One of our goals with the Teach Piano Today blog is to help piano teachers avoid “burn out”. Exhaustion can rear its ugly head when you work for yourself in a profession you love. It’s easy to spend your “free time”, searching for resources, planning lessons, and answering piano parent emails, phone calls and texts.
All of this pressure… can end up being really, really tiring.
But, if you’re a regular reader of our posts, you can breathe easier, because a huge part of our life is spent finding ways to make your “studio life” less stressful! And today, we’re continuing our work with a post that will help you cut down on the time you spend emailing piano studio parents!
Effective Piano Teacher Email Templates
Today we’re sharing a collection of email templates you can use in common “piano teacher scenarios”. The best way to make use of these templates is to “copy and paste” the text, edit them once to suit your studio and then save them as a “canned response” in your email program. You’ll whip through your email tasks in half the usual time!
Before you continue, we have a request…ย we want to know…
What email template do wish we would share? What email response do you find yourself sending over and over that you wish you had a great email template for? Leave your “email template request” in the comments at the bottom of this post. We’ll choose one and share it in an upcoming post!
Now let’s get started:
Section 1: Making A Great Impression
Email 1: Improve your lesson sign ups with this email response…
If you receive lesson inquiries from potential clients via email then you’ll want to make use of the following responseย which I’ve used for years. It instantly creates a connection between interested parents and your studio.
Email 2: Follow-up after a first lesson and bring on the smiles…
Use this email as a kind, genuine and memorable way to mark the milestone of a child’s very first piano lesson. Parents will appreciate this thoughtful gesture that makes a fabulous first impression without costing you any time or money.
Section 2: Communicating With Parents
Email 1: What to say to parents when their children aren’t practicing…
Teachers find themselves in this situation frequently and it can be difficult to know exactly what to say. I’m a proponent of nipping practice problems in the bud. This email helps you do just that.
Email 2: Save a piano student who is about to quit…
If you receive an email from a parent indicating that their child is losing interest or is considering stopping lessons use this email. While we can’t “save” every single student, sharing some different perspectives can help parents who are looking for guidance.
Email 3: Sharing what is happening in lessons…
Keeping parents informed of all of the exciting repertoire choices and additional activities you incorporate into lessons is important! ย Emails like this one strengthen relationships, show off what sets you apart, demonstrates the value you add to children’s musical experiences and reminds parents that a large portion of their children’s success relies on what happens at home.
Email 4: Communicating with parents who “expect more”…
Wondering how to respond to parents who ask for more difficult repertoire for their children (who aren’t close to being ready for it)? Here’s my 4-step process to answering these questionsย with the appropriate wording.
Email 5: Communicating the importance of summer piano practice…
Use this email template to help parents understand the importance of regular piano practice through the summer months AND to give them some strategies to make summer piano practice actually happen.
Section 3: Piano Recital Communication
Email 1: Persuade a reluctant piano student to give recitals a chance…
If an email pops into your inbox indicating that one of your students is anxious about an upcoming recital, you’ll want to have this email at your fingertips.
Email 2: Send this email to follow-up in style after a recital…
If your recital is over and you want to send “warm fuzzies” to your families, remind parents of the joy that comes from watching their children perform and offer encouragement and praise to your students… this is the email you need.
Email 3: Encourage wide-spread participation in your recital…
One year, when soccer and baseball threatened to dampen my piano studio recital numbers, I crafted a list of twelve reasons why piano recitals are important. I now paste my list into an email that arrives at the same time as my recital date announcement ๐ Find it here.
What Did We Miss?
Is there an email template that you wish we had written. Tell is about it in the comments below and we’ll see if we can make sure it hits the blog in a future post!
Elizabeth says
I lose days of my life to writing emails. I know I’ve used at least one of your templates before, and it helps. Thanks for putting them all together. And just thank you thank you thank you.
Elizabeth says
… How about an email for parents who interfere with instruction? There are well-meaning parents who not just “expect more” but also assign more. When we’re teaching rote memorization, and the child isn’t ready for more measures than assigned, this causes a mess.
Miriam says
I second this request!
Andrea says
Hi Elizabeth – made note! Thanks ๐
Olivia says
This is excellent! Thank you so much.
Andrea says
Glad it’s helpful to you, Olivia! ๐
Benita says
This is so helpful! THANK YOU! I spend so much time emailing, doing phone calls or planning lessons when I’m not teaching.
Andrea says
Hope it saves you some precious time, Benita! ๐
Lisa Williams says
Using your idea of templates has been a LIFE SAVER! And I can’t wait to start implementing your idea of claiming communication preference – like emails for routine questions, rescheduling, etc. This year I tried something new in my policy sheet and have an entire page devoted to the importance of practicing and parental involvement (another one of your ideas). I titled the section “Changing “I take piano lessons” into “I am learning to play the piano”. I just emailed it 2 days ago but already I’m having amazing positive feedback with a rededication to making practice a priority from both the parents of kids who are not stellar practicers as well as parents of kids who are. Thank you for the inspiration!
Leah Drake says
Hi Lisa! Would you mind sharing the content of your policy sheet for the “Changing “I take piano lessons” to “I’m learning piano””? I’d love to add something like that to my policy sheet as well!
Barbara says
I second Leah’s request! Any chance you’d share that policy sheet, Lisa??
Andrea says
Hi Lisa, thanks so much for sharing. Yes… wording can really make a big difference when communicating with parents. Have you read this post? It’s along the same vein as what you are achieving https://www.teachpianotoday.com/2015/09/02/how-to-banish-the-piano-is-a-chore-mentality/
Nina J. DeKock says
How about an email that can be used when raising tuition rates? Thanks!
Leah Drake says
Seconded!
Andrea says
Great idea, Nina! In the meantime, this post might help on this topic https://www.teachpianotoday.com/2013/06/26/a-stress-free-strategy-for-announcing-piano-lesson-rate-increases/
Ruth L Michaelis says
Time for scheduling! Trying to get responses from email, messaging and phone calls . I would love if more parents would respond to my emails about schedule requests. Perhaps I need a more direct subject line!
Andrea says
Hi Ruth – I know what that feels like. Scheduling is such a puzzle and if you are missing the response from one “piece” then it can really cause delays. Have you read this post we wrote on scheduling? https://www.teachpianotoday.com/2013/08/11/the-7-strategies-of-a-piano-scheduling-ninja/
Sarah Harden says
Great language in these email templates. Thanks.
What about one for when you’ve started a student who is quite young, but you’d like to stop lessons and recommence when the child is a little older. (Parents not sitting with child, child bored, want to attempt lessons at a later date before the child beings to detest piano). Thanks.
Andrea says
Hi Sarah – instead of recommending a “break” and a later start, have you checked out our WunderKeys method books? They’re designed for young children who need a gentler start to piano and are really engaging and motivating for young students ๐ http://www.wunderkeys.com Might help in this situation! ๐
Jessica says
These are great – thanks!
I’d love to see some templates for the text to use in the invoice & reminder emails.
This is my structure so far re: Invoicing
1) Invoice is emailed 7-10 days before lessons resume from school holidays
2) Reminder invoice is send with a copy of the invoice
3) Overdue Invoice is sent with an automated late payment fee which was agreed to in the first lesson.
*Currently, I have my T&C pdf that is given at first lesson.
LadyD says
These templates are just what I needed. I appreciate you and Trevor so much. Thank you!
Andrea says
You’re very welcome, Diana! ๐ Hope they save you lots of time!
Jessica says
Wonderful! I’d love a template for responding to parents who inquire for lessons when the studio is full. They are often excited to start and expect to be placed right away, but my schedule is full. I’d love to keep the momentum going with them even though they may have to wait.
Andrea says
Great idea, Jessica! In the meantime, here’s a post on maintaining a wait list that keeps them chomping at the bit to get in with you ๐ https://www.teachpianotoday.com/2013/04/15/the-secret-to-a-piano-studio-waiting-list/
Cris says
This is really helpful!
What do you think would be the best way to reply to an email from a student that decided to stop attending voice lessons permanently?
I don’t want to sound like I’m forcing him to continue but leave the door open for whenever he decides to come back.
Thank you!