Success Comes When You Can See The Difference: Why It’s Important To Know The Difference Between Self-Defense and The Rest Of The Market.
You often hear the martial arts community battling over their style and legitimacy which,if you are running a business, is a tremendous waist of time and energy. The biggest reason is that the market doesn’t care about any of the martial arts banter as it’s a confusing message.
Who cares that I am a Joe Lewis black belt or any other black belt? The only people who care are the martial artists themselves. If you have opened a business and are distracted by another style or school in your area you should reconsider why you opened the business.
Concern yourself with being the best at “what you do” and making a great living doing it.
Developing a business mindset instead of an “us vs them” mindset is critical.
I do not advertise that I teach point sparring TKD. Why? Because that’s not something I am familiar with or specialize in and I never worry about it. I never think of what I don’t do and am always open to what truly works in business. Everything else is a distraction.
Example
I can teach a black belt kickboxing class in full Gi and, in two minutes, I can be in a Cobra Instructor shirt, shorts and tennis shoes teaching self defense. I can seamlessly transition from one modality to the next without a mixed message for my students. Selling is the same as teaching. Selling self-defense is completely different than martial arts and, when it’s done correctly, it translates into revenue.
A Common Example of a Prospect’s Journey
Example:
A 37 year old mother has a scary incident in a grocery parking lot while shopping with her kids. A man is backing out of a parking space and almost hits her. The man gets out of the car and confronts the mother with the kids; he begins to shout and gets close enough to touch her. The mother is apologetic, terrified and has a feeling of hopelessness for the next 60 seconds as she is berated by this aggressive male.
After the incident, the mom drives home and informs her husband. They discuss how vulnerable they feel and so they decide to do something about it.
What are their next steps?
They do what everyone else does. They pull up Google to look for a service that will meet their needs in their area.
Are they honestly typing in any specific style of martial art? “Need Muay Thai training for protection” is probably not in their keyword search (you can replace Muay Thai with any traditional art). If she calls you and she is hit with the sound bites of black belt, kata, master, forms, Gi, belts, and bowing, it may be a short phone call.
If you are a martial arts school owner or sports oriented MMA school and do not have a legitimate training alternative for this type of person, you will most likely miss out.
Since 2002, we have been fielding sales calls from our headquarters and also listening to owners around the world about their experiences with clients.
Prospects call C.O.B.R.A. centers because we meet the exact criteria they are looking for?
The Criteria
What exactly are the criteria?
- Realistic training program
- Short term commitment
- Normal dress
- Organized step by step instruction
- No student hierarchy (belts)
- Anyone can do it
- Law enforcement platform
- Not intimidating
- A global brand with proven history
As a martial arts school owner, this is such an easy sell to just about anyone you come in contact with.
70%-80% Continue Their Training With You
And here is the best part: after the completion of their C.O.B.R.A. Academy training, 70-80% of C.O.B.R.A. students end up staying with their instructor/school in one fashion or another. They sign up for C.O.B.R.A. again, join martial arts, fitness or personal training; it’s all by design through our renewal process.
As a school owner, I created C.O.B.R.A. so that I could teach more adults. It ended up being a win/win because I ended up with a ton of adult martial arts students as well. That’s right; I didn’t have to take on the grueling task of finding an adult interested in martial arts then try to sell them on it. They were already in front of me as C.O.B.R.A. students, which is so much easier and far more profitable.
Spaghetti & Pancakes
Here is an analogy we use in our 2-day training events. It will forever help you remember to “know the difference” so that “you can be more successful”.
Do you like Italian food? Do you like buttermilk pancakes?
You may like both of these foods; however, should they be on the table at the same time, it confuses the senses.
There is a difference.
I can speak for most people out there by saying that pouring spaghetti sauce all over my pancakes is not something I have ever done or will ever do. I enjoy them both but they are on the table at separate times and that works the best.
For more information on owning your own C.O.B.R.A. training training facility visit www.SelfDefenseCertified.com.
Chris Sutton
C.O.B.R.A.™ founder, author, school owner, black belt martial artist
