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Hi there. Thank you for your feedback. I understand that the cost of living in the Philippines has increased so our rates of 140php-230php per hour may not seem as attractive as before. However, I'd like to think that you have been with Bizmates for 3 years and continue to be with us because we are still better than other schools that pay 70php or 80php per hour. So, if you have a bad term at Bizmates, yes your rate might drop from 200php to 180php or from 160php to 140php. But it won't go down to 70php or 80php like many of those other schools. And you can always bring your rate back up.
As for biased feedback, what do you mean? It's feedback from the students, Yes, as the trainer, you need to get good feedback from your students (the customer). Just because you think you gave a good lesson, it does not warrant a good rating. Focus on the student. What are their needs? What can you do to satisfy them? This is what good trainers do.
Yes, we take the customer-centric approach. By the way, this is not a Japanese approach. Every business in the world takes this approach. This doesn't mean that trainers are ignored. We've taken numerous recommendations from trainers to develop new materials, make changes to the KPI system, or to add features to MyStage. However, this doesn't mean all your requests will be met.
As for frequent hiring, this is where you are dead wrong. On average, less than 10% of all slots are unbooked. That means over 90% of the slots that trainers open are booked. If you are not getting booked, it's because you are not getting your students to rebook with you. Most trainers are fully booked because they have managed to gain many regulars or are doing something that attracts new students.
I understand that we don't have a perfect system and that inflation has increased much faster in the Philippines than in Japan. And the yen is much much weaker than it was years ago, making it more expensive to pay our trainers. However, we have managed to maintain our rates despite this. I don't expect you to see the whole picture, but rather than blaming the company and system, I think it would be far more productive to work on your skills by seeing what other trainers are doing. There are a lot of little tips that other trainers have that can greatly increase your customer feedback or your number of lessons. Best of luck.
Hika Ito
CEO, Bizmates Philippines