Weak links in the French ski instructor's training

In the early 70s, a French ski instructor had to know the nuts and bolts of skiing and be quite good at it. In particular, it was expected from a would-be instructor to be proficient in slalom and able to “show ease” in a steep, crappy snow, free descent. These were the job's gatekeepers.

What wasn't in the picture however, were basic and essential customer service considerations. The six and four week long courses that took place at the ENSA in Chamonix, after a young “moniteur de ski” cleared the first exam called “Capacité d'enseigner le ski” (Ability to teach skiing) were solely about teaching French ski technique.

Nowhere to be found in the curriculum were personal presentation, empathy, student's personal goals, fears or aspiration. There was nothing either in terms of putting oneself in the student's shoes (or ski boots) and nothing either about self-promotion (how to develop return-customers, how to up-sell or ask students to tell and refer their friends, etc.) 

In retrospective, the ENSA training, while extensive on the technical side, was woefully lacking in terms of basic human psychology and salesmanship. How did instructors do with that lack of knowledge (remember, two-third of them had not even completed high-school)? Simple, it was trial and error and ability or lack thereof to learn from experience.

I personally chose the hard-way. Working long hours and exhausting myself on the job, teaching boringly instead of just showing clients a good time. Well, ski and learn!