The reason why feedback from our customers often mentions how much easier it was to learn to drive with BIG TOM is that we have deliberately designed our programme to make learning easier. As a franchisee, you can directly benefit from this model that we have created over many years.

You see, ‘pay as you go’ driving lessons create problems for the pupil and driving instructor. This blog will explain why.

The act of designing in many more individual sessions in a programme of learning increases inefficiency. Pupils or even instructors are more likely to cancel sessions when there are 45 of them over a period of time, rather than 10.

The frequency and duration of sessions will impact on the amount learnt. Many pupils recognise that lesser gaps between training sessions aids memory and therefore, progress. The longer the gap, the more re-cap that has to happen for a pupil to mentally get back to where they left off, never mind, practically driving to get where they were before. It is undoubtedly harder to recall a detail from a driving lesson 7 days ago than it is from a lesson yesterday. Non-believers will often claim that the lack of time between sessions, robs a pupil of vital reflection time. This is of course nonsense as any skier will confirm; daily four hour lessons in the morning give plenty of time for reflection.

For anxious pupils, having a pre-planned schedule of sessions with short periods between them helps to maintain motivation. Too long in between sessions and an anxious pupil is more likely to cancel the session. In just the same way that when you fall from a bike or horse, you are encouraged to get straight back on it, the same is true with driving training. For some pupils, with each passing day after a driving lesson, their anxiety only increases.

Instructors have less unpaid travel time on a working day. Working with 8 pupils in a day involves a lot more travel time than working with 2. Cutting your wasted, unpaid travel time by 75% every single working day, has got to be a smarter way of doing business – it shortens your working day, reduces fuel costs, eliminates dead time.

Being exposed to fewer pupils reduces the probability of exposure to covid. If your diary for a week involves seeing 2 different pupils compared to 30, then you are significantly decreasing infection risk. And the same amount of income is being earned. Decreased infection risk with no effect on turnover is a smarter way of doing business.

Flitting about between driving instructors does no-one any good. When pupils hop around using different instructors they soon get to realise how destabilising it is to the process of learning. A different driving school car to get used to, an instructor with a different style, a new regime to come to terms with. And the latest instructor has to spend time in trying to ascertain exactly where to pick up from the last instructor – what was covered and to what extent. One course, one instructor, one car, one programme, and this continuity all favours more progress being made, with fewer headaches.

We do what we do for very good reason. It benefits our customers and our franchisees. Frankly, it’s a mystery to us why anyone would choose to work in any other way. When you join us, you are investing in the benefits of our experience – it will make your working life much easier, and it makes learning much easier for your customers too.