The Truth About Free Tasters - If You Think They Don’t Work In Schools, You’re Missing The Point

If this episode resonated with you and you’re thinking, ‘I need a more valuable offer for schools,’ then I’d love to invite to my free Approaching Schools Challenge where we will be creating our offers, evidencing the need for our services and bringing in the bandwagon effect with our local schools and nurseries! Join the challenge at https://www.ceryskeneally.co.uk - we start on 28th April and there are already hundreds of different providers joining us!

If you’re ready to make more money from your school or nursery partnerships, my one-off mini mastermind day in Birmingham on May 11th is for you.  We’ll be working on your packages so you can sell faster, upsell long-term contracts and know exactly how to increase your average school revenue with my Signature School Sales Ecosystem.  You’ll even get to take part in hot-seats in the afternoon so you can come away with your very own tailored action plan! There’s just a few spaces left and we close off registration at the end of this week - take your seat now at https://ceryskeneally.kartra.com/page/birmingham-mastermind

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Read the Transcipt to this episode here!

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the Approaching Schools Podcast. I'm Cerys Kenealy, and I help children's activity providers to build key business relationships with schools and nurseries without having to use cold calling or stalking. I want to help you earn a more reliable and consistent income while building your social impact and enriching children's lives with ease. So join me as I take you on a journey, and let's make a positive difference together. 

This episode of the approaching schools podcast is brought to you by love admin, the ultimate solution for booking management software. So say goodbye to admin overload and hello to award winning customer service and growth support, personalised to help you hit your business goals, ready to take your organization to the next level. Visit love admin.com today to get started, hello and welcome to another episode of approaching schools. 

So in this episode, we are talking all about the truth, about free tasters, because if you think they don't work, you might actually be missing the point. Now today's episode is going to ruffle some feathers, but in the very best way, we're talking about demos, those little sessions that everyone has an opinion on. And I'm going to say it outright, it's not the free taster. That's the problem, it's your lack of strategy. Because the truth is, if you're saying Free tasters don't work, maybe you're saying No one values them. Maybe you're thinking you don't want to give your time away for free. 

This episode is your wake up call, and I am speaking from experience, because I didn't want to give my time away for free either. When I was starting up my dance business and looking to partner with schools and nurseries, initially, I was just trying to sell clubs, and I couldn't figure out why I kept getting nos or not much response, or our children aren't interested in dance, or we had a dance teacher before, but it didn't work out. These were all the kinds of objections I was getting. And it wasn't until I started studying business and learned about a concept called the law of reciprocity, that I thought I would try something different. 

Now, when I was studying business, there was nothing like the approaching schools Academy out there, nothing like that existed, in fact, until I created it, because I created it to help people who were in the situation that I was. I don't want people to be struggling for a whole decade trying to figure out what to say to schools and how to get their foot in the door. I want to be there to help you. And this is from experience, the reason why I'm such an advocate for a demonstration, and we'll talk about how and why we call it a demo in the approaching schools Academy a little bit later. But the reason is it really shifted something for me in my business when I started offering value first. And actually, I've got a really, really powerful story from experience that I'll talk to you about on the approaching Schools Challenge if you're coming along on the 28th of April, because I didn't want to offer free demos either, but when I understood more about business and I understood more about offering value and demonstrating how I was different to the way the class teachers were currently teaching dance and I offered a demo, that's when everything changed for me, and that's when I started to notice a real uptick in the partnership side of my dance business, when I started partnering with schools in this way, that's when I had A 107% increase in revenue that year, but free takes us do get a bad rap, don't they? 

They've got a bad reputation. They're seen as maybe under values. Maybe some people think they're time wasting. Some even think it's a drain on your energy. But here's the harder truth, it's not the demo that doesn't work. It's doing them with no plan. You go in without a strategy, you don't follow up, you didn't invite the decision maker, or maybe you did, but you didn't know how to turn that moment into momentum. So of course, it fizzles out. It's not that tasters don't work, it's that random activity with no strategy doesn't work. And we know this, I've worked with hundreds of providers directly over the last six and a half years who will all stand up and testify that delivering a demo was one of the number one things that changed for them in their business, that enabled them to not just sell but to sell with confidence, to not just sell with confidence, but to sell long term contracts. 

So let's talk about reframing these tasters, because in the approaching schools Academy, we actually refer to them as demos. And here's what a demo actually is. It's not just a taster. It's not just another freebie. It's not something you have to do to prove yourself. It's a bridge, a bridge from schools thinking, what you offer is a nice idea to schools thinking, what you offer is a clear investment, a bridge from school saying, We'll think about it to school saying, How can we make this work long term, but only if you use it properly. So here's how I suggest you turn your free demo into a strategic high converting bridge. Number One invite the decision maker, even if they can only pop in for the last five minutes, let them feel the energy and see the children's response to you. Request a short meeting straight after the demo. Do this in advance, ideally for the same day. This way you're not chasing your building naturally. Collect feedback on the spot, so even if the decision maker isn't with you in the session, collect feedback from staff, from pupils, ask what they noticed, what worked and what stood out, and relay that back in your meeting. Use the demo as a conversation starter. 

No more awkward sales chats. Instead, reflect on what they just experienced. If you're worried about coming across a salesy or you don't have experience at having these sorts of conversations with decision makers, you don't have to feel awkward about talking about something that you just did for them that was really impactful and high value. Make the offer the next logical step. Tell them this is what we can build from here. It's not a big jump, then is it? It's not a hard sell, and that's going to make you feel better about this entire process. Highlight how you're different from in house delivery as well. Because remember, this is your area of expertise. It's framed, it's structured, it's impactful. This is what you are up against in 2025 it's not your competitors, it's anything the teachers could be doing for free, and position your demo as value, not as a favor. So a lot of the time, providers ask me, 

How can I make sure that this nursery isn't just going to get a freebie? 

How can I make sure that they're aware that I have longer term intentions than just offering this demo? And I say, Well, how about reframing it like this? 

Tell them in your next communication that this is something that you offer schools that you're exploring long term partnerships with, because a well done demo isn't giving your time away for free. It's serving before you sell, and that's how you sell for longer. It's how I did it in my business. It's how I do it in this business, because it's all about building trust, creating real conversation and letting your work speak for itself. This is how you get into the right energy for the follow up meeting, because you'll have all of those endorphins flowing. You'll have just delivered the best lesson of your life, and now you're going to talk about it, and all that passion will shine through. So instead of awkward objection handling, now you're having a natural conversation that flows. And that is what I used to love about this process, is it actually felt good.

So let's talk about free versus paid then, because here's what most people miss, and if I'm honest with you, a lot of providers don't want to hear this, but a one off paid workshop that leads nowhere is not better for you than a well positioned free demo that's. Leading to a long term contract, because if you're only chasing short term income, you'll stay stuck on that hamster wheel that you're most likely already on. And a demo done right opens the door to so many things like multi term bookings, like repeat income, like easier up sales and more aligned relationships. So the next time you think you need to charge for that one off demo, ask yourself, Is the goal a quick 100 pound for this session, or is the goal a reliable 1200 for a term's worth of sessions.

And I want you to think about communicating with empathy. We know teachers are busy people. Lots of us are former teachers ourselves. This is what we're all about in the approaching schools Academy. We are creating a community of conscientious communicators because we have empathy with the people that are on the receiving end of our marketing, and it's about being responsible, but it's also about the energy behind how you're approaching schools and nurseries. Because if you're emailing senior leaders asking for a quick chat about your services without offering value up front, there's no wonder you're being ignored, really, is it? They don't know what you need, yet, they don't know what they need, and they don't have time to be sold too cold, but a well positioned demo is a respectful offer. It's you saying. Here's something that could help, no strings attached, and it's building a relationship before making an Ask that's called conscientious communication. And if you are not communicating in this way and willing to offer value before you sell. Well, I had a mentor in the past who is a firm believer that you don't understand business yet. But let's talk about strategy over fear. Here's your new approach, if you're serious about building long term partnerships and real income, this is it. Demos let you serve more children than you could if you only worked with who is already paying you. They allow you to communicate your difference without needing to convince I've had providers say to me before, Karis, how do I convince the school to pay me and work with me? But it's the wrong energy if you're looking for a win win partnership, isn't it? And they build connection, trust and alignment, and that's what leads to longer contracts. If they don't trust you, they are not going to buy from you. And in 2025 there is more skepticism in the world than ever. So if you're not offering value before pitching, you could be doing business more effectively. So this is your invitation to stop avoiding strategy because of fear, because this is how you build something stable. This is how my approaching schools Academy members are building something that grows if this episode has shifted something in you at all, if you're done winging it and you are ready to finally build a business that works for you, here's what you can do next. First, join me in person for my one off May the 11th event in Birmingham.

This is where we will be mapping out exactly how to package your services, to sell faster than ever, to sell with confidence, to decision makers so they truly trust you, and to upsell long term school contracts that bring in consistent income. Finally, for you, I'm going to be sharing my signature school sales ecosystem, which you're not going to find anywhere else. There are just a few seats left. I'm going to be delivering hot seats so that you can work on your next big thing in business and make more money from your school and nursery partnerships. These seats are for providers who are ready to step into strategy. Hit the link in the show notes to grab yours. Secondly, if you're not quite ready for the deep dive yet, join my free approaching Schools Challenge, which is happening soon. This is where I'm going to show you exactly how to approach schools without cold calling. Position your offer with clarity and get your next step, moving in just a few days, this is about building real momentum in your business this year, not just for you, but for the children, schools and families you're here to impact. So let's go those links are in the show notes. 

Thank you for listening to the Approaching Schools podcast. If you've enjoyed this episode, do come and let me know in my free group for children's activity providers approaching schools, so that I can make more content like this that you'll love. You can find me on my socials at Cerys Keneally, and my inbox is always open. I would love for you to leave a review on iTunes and hit subscribe on your favorite platform, so you can be the first to know when a new episode is ready. Until then chat soon you.