When compared to traditional tutoring, my student retention is somewhat lower with my online clients

When compared to traditional tutoring, my student retention is somewhat lower with my online clients, some students just fade away

While I am clearly an online tutoring enthusiast, there are some clear differences as well as downsides when online tutoring is compared to traditional tutoring. Online tuition is typically more anonymous than traditional tuition; while the tutor can still establish a connection with the student, the personal connection between the student and the tutor is somewhat weaker when the tutoring is online. If a tutor goes to a student’s home for a few lessons, for various reasons the client would be less likely to just stop the lessons and disappear; when tutoring online the client can disappear in a second; a payment not sent or a no-show before the client fades away are not-so-uncommon complaints among online tutors; from my experience while networking with other tutors, the problem of clients fading away, both among experienced and less experienced online tutors is a rather common one.

The lower student retention when tutoring online, can also be related to the huge availability of online tutors when compared to local, traditional tutors. With online tuition the client typically has a huge availability of tutors he or she can choose from, with traditional tuition such availability is much more limited and the client is more likely to stick to the same tutor even if they are not completely satisfied with his or her services.

While I would not be too concerned if your student retention is somewhat lower with online tuition, some factors can certainly help increase your student retention when working online: -make sure you carefully check your technology before the lesson; a simple technology glitch can be enough to put some clients off.

-make sure you have the teaching material within reach during the lesson. If you have to stop the lesson for a few minutes to try to retrieve some notes, that may be enough to make you appear less professional.

-if the student wants to have a lesson on a topic different from the one you prepared, make sure that you are familiar enough with the topic; an improvised lesson where the tutor is hesitant and unconvincing typically does not work well especially with relatively new students.