getting a certificate or the rates and how much it costs and that sort of mundane information. That's important to know, but I would bet that most people who come in the door are still very undecided on whether flying is right for them, so this sheet should be a marketing piece, not just a list of facts. You want them to draw them into the notion of flying, not scare them off with all the time and cost involved.

Chuck
--
Rent our Gatlinburg Vacation Cabin!
http://www.achangeofpacecabin.com

 

[jrh]

I would avoid a handout entirely.

How many car dealerships do you walk in to where all they do is throw you a single sheet of paper about their products and hope you're interested enough to figure it out on your own?

How many colleges use a single sheet of paper to explain what a good education is worth, and what it takes to get it?

Handouts have a place, but only when they accompany information from a face to face meeting with the potential student.

At my operation we do whatever we possibly can to meet with the person one on one and talk for a while. If myself or the owner is available to sit down with a person walking in off the street, we do so, otherwise our other instructors try to schedule the person for another time to meet with us. If they call in over the phone and ask the typical questions of cost, time, etc., we start by saying, "I'm happy to give you as much information as I can over the phone, but honestly, it's a lot easier to explain these things in person. Would there be a time when you could visit our office?" and then put them on our schedule for a specific time.

Basically, we get them paired up with a person designated and trained on how to sell flight training. Occasionally there is a person who absolutely insists on only talking over the phone, but it's rare. Most people want to visit. This way we don't inadvertantly turn them off to flying by spitting out a bunch of numbers over the phone that they don't *really* understand, then never hear back from them again. There's simply no way for an inexperienced person to make a decision about if they want to (or are able to) fly or not based on a 5 minute phone call.

During our meeting with the person, we find out a lot about what got them interested in flying, what they want to do with aviation, what sort of timeline they're wanting to get done by, etc. Basically, they educate us on what they want and we educate them on what we're able to provide. FINALLY, after we've talked through those things, we actually start pulling out papers. We have a paper for our pricing, a few papers for our financing options, a demo CD for our computer based training software, and a packet of papers that explains all our policies for new customers on scheduling, getting a medical certificate, etc.

By the end of the meeting our goal is to have them see the benefits of being a pilot, lay to rest any objections they might have as to why they shouldn't be a pilot (a tough one since most people don't openly voice their concerns), and know that we're the best place to train at.

Let me know if you have more questions about our process. I always like talking about these things.

 

[shdw]

Let me know if you have more questions about our process. I always like talking about these things.

That is all very interesting, I would really love to hear more details. If you would rather not openly post it you can shoot me a PM. I am looking to go independent so anything you can offer would be helpful, thank you.

 

[carlos]

I would avoid a handout entirely.

I's suggest you do both. It's important to do the things that jrh suggests, but it's also good to send them home with something in their hands that can help keep them interested. Also, not everybody will have a lot of time and may just be stopping by for a few minutes on the way to somewere else, or just walked in because they happended to be driving by.

Chuck
--
Rent our Gatlinburg Vacation Cabin!
http://www.achangeofpacecabin.com

 

[tgrayson]

During our meeting with the person, we find out a lot about what got them interested in flying, what they want to do with aviation, what sort of timeline they're wanting to get done by, etc. Basically, they educate us on what they want and we educate them on what we're able to provide. FINALLY, after we've talked through those things, we actually start pulling out papers.

That would drive me insane as a potential customer; I would view the process as meeting your needs, rather than mine. If at all possible, I would give my business to an organization that provided me with the information I asked for in a straightforward fashion, rather than smothering and manipulating me with their sales process. Not a good idea, IMO, to model one's marketing efforts after those of car dealerships, unless one wants to acquire their smarmy reputation.

I want a one page brochure and maybe a two minute explanation of what it means, then let me go home and think about it. I realize that the person selling a product gives up control that way, but as a consumer, I want to maintain control myself.

 

[jrh]

That is all very interesting, I would really love to hear more details. If you would rather not openly post it you can shoot me a PM. I am looking to go independent so anything you can offer would be helpful, thank you.

Any specific questions?

I don't mind talking about it openly. It's no secret how we do it. The basic philosophy is that most people don't know much about aviation and need someone to mentor them on their options as they start out. They need help choosing the best path and we'd like to help them rather than spit some information at them and hope they figure it out on their own.

 

[jrh]

I's suggest you do both. It's important to do the things that jrh suggests, but it's also good to send them home with something in their hands that can help keep them interested. Also, not everybody will have a lot of time and may just be stopping by for a few minutes on the way to somewere else, or just walked in because they happended to be driving by.

Yes, always have something to send them home with.

And for those just stopping by without much time, answer their questions as best as you can, but still try to get them to come in again when they have more time. Most people who are really interested in flying see the benefits to meeting for half an hour with an instructor to get a better feel for what it's all about.

 

[jrh]

That would drive me insane as a potential customer; I would view the process as meeting your needs, rather than mine. If at all possible, I would give my business to an organization that provided me with the information I asked for in a straightforward fashion, rather than smothering and manipulating me with their sales process.

Maybe I didn't correctly portray what we do. There's no smothering or manipulating going on. We encourage people to meet in person because we honestly believe that's the best way to inform a person about flying. It's a huge world in aviation with a lot of options. People fly for business, pleasure, a career, some want to own a plane, some don't know what they want, they just think flying looks cool. How can that possibly be summed up for everybody on a little handout?

You sound like you're part of the small percentage of people who want nothing more than the facts and to be left alone. That's fine, nothing wrong with it. But from my experience, your philosophy is in the minority. Most people appreciate meeting with us.

Not a good idea, IMO, to model one's marketing efforts after those of car dealerships, unless one wants to acquire their smarmy reputation.

The only reason I mentioned car dealerships is because they know how to sell and it rarely involves giving somebody a sheet of information and walking away.

Notice I also mentioned the tactics of college recruiters. Informing, helping, and selling all require personal contact in the majority of cases. Do college recruiters have a low reputation as well?

If you had the chance to meet with me I think you'd see I'm about as far from a cheesy used car salesman as I can get.

I want a one page brochure and maybe a two minute explanation of what it means, then let me go home and think about it. I realize that the person selling a product gives up control that way, but as a consumer, I want to maintain control myself.

Again, I might not have been clear enough in my first post. This procedure has very little to do with controlling the customer and a lot to do with helping them make an informed decision. I don't know what else to tell you.

 

[Josh]

Good to see some comments on this.

I know what I need is a sheet to hand out to someone.

But, that doesn't mean that is all I will do is hand them a page and send them out the door. I have been doing this CFIing thing for a little while, and don't think I would have survived if that was all that was done :insane:

The place I'm currently working just has nothing to go along with the talk. I see this flyer as something that a person can grab out of the display type cases in the lobby at airports and hotels. And, I can hand that to them when they only have a minute to stop in. In the last week or two, I've had half dozen people who have just wanted the basic "what is needed to get licensed" type of info.

Used to have a sheet that gave the "have you ever though of being in Tahoe in only an hour..." and a bunch of other little attention grabbers like that. I just never really payed much attention to what was on that sheet in all the years, since most of the time, people would walk in the door, and grab that before I ever started talking to them. Or it was something for them to browse over for a minute of two while I was finishing up with a previous student.

I'm not really into being on here to argue the merits of the idea of a handout. I'm here to see what type of content others put into theirs since I didn't take that info with me from my last job.

Thank you ahead of time to anyone that can help provide useful content information.

 

[tgrayson]

useful content information.

What people want to know are 1) how much $ and 2) how long will it take. I'd put a minimum cost down, assuming a perfect student, and then an average cost, maybe one in a C152 and one in a C172.

Also, give a range of completion times assuming a certain number of flights per week. After that, the stages of training would be interesting, as well some text describing what they can do with the certificate once they earn it.

 

[jrh]

What people want to know are 1) how much $ and 2) how long will it take. I'd put a minimum cost down, assuming a perfect student, and then an average cost, maybe one in a C152 and one in a C172.

Also, give a range of completion times assuming a certain number of flights per week. After that, the stages of training would be interesting, as well some text describing what they can do with the certificate once they earn it.

:yeahthat: