Twelve questions parents ask at a trial lesson: and the three that most often end the sale

1. HOW MUCH DOES THE FULL COURSE COST?

Really asking: is this worth it, and can I commit without feeling foolish.

Weak answer: blurts the number too fast, or hides behind "it depends" and sounds evasive.

Strong partner: names what the child gets and how often, then says the number plainly, without dropping their voice. Puts it next to what a private tutor costs per month, and points back to the thing the child built in the trial.

2. IS THIS GENUINELY USEFUL, OR JUST A HOBBY?

Really asking: am I paying for something real.

Weak answer: recites that coding is the future, which sounds like everyone else's pitch.
Strong partner: names the actual skills, has subject plans in front of them. 
*in Algorithmics we have them attached to every lessons and course. 

Breaking a big problem into steps. Staying with something after it breaks the first time. Then admits that most of these kids will not become programmers, and that this is not the point, because the way of thinking shows up in school and later at work. Parents trust the rest of the pitch more once you admit its limits.

3. MY CHILD IS ALREADY ON SCREENS TOO MUCH. ISN'T THIS MORE OF THE SAME?
[ONE OF THE THREE]

Why it ends deals: the parent walks in already leaning toward no, and the objection is about guilt, not logic.

Really asking: I feel bad about screens, and I do not want to pay to make it worse.

Weak answer: defends screens, or argues the parent is wrong. Both confirm the worry.

Strong partner: agrees the worry is fair before anything else. Then draws the line between watching and making. In the trial the child built something. Show them the thing, and hand them one sentence they can repeat to their partner at home: this is the kind of screen that makes something, not the kind that just plays it back.

*at Algorithmics our students publish their projects in the Hall of fame where all the students worldwide can play, comment, support them.

4. WILL MY CHILD KEEP UP? THEY ARE SHY, OR THEY HAVE NEVER CODED.

Really asking: I am scared my child will struggle and feel bad.

Weak answer: "everyone can learn to code," which reassures no one.

Strong partner: points at the trial. They finished the task today, you watched them do it. Explains that the pace moves with each child, and what happens when one gets stuck. Adds that quieter kids often do well here, because they are building, not performing in front of the class.

5. WHAT WILL MY CHILD ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO DO AFTERWARD?

Really asking: show me something I can picture.

Weak answer: "they will learn programming." Nothing to see there.
Strong partner: names real things, by stage. First a game they can show a friend. Later an app. Later a project they present out loud. A child who can point at something they made does more for renewal than any pitch you give the parent.

6. WHO TEACHES, AND HOW ARE THE TEACHERS TRAINED?

Really asking: will my child be safe and taught well.

Weak answer: "our teachers are great," and nothing else.

Strong partner: walks through how teachers are certified, that they are trained on how to teach and not only on the technology, how lessons get checked, and what happens when a teacher is not working out. A parent is handing you their child. Detail is what settles them.

7. HOW LARGE ARE THE GROUPS?

Really asking: will my child get attention.

Weak answer: gives the number and stops.

Strong partner: gives the number, then explains how the attention actually works. Each child moves at their own pace. The ratio of teacher to students. And what a group gives that one-on-one cannot, which is other kids to build alongside.

8. WHAT HAPPENS IF WE MISS A LESSON?

Really asking: my schedule is a mess, do not make me pay for that.

Weak answer: reads out a strict policy in a tone that blames the parent.

Strong partner: states the make-up rule clearly, shows where the materials sit between lessons, and makes it plain that missing one is normal. A rigid answer here gives a hesitant parent a reason to wait.

At Algorithmics we usually offer to join another group with the same schedule for one particular lesson, we also suggest that the child could join the lesson online in case they cannot come. In other cases teachers spend some time to explain the material individually before the next lesson. But missing one lesson in Algorithmics doesn't mean you will be left behind. We structure our lessons in a way that allows the child to catch up on the material

9. HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM FREE THINGS LIKE SCRATCH OR YOUTUBE?
[ONE OF THE THREE]

Why it ends deals: it makes you defend the price, and a shaky defense drags the whole number down with it.

Really asking: talk me out of using the free version.

Weak answer: waves the free tools away, which stings a parent who already tried them.

Strong partner: agrees the free tools are good, and that most kids drop them within a few weeks on their own. What you charge for is not the content. It is the order of the lessons, a teacher who catches the exact moment a child gets stuck, and a group that pulls them back each week. The content is free everywhere. Getting a child all the way to a finished project is not.

10. DO WE HAVE TO SIGN A LONG CONTRACT? CAN WE GET A REFUND?
[ONE OF THE THREE]

Why it ends deals: fear of being trapped stops a parent who is otherwise ready to say yes.
Really asking: I am scared of getting locked into something I will regret.

Weak answer: pushes the annual plan and stays fuzzy on refunds. The parent hears a trap and stalls.

Strong partner: makes the exit obvious. States the refund and trial terms straight, and offers a shorter first commitment if the model allows it. A parent who can see the way out signs sooner. Pressure does the opposite.

11. WILL THIS HELP WITH SCHOOL?

Really asking: I want this to pay off academically.

Weak answer: promises better grades. The course cannot deliver that, and the parent will remember you said it.

Strong partner: skips the grade promise. Says it builds logic, focus, and the confidence to sit with a hard problem, and that this shows up in maths and in how they work through things. Claiming less is more convincing here, because parents can hear the difference.

12. MY CHILD DIDN'T SEEM THAT INTO IT TODAY. SHOULD WE STILL ENROLL?

Really asking: I want either reassurance, or permission to walk away.

Weak answer: insists the child loved it, against what the parent saw with their own eyes.

Strong partner: asks the parent what they noticed. Separates first-day nerves from a real mismatch. Offers one more trial, or says outright that the timing is not right. The partner who will walk away from a sale to stay honest is the one that family comes back to, and the one they send their friends to.

THE PATTERN BEHIND THE STRONG ANSWERS

Read the strong answers again and the same few moves keep repeating. None of them are about talking more or wanting the sale harder.

Answer the real question. The one they say out loud is usually a stand-in. Price often means fear of regret. Screen time often means guilt. Answer what is underneath.

Agree, then turn it. Arguing with an objection makes it stronger. Agreeing with the feeling and moving the frame takes the weight out of it.

Point at the trial. The child just gave you proof in the room. Use what they built, not what they might build one day.

Show the exit. When leaving looks easy, deciding gets easier.

Be ready to walk. The family you do not push is often the one that refers you later. The number that matters is not how many sign today. It is how many stay, and how many send someone else.

If you are looking at a franchise in children's coding and AI, this is the part that decides whether the numbers work. The trial lesson. Partners who run it the same way every time keep their families and keep their cost of acquisition down. Partners who wing it lose on both.

Algorithmics partners get the trial scripts, the objection maps, and the teacher training that make these answers repeatable across a whole team, so the outcome does not ride on one person being good in the room. If that is the kind of thing you want behind you, that is where the conversation starts.

Algorithmics is a children's coding and AI education franchise operating in more than ninety countries.