Advantages of Tutoring Companies Over Independent Tutors

Tutoring companies face strong competition from other companies and independent tutors. Independent tutors can often afford to charge much lower rates, which makes them more attractive to many potential customers – so how can companies position themselves to attract clients despite their higher rates? There are several benefits companies offer potential clients that independents don’t – and by emphasizing these benefits, tutoring companies can attract more clients.
The following five characteristics can set tutoring companies apart from independent tutors. The extra value clients receive from these characteristics justify the higher rates that companies charge – companies just need to make clients aware of these benefits in order to attract more clients.
1. Time Savings
It’s quite easy to become an independent tutor, so there are lots of people with a wide range of education, experience and skills in this field. People looking for tutoring services typically look for a balance between the quality of the teaching they will receive and the price they will pay. However, evaluating independent tutors to determine the quality of their teaching can be a difficult and time-consuming process. Companies can help by completing this process for people.
Most tutoring companies have hiring processes in place for screening resumes, conducting interviews, evaluating experience and skills, completing background checks and more. They spend time finding high quality tutors, which saves parents and students from this process. Parents and students can simply ask a company how they screen their teachers and based on the response they will quickly be able to determine if the company will have high-quality teachers.
2. Quality
Not only do thorough screening processes save parents and students time when searching for tutors, they also help tutoring companies find top-quality tutors. As companies gain more experience they will be able to refine their hiring processes to find better teachers – this will lead to a better reputation and the ability to command higher rates.
In addition to finding high quality teachers, tutoring companies also usually have more established systems for handling scheduling, billing, communication and performance tracking than independents. Established systems that have been honed over the years make the entire tutoring process go smoother for clients which is valuable to many clients. Some independent tutors may be organized but the probability of finding one with well-established processes that ensure a smooth teaching process is lower than with companies.
3. Accountability
Another advantage tutoring companies have over independent tutors is that they have more invested in their reputations. Whereas independent tutors might have a couple students and rely on free advertising, companies have tens or dozens of students and invest considerable money in marketing and building their brands. In order to build and protect their brands, tutoring companies have more motivation than independent tutors to ensure their students receive top-quality teaching. Mention your business’s reputation in your marketing materials and when meeting with potential clients, talk about the number of years you have been in business, the number of students you have tutored, the size of your company and more. All of these things demonstrate that you are an established company that is obviously doing something right and that has a reputation to uphold.
4. The Right Fit
The x-factor in the tutor-student relationship is how well a student and tutor get along. A lot of this has to do with the personality of the two individuals. This relationship has a large impact on the effectiveness of a tutor and often can’t be evaluated until the tutor and student have been working together for a while. The problem with independent tutors is that the parent has likely invested significant time into finding the ideal tutor – one with the right education, experience and skills. But if the tutor and student’s personalities conflict the parent will have to settle for poor results or will have to begin the tutor search all over again.
Tutoring companies make it easier to match the right teacher to the right student. Companies have already screened their teachers so most should be high-quality. If a tutor and student don’t get along well, the company can assign a new one to the student with little disruption.
5. Focused on Teaching
Independent tutors often face the challenge of managing both the administrative and the teaching side of their business. This can be a distraction since the independent tutor is not focused solely on teaching his or her students, but rather also needs to focus on finding new students, billing, collecting payments, etc.
Tutor’s in working for a company or agency are able to focus solely on teaching their students while the company’s admins handle the administrative work. This results in more focused and productive tutors that can teach better.
6. Reliability
Tutoring companies can usually offer more reliable service than independent tutors. When unexpected events come up such as an illness, moving, or other problems a company is able to quickly assign a new tutor to a student and continue where the last one left off. When the same unexpected events come up with an independent tutor, the student may have to go for a period of time without tutoring or will have to look for a new teacher entirely. Even when a new one is found, the transition won’t be seemless because they won’t have the teaching records from the previous tutor to refer to. The ability for tutoring companies to offer reliable service is a definite benefit and many parents and students are willing to pay extra for it.