CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 14 Issue 4 - 11

" Hiring Basic and Advanced CFIs
Interested in Learning Salesmanship Skills. "
This line should be part of every CFI hiring
advertisement and flight instructor preparation
course, whether it's for a program at a university,
college, or small flight school.
We are in a people-oriented business, and flight
instructors are a flight school's point of contact
with customers. It seems obvious that their
CFI training experience should include a basic
salesmanship course-training that should
continue through regular CFI staff meetings once
they are part of the flight school's business team.
In addition, a good teacher promotes selfimprovement.
This requires pride in yourself
and the business before you can effectively
pass on those skills to others, as you have to
understand yourself before you can understand
and motivate a student.
DESCRIBE THE PLEASURE OF SEEING THE
WORLD FROM ABOVE AND POINT OUT
FAMILIAR LANDMARKS IN THE AREA. YOUR
POTENTIAL STUDENT DOES NOT YET SPEAK
" AVIATION, " SO YOU MUST EXPLAIN WHAT
YOU ARE DOING. IT SHOULD BE A FUN FLIGHT.
When you display a positive attitude and show
pride in yourself and your company, your students
can fully appreciate their achievements. You
need to be a role model with a fair, firm, and
friendly demeanor. This also means you need to
understand what emotionally motivates each of
your students. Whenever people buy a product,
including flight training, their choices are driven
by comfortable and positive emotions. That is
your bottom line; you need to become a trusted
friend of each student, meaning you must trust
and be confident in yourself before you can gain
your students' confidence.
Flight Training Discussion
During your initial discussion with a potential
client, explain that learning to fly requires a
building-block approach to master the necessary
aeronautical knowledge and skills. Let them
know that the flight school uses a lesson-bylesson
syllabus that assures that both pilot skills
and knowledge essentials are covered in order to
provide the best learning experience-and that
it is just like using an airplane checklist to make
sure nothing is forgotten.
Remember, you are the happy, smiling face who
loves aviation and sharing your excitement
and joy of flying with others. You are a lucky
person, able to pursue your passion and to enjoy
every moment of the flight experience. Do not
let a student think for one minute that flight
instructing is a temporary job as you move up to
becoming an air charter pilot or airline pilot. You
are your students' mentor in flight training and,
as such, you are the most important person in the
world. Be sure to discuss learning to fly in terms
your students can relate to.
YOU NEED TO BE A ROLE MODEL WITH A
FAIR, FIRM, AND FRIENDLY DEMEANOR.
THIS ALSO MEANS YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND
WHAT EMOTIONALLY MOTIVATES EACH OF
YOUR STUDENTS.
Inquire about your students' past experiences
and learn why they have an interest in becoming
a skilled pilot. This will aid in developing anchor
points for learning. So, ask the student/customer
to describe their goals and experiences. Do they
envision a need for personal business travel or is
their goal to be hired by an airline? Do they have
pre-military training that shows commitment
and basic aeronautical knowledge? Are they
interested in corporate flying or are they just
curious about flying and pursuing a new goal?
Flight training can be expensive but learning to
fly is a personal investment for many different
reasons. The investment element is obvious
if your student is seeking an aviation career.
However, no matter what career your student
may be involved in, a pilot certificate looks good
on any resume. It shows you have achieved a
goal few people in this world accomplish. You
have something to brag about. It demonstrates
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 14 Issue 4

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