I like that the software keeps track of invoicing and running balances for clients. It definitely cuts down the leg work of having to go back through person by person and creating invoices.

Sometimes we want to see all math tutors that are available so I'd be better when filtering if you could select multiple instructors at once so you don't have to bounce between calendars to find open times.

All in all, it took over 3 months and over $2000 of external support to be able to switch my CRM over to Teachworks and figure out how to use it. Now that we have a handle on it, it is finally starting to function to become a part of our business. I am saddened that this process could have been smoothed over by an onboarding call that I would have gratefully paid money for. Instead, we were left to fend for ourselves because of the lack of intuitiveness of the system.

Teachworks has a lot of functionality. It allows users to customize based off their needs. Users can bill hourly or in bulk packages. Lots of options for allowing clients to schedule all at the click of a button. I had seen teachworks years ago, but didn't want to transfer my business over because the platform seemed intimidating. Now, after 3 months it is not so intimidating.

Onboarding was took three months and $2000. This is largely because TW does not offer any live phone support or onboarding training as do many tech platforms. I was absolutely flummoxed for 3 months and hired VAs and admin to help me transition to the new platform. I begged the company to provide some sort of customer support that I would have gratefully paid for, but they said they couldn't help. Instead, I had to stumble through for two to three hours, figure out what my question even was, then ask support for help. Most of the time, I got redirected to a long help page which often didn't answer my question. There is functionality within the program, but when the documentation doesn't clearly indicate such, then the user is left to wade through pages upon pages of documentation and/or fast forward through videos to find the exact answer to the question. This is not useful for somebody who has limited time or for someone who isn't comfortable with technology. A lot of the functionality is unclear unless you explicitly ask support for help. Ex., Does the system send a message upon scheduling an appointment? Ex., Does cancelling an appointment send a message? In other platforms there are little question marks you can hover over, but in TW you're left to do some trial and error until you figure out exactly what each little thing does. I also dislike that it does not two-way sync with any calendar programs.

Last 4 years have been fine up until the last 4 months, full calendar doesn’t work which is the one I regularly used. I can’t view names, can’t view the whole day, and frankly sick and tired of following up on their issue and still having nothing done

I liked it when it worked properly, now it doesn’t.

Having to follow up on fixing their issue for couple of months and still having same problems. Missed out on 3 classes because the calendar can’t display times and students properly. No attempt made to fix things on their end when I’ve done everything on my end.

I used to schedule tutors via google sheets. Then I found this website and voila, hours and hours saved.

I just wish we could view the calendar by status - attended, missed, etc.

It has been very positive. The online lesson feature was pretty glitchy when I used it during Covid & I ended up using FaceTime instead. But I hardly ever use that anymore - so not really a current issue. I’m not sure that I’ve ever needed customer support help - so I’d say the software works great (though I do have a very helpful husband who helps me out if I ever need it).

Love the calendar and invoicing most. Love that I can schedule lessons for the entire semester and then easily adjust when things need to change & that it will automatically notify the parents. Also love how easy it is to create invoices, edit them if needed, and send reminders to parents if they’re late. Very easy. Also love, when tax-time comes, that I can easily create a chart with all my income - to send to my CPA. Very easy.

I know a lot of other piano teachers who use other software that is much cheaper. I’m hesitant to change because I really like Teachworks, don’t want to have to learn a new software system, and have years of notes I don’t want to lose. But I do wish it weren’t quite as expensive.