Using technology to plan / confirm private lessons

[jjane45]

The paper and pencil method cannot fail you, period.

But with smart phones blossoming, I wonder to what extent do coaches use "coaching calendars" and share with individual students? Is there a good app out there? Automatic lesson confirmations or customized reminders? What about electronic billing statements?

Just curious what people see around the rink and what works?

[FigureSpins]

The paper calendar always failed me if I brought it into the house.  I would invariably forget to put it back in my bag when I went to the rink. I use my cell phone and an online calendar that's linked to email and the phone.

All of my students take one lesson per week, so I set up a standing weekly appointment for each student.  If I make arrangements for a new student, I put them right into my contacts and set up an appointment.  For those who take a lesson here and there, I put them in the calendar as needed.

That way, I can pull up a day and see who I have scheduled and note if someone's not coming as a separate, one-time only appointment.  It's easier than cancelling one appt. in a recurrence.  I can always fit someone in someplace, but it does take some juggling at times.

My online calendar allows for reminders to be sent out via email or text message.  I only use it for new students, those who are coming back after an extended break, or those who've stood me up more than once.  It's a double-edged sword for the latter, though: it "trains" them to not come unless they see the reminder in their inbox. 

I have a different recurring appointment for myself on one particular day each week.  The first freestyle session on that day starts 30 minutes earlier than the other days of the week.  I like to get the text message around lunchtime to remind myself to finish what I'm working on and be ready leave on time.

I enter all lessons into my Excel tracking spreadsheet, which I use to verify the rink's check every two weeks.  It's like trying to balance a checkbook when all you have from the bank is the balance on 6/30, no statement.  Having all the lesson payments listed allows me to play "what if..." and figure out which lesson payment went astray in order to reconcile.

I use my paper appointment book at home to record the skater, date and lesson length as I update the Excel workbook.  I add the receipt number from our rink's payment system, so I can go back later and look things up.  I could probably do away with the appointment book, but at one point, coaches had to provide a written appointment log for a-u-d-i-t-s since many are independent contractors.  I haven't been to a Coaches Tax Workshop in a few years, so I'm not sure if it's still needed.

[Sk8tmum]

A number of our coaches are using electronic invoices: they e-mail out a PDF file with the invoice amounts, said invoice being generated from their accounting software; or for the less tech-y, an e-mail listing the lessons in the body of the message.

We also pay them electronically ... which is handy. One coach uses a pocket voice recorder to keep track of lessons and lesson length instead of writing them on paper. 

[jjane45]

One coach uses a pocket voice recorder to keep track of lessons and lesson length instead of writing them on paper. 

Oh that's interesting. I was thinking about the time clock apps available but this method is better proof against dispute. (although more resource consuming)

I like what FigureSpins does currently, very thorough and complete. Is there need to share particular calendars with the student to make sure you are on the same page? During summer, ice times change all over the place and I often feel the urge to confirm schedule with Coach even if we clarified it the week before.

[jjane45]

I was talking to group coach the other day and he mentioned it would be nice to setup a lesson appointment calendar in a way that if a lesson is canceled, texts / emails can be sent automatically to other students about the additional lesson availability, preferably based on each student's schedule (like having a different waiting list for each lesson slot). I can't think of how to implement it yet without actually doing some coding. Ideas?

On the other hand, I learned I must remind one of my coaches the night before if I want the early morning lesson to happen, lol. Maybe I should let Google calendar do the actual texting, hmmmm.

[VAsk8r]

We also pay them electronically ... which is handy. One coach uses a pocket voice recorder to keep track of lessons and lesson length instead of writing them on paper.

So does this mean if the lesson goes slightly over or under the planned time, the student pays a different price? My lessons are often not the precise 30 minutes I pay for, but 1-2 minutes over or under. I just pay her the same amount each time, figuring it more or less equals out.

As a student, I put my lessons in my calendar if they're not at my regular time and have Google remind me a few hours in advance. If I tried to keep a paper calendar, I wouldn't remember to look at it.

[Sk8tmum]

So does this mean if the lesson goes slightly over or under the planned time, the student pays a different price? My lessons are often not the precise 30 minutes I pay for, but 1-2 minutes over or under. I just pay her the same amount each time, figuring it more or less equals out.

Nope.  lessons are blocks of 10 or 15 or 20; if it's a bit over or under (which rarely happens) - then it all balances out.  My bill just shows a 10 or 15 or whatever minute lesson; it's done thru a simple Excel based invoicing system which does the extensions.

[jjane45]

One coach uses a pocket voice recorder to keep track of lessons and lesson length instead of writing them on paper. 

Nope.  lessons are blocks of 10 or 15 or 20; if it's a bit over or under (which rarely happens) - then it all balances out.  My bill just shows a 10 or 15 or whatever minute lesson; it's done thru a simple Excel based invoicing system which does the extensions.

Maybe I am missing the point then. Does she record for the whole duration of the lesson? To archive the lesson contents for records? Trying to see the advantage of this method

[FigureSpins]

A number of our coaches are using electronic invoices: they e-mail out a PDF file with the invoice amounts, said invoice being generated from their accounting software; or for the less tech-y, an e-mail listing the lessons in the body of the message.

We also pay them electronically ... which is handy. One coach uses a pocket voice recorder to keep track of lessons and lesson length instead of writing them on paper. 

Perhaps it's like my rink: the coaches don't collect the money directly; the rink or Club accepts the electronic payment and disburses it to the coach later.  I get a check every two weeks from the rink for the group and private lessons (less commission) I've given over that period. 

The fly in the ointment is that the private-lesson amount is a single number, so if it doesn't jive with my records, I have to figure out why the balance is off.  Sometimes if I run over on lesson time, a family might pay for 15 minutes of extra time without giving me a receipt, which is generous and unexpected.  Sometimes, when it's crowded and noisy at the desk, the clerk accidentally logs a 30-minute as a lesson for another coach. (Her name sounds similar.) When the latter happens, I don't get paid: my revenue goes to the other coach.  That takes weeks to find and correct in the system.  It's really fun when both things happen: it looks like I was overpaid by 15 minutes when in reality, I lost a half-hour lesson.

The Rink's system is flawed: they don't know how to get a list of all lessons for a particular coach out of the application.  I end up taking my list of receipts to the rink to go through them with the desk clerk, looking things up.  Think of balancing your checkbook when all you have from the bank is the current balance. 

I used to use a paper week-at-a-glance calendar, which was overkill and bulky.  Then I tried using my phone's calendar, which is okay, but tedious to log completed receipts.  Now, I use a combination of my phone calendar (for reminders) and a paper worksheet each month.  Mid-week, I write my scheduled lessons with an "S." I overwrite the "S" with the lesson lengths and circle the ones for which I have receipts. 


Most of the online calendars let you set up recurring appointments with reminders via email or SMS. 
Yahoo! lets you send an invitation for an appointment in advance with a yes/no choice for the recipient.
I've used that on occasion when a skater's just started and is having trouble remembering to show up, lol.

[FigureSpins]

Volunteerspot.com handles online invitations and signups, but it won't notify the world if someone cancels.  The event coordinator (your coach) would have to go into the system and send out a message to all the "volunteers" saying that an apointment opened up. 

Each lesson slot would be a task, but if you have a mix of lesson lengths, it gets difficult to maintain.  When the rink has an irregular schedule each week, it makes setting up appointments a lot of work.  It's easier to do it by email and just record the planned lessons.

[Sk8tmum]

Maybe I am missing the point then. Does she record for the whole duration of the lesson? To archive the lesson contents for records? Trying to see the advantage of this method

No,it's just a voice recorder for doing memos. YOu can do it on the smartphone easily; they all have apps.  Just record the skaters name and lesson length.  Instead of writing on paper. 

[jjane45]

No,it's just a voice recorder for doing memos. YOu can do it on the smartphone easily; they all have apps.  Just record the skaters name and lesson length.  Instead of writing on paper.

Thank you, I thought about that but somehow made things complicated.

[Skittl1321]

Volunteerspot.com handles online invitations and signups, but it won't notify the world if someone cancels.  The event coordinator (your coach) would have to go into the system and send out a message to all the "volunteers" saying that an apointment opened up. 

Each lesson slot would be a task, but if you have a mix of lesson lengths, it gets difficult to maintain.  When the rink has an irregular schedule each week, it makes setting up appointments a lot of work.  It's easier to do it by email and just record the planned lessons.

SignUpGenius.com also functions similarly.    I really like that website, though I haven't seen it used for skating.

[FigureSpins]

SignUpGenius.com also functions similarly.    I really like that website, though I haven't seen it used for skating.

I tested signupgenius and wasn't impressed.  Not that Volunteerspot is perfect, but it serves the purpose.
I felt that signupgenius had a more cumbersome setup, which is the hardest part of the job after recruiting volunteers, lol.

I use volunteerspot for our club's competition volunteer signups.  The hospitality crew uses a separate account/signup for their food donations.

[jjane45]

FigureSpins, does your rink plan to upgrade the system anytime soon? I wonder if the system is capable to output all records for a given period in alternate format for someone to analyze it outside the software itself?

Just a single number for payment record is plain unacceptable, especially it wastes the clerk's (clocked) time and coaches' (unclocked?) time to reconcile the receipts.

[FigureSpins]

FigureSpins, does your rink plan to upgrade the system anytime soon? I wonder if the system is capable to output all records for a given period in alternate format for someone to analyze it outside the software itself?

Just a single number for payment record is plain unacceptable, especially it wastes the clerk's (clocked) time and coaches' (unclocked?) time to reconcile the receipts.

This is the upgraded system, so we're stuck with it.  The Point of Sale (POS) system records all the lessons and passes a summary for each coach to the accounting system.  For 10 30m lessons, it's one summary line of "10 x 30 = $$"

The POS system can export the detail for those lessons, but the management can't or won't do that because it has to be imported into Excel or similar.  The POS doesn't have Excel on it and the accounting system has no place for an import of the lesson detail. 

I was in Retail Operations for over 10 years, so I figured out how to do the export using the vendor's website.  Apparently, I am (as a clerk once told me) the only person who reconciles their checks.  Other coaches either have no issues with under/over payments or they are so wealthy, they don't care.  Next time I have a problem, I might ask the front desk to export the info for me and see what happens, but even after I said I understood how to do it, mgmt didn't want to know about it.