Building a thriving piano studio takes a lot of hard work. 

Buying a piano and building a studio around it can be the fun part. Seeing your business cards and website for the first time can be rewarding. 

But you can start to question everything if you take on the wrong clientele and don’t enjoy what you do. 

That’s why initial consultations are so important. 

Before you agree to take on any new prospective student, initial consultations with both the student and the family are important to set the ground rules before you begin. Consider adding consultations to:

• Allow you to meet the student and parents face to face before the lessons start.
  
• To learn their goals, assess what they know, and make a plan to begin. 
  

This also gives both parties a chance to meet and assess if it’s a good fit. Do you see yourself working together long term? This is important from both of your perspectives. 

Consultations will fall into two categories: new students and transfer students. A lot of who you attract depends on what you put out to the world. 

Is your expertise designed around introducing piano to new students? Or do you work better with experienced piano players, helping them refine their goals and techniques? 

When you define your ideal client, you can build your practice around those types of students, and utilize what you learn to help attract more with the same goals and desires. Use this in your marketing and you’ll weed out prospects who don’t meet your standards. 

For your initial consultations, create a system that helps you analyze your prospective clients. Things you can have them bring include:

• A filled-in questionnaire to help you understand their goals – this gives you a starting point for conversation
• A piece of music they can play for you
• A calendar to discuss potential lesson time slots
• Audio or video of past performances
• Q&A for you
  

Tailor this for who your client is. New students might bring in ideas for things they wish to play in the future, while transferring students could share more about past performances and goals for the future. 

Remember, initial consultations are as much for your new students as they are for you.

What do you wish to convey to the students and their parents before you begin working together? Don’t worry if you don’t have this all figured out. As you grow and learn, you can continue to build a more comprehensive consultation to help you bring in the very best students for you.