Are Gift Certificates for Piano Lessons a Good Idea?

Teachers frequently ask if offering gift certificate for piano lessons is a good idea. December is a great time to ask that question because it’s possible that someone could be interested in purchasing piano lessons for a loved one! Of course there are no guarantees that someone will be interested, but if you need new students, this might be a great thing to try as long as you know the ins and outs.

Before we discuss the ideas and options, it’s important to say that you should not offer gift certificate for piano lessons unless you have openings in your studio. It would be frustrating to get a gift certificate for piano lessons and then not be able to redeem it for six months because the teacher doesn’t have openings! So, let’s talk about the ins and outs of gift certificates for piano lessons.

Should I be Offering Free Piano Lessons

I would not suggest offering a gift certificate for free piano lessons because:

  • “Free” de-values what you are offering and makes it less likely that the student will continue once the free sessions is up.
  • It doesn’t require any commitment.
  • This typically attracts students or families who will not be as willing to commit to lessons, practice, and pay.

Charging for Gift Certificates for Piano Lessons

A better idea is to offer gift certificates in specific increments that will require some kind of commitment but will also give the prospective student the opportunity to “test” piano lessons. This is often what prospective adults students really want. They want a short term commitment (because they are super busy and want to know if they can really do it).

Be aware of what kind of students gift certificates for piano lessons will attract:

Adults

This is wonderful gift for adults to give other adults. A husband to give a wife or a friend to give another friend or an adult child to give an older parent who has always wanted to play. This is a great way to attract adult students.

Teens

Teens are very much into playing music with their friends and wanting to learn to play like pop stars. So, it’s possible that this could be a great gift for parents or grandparents to give to their teenage child or grandchild. But be aware that this will probably attract beginning teenage students, so be sure you are excited and able to meet that opportunity should it arise.

Kids?

Gift certificates for piano lessons are not likely to be presents that anyone gives a child. Let’s face it. Kids want toys and they want toys that can be played with immediately. But, you never know!

Know How to Structure Gift Certificates for Piano Lessons

We want these students who receive the gift certificate to continue in lessons. But we know that they won’t make enough progress in just one or two lessons to really want to continue, so don’t allow yourself to offer gift certificates for anything that you know is not a good choice for them.

In addition, you must consider if you have space in your studio to offer to students who might only be there for a month. If you have a number of openings, then it’s probably a great idea to offer gift certificates for one month of lessons and then at the end of that month, you might know whether you have a student you want to keep and one that wants to keep going!

It’s a tricky thing though because we want a consistent income and we also don’t want families to think of the price of piano lessons as a “tuition,” not a “per lesson” price. (See “No More Charging Lessons By the Week”). In a perfect world, the best idea would be to set up your buying option for something like one term or semester of piano lessons. For example, your gift certificate option might be for one semester of 30-minute private lessons for $333 (or whatever your price is). This will allow the student to make true progress and hopefully gain some momentum to continue in your studio.

But Then Again…

On the other hand, it’s possible that you don’t want to be stuck with a student you don’t really want for an entire semester! Four weeks is probably enough time to realize if there is a real interest in lessons, so if you don’t mind short term certificates that might help you earn a little more income, but not let you be stuck with a student you don’t want, then definitely go with the 1 month of lessons option!

Plus, an entire semester of lessons is a pretty expensive gift! Parents and spouses are probably more likely to purchase your gift certificate package if you have a smaller price point.

Whatever you decide, just be sure you have thought through the pros and cons of the different term lengths.

Market to the Right People

So, how do you get the word out about your gift certificates and to whom should you market?

  • Current piano families – You never know if the mom of one of your students has wanted to try out lessons or not. Send an email to all of your families and ask them if they know someone who would love to take piano lessons for a semester and then tell them about the gift certificate options you are offering. Suggest to them that perhaps they might even want to take and could forward the email to their spouse or significant other as a hint.
  • Facebook – If you took the “Marketing, Taxes, Business Entities, and Liability” workshop, you know exactly how you can target adults who are age __, who have incomes over ___, who live within 10 miles of you, and who might even have an interest in piano! This is a great method of marketing that might work well for making people in your area aware that they can purchase gift certificates for piano lessons at a location near them.
  • Your friends – Obviously, you don’t want to be annoying by sending this to your entire address book, but definitely send an email to your personal friends and let them know that you are offering gift certificates for piano lessons if they know of anyone who might be interested.

Be Flexible – They Might Not Have a Piano

We piano teachers know the importance of having a good piano. But, for someone who is trying out piano, we should be realistic that they are most likely not going to invest thousands of dollars on a good instrument until they are sure they are going to continue. Don’t worry. They’ll get exposure to the beauty of playing on a real instrument at YOUR studio. So, if you can be flexible for three months to see if they are going to continue, then gift certificates for piano lessons might be something you can offer and benefit from.

Terms for Gift Certificates for Piano Lessons

You’ll want to make sure that your gift certificate students abide by the same terms as your other piano students, so make sure your certificate has wording to indicate this. This will help cover misunderstandings about missed lessons, sickness, make-up lessons, etc. Remember also that a semester doesn’t guarantee a certain number of lessons. As you may have learned in “The Best Stress-free Business Practices for Your Studio,” it instead guarantees that you will be present to teach for a specific number of weeks.

So when someone calls you to schedule their semester of lessons, make sure you have them sign your agreement to terms to indicate they understand how your procedures work. If you use the free certificates I have provided, then there is already wording on the certificate about the fact that they have to agree to that. But you’ll need to go over how they work.

All of these things need to be at least referenced in a professional, yet not-scary way on your gift certificate.

FREE Gift Certificates (you can edit)!

Now is the fun part! I’ve created both editable and printable professional looking gift certificates you can download and use. Just click the button, enter your email and download below. You will receive a zip file that you can unzip in your downloads folder that you can open, print, and even edit. Be sure to read the READ ME FIRST file to help you understand how to do this easily. Have fun!

3 thoughts on “Are Gift Certificates for Piano Lessons a Good Idea?”

  1. Hi Wendy!

    I love the gift certificates, thank you for the resource! Quick question, do you print these and give people a hard copy when they “purchase” a gift certificate, or just send them a digital copy?

  2. Hi Macy,

    These were created quite a while ago, so they were intended to be used as printed. However, you could certainly give them a digital copy as well!

  3. The number one thing I have found as a piano teacher with gift certificates is that the purchaser needs to make sure that the recipient really wants piano lessons! Often they come to lessons and say “they meant well, but…”

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