anyone trainers around?

[tink123]

Hi. DH has just set up a training company and there are a few points I would love opinions on.

I know most training companies want payment up front and charge 100% cancellation fees if someone cancels late or cannot make the course. A few people have not turned up to courses, and we have never bothered to charge them. What I was wondering is - is it madness not to charge cancellation fees, as it does not really matter to DH whether 2 or 12 turn up (apart from money obviously). He would still teach...

Are people likely to take the p* or could it work as a marketing ploy? So run a sort of - 'you turn up, you pay' kind of course. The people who take these courses have to do them in the next two years or they risk losing their job so they have to attend a course at some point (they could go to another training provider, of course).

Any advice would be appreciated...

I forgot to add that we are trying to market the company as a training provider who will fit in with the needs of the client, so basically we train when they can fit it in - 24/7. So it is difficult to get payment upfront or apply cancellation fees as many just book one or two days before they want to do the course.

I worked for a training company in the past. We used to ask the person or booker to send over a signed copy of an enrolment form to confirm their booking. On this stated the terms and conditions which included a cancellation policy. If they couldn't attend because of being ill etc then they could transfer their place to another day, however if they wanted to cancel there was a scale of charges depending on how long before the course date they cancelled. e.g. 5 - 10 days 50%, 2 - 4 days, 75%, 0 - 1 day 100%.
I guess it depends on what training you are offering and the costs involved. What overheads do you have and preparation costs?
From experience you can waste so much time and money if you don't have this in place!

There are trainers and trainers - it REALLY depends on what you are training and what your client base are.

Charging people who do not turn up can REALLY piss them off.
One company I work for ONLY charge no shows if the course was fully booked - with a covering letter pointing out that their no show stopped somebody else coming.

We also have the issue of extra people turning up on the day who forgot to do the paperwork !

DH is hired in by schools and has a policy of NOT charging if they cancel - but he does ask them to reschedule ... it leads to better long term relationships

why don't you ask people for a small deposit for booking their place on the course? This may of course put people off. If it doesn't cost too much when people don't turn up then I would concentrate more on building a relationship. Don't charge just for the sake of it or just because more established companies can do so. you could try recruiting through companies, where the companies books places for their staff and pays you, as they are then more likely to get there if they're going on the company's money. Just a thought