Posts Tagged ‘dance school business’

Want good rapport with your clients? “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar” is always sound advice.

By Rhee Gold

Treating students and parents with respect is a must if school owners want to have a successful classroom or school. In the business world this kind of courtesy is called customer service. Being approachable and patient is the way to go in any client interaction, and professionalism is key to making your students and their parents feel like they made the right choice in signing on with your school.

Customer service takes various forms. It’s an attitude of helpfulness, a respectful mode of communication, and a nonverbal message that you value your customers and want to make your students’ dance training experience a positive one. Customer service happens in the waiting room, on the phone, in meetings, and in the classroom. There are appropriate and inappropriate behaviors for all these arenas, and the tables in this article give you some specific examples of what will earn you respect and what won’t.

Let’s look at verbal interactions first. Although the content of what you say to your clients is important, equally (or more) so is the language you choose or attitude you convey when communicating. Self-doubting teachers or school owners look at parents’ inquiries as insults or as questioning their abilities or policies. Most of the time the truth is that they actually want information. You have the chance to educate them—and increase their respect for you as a professional—if you handle their inquiries correctly.

Some teachers complain that they’re sick of answering the same questions year after year. Forget about it and realize that to them it’s a new question and you’re the expert. It should be easy to give a clear and informative answer; after all, you probably don’t even have to think about your response because you’re so familiar with the question.

The following are a few examples of improper (“oops”) responses that show neither respect for the person involved nor understanding of an appropriate way to handle each situation, along with win–win responses that will get results. Make these kinds of winning responses a habit and you’ll enjoy more pleasant, respectful relationships with your clients.

Although words and tone are important aspects of your presentation to the public, so are actions. School owners are leaders who set an example for their faculty and staff, which then trickles down to the students and their parents. The impression they make—on their faculty and staff, and students and their parents—colors the school’s reputation and can mean the difference between a successful business and a failed one. Which side of the following chart do you see yourself on?

Teachers create the atmosphere in a classroom, and what gets accomplished during class time depends completely on their attitude or personality. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that good behavior matters only when parents are watching; students take home stories, praise, and complaints about their teachers, and the impression they pass on will shape their parents’ opinions of the instruction offered at your school. What happens in the classroom is more than merely dance instruction—how your instructors teach is as important as what they teach.

In conclusion, by periodically reminding yourself and your staff about the value you place on your clients, you’re sure to make treating them with respect standard operating procedure.

By Rhee Gold

Cook time: In some cases this recipe will cook quickly or it could take years.

________________________________________
2 tbsp Disorganization
4 tbsp Bad customer service
½ cup Favoritism
¼ cup Un-informed office staff or faculty
Pinch Gossip about other schools or teachers
4 tbsp Unenthusiastic teachers
¾ cup Total focus on intensive or competitive students
1 cup Unexpected expenses
3 cups Inexperienced teachers working with preschool or recreational dancers
Pinch Teachers or staff arriving late to open or start class
2 tbsp Not sticking to your own policies
1 cup Disorganized dress-rehearsal and recital
________________________________________

Mix the disorganization and bad customer service in a small bowl, place in the refrigerator for several months.

In a small fry pan, sauté the favoritism, un-informed office staff and faculty, along with your pinch of gossip. Let the ingredients simmer for two years or until caramelized. Depending on your cook temperature this could take a little longer or a little less time.

Slowly add your unenthusiastic teachers and your total focus on intensive or competitive dancers to the above ingredients, simmer all ingredients for another year.

Remove your bowl from the refrigerator, mix in the unexpected expenses, the inexperienced teachers working with pre-school and recreational dancers, then pour in the teachers and staff arriving late. Let sit at room temperature for the entire season.

Take all ingredients and mix together in a 9×12 bake pan at 350 degrees for a couple more years.

Let cool for several months, next to your no policy enforcement. Then frost with your disorganized dress rehearsal and recital.

Voila! You have a negative word of mouth soufflé that will serve hundreds of potential clients for many years!

By Rhee Gold

There are many successful school owners across North America. Some are making an impressive paycheck each week. Many others are just squeezing by.

Often, we’re comfortable within the classroom but we tend to feel a little “on-edge” when it comes to collecting tuition or other fees owed by our clientele. Some school owners don’t want to create “waves” that could result in losing a student. Others are simply too shy. Or, deep down they don’t want to be perceived as “only after the money.” The result? A lot of school owners end their season with clients who have large balances and who sometimes make the decision that dance lessons aren’t a bill that they have to worry about.

Remember show business is two words. Never neglect the business side.  ~Melanie Hedden-Perron, Rising Star Performing Arts, Waterdown, Ontario

The following is based on a true story . . .

You’ve come to mid-season with three of your students’ accounts are several months overdue. You know the parents are having a hard time financially. The child loves to dance and is very talented. You think to yourself: I don’t want to pressure anyone, so I’ll let it go a little while longer and I’ll hope for the best.

The next month ends with the same three accounts past due. But the amount has doubled. Each set of parents now owes for costumes, a convention fee that you laid out already, and the tights the children needed for class. You know this financial situation isn’t good for you or the families that owe the balance. Still you feel a little shy to make a phone call…you’re so nice and, of course, you don’t want to pressure anyone. You send the bills and, again, hope for the best.

No one from the school does follow-up on the bills (and neither does the parent). The next month-end, all the balances are still due and getting out of control. Finally, you get up the courage to make personal phone calls to the parents. After all it’s now a couple thousand dollars and you know you’re going to need that money to get through the summer.

The first call goes well. The dad answers and explains that he wasn’t aware. He apologizes and lets you know that he’s sending a check on Monday. You think, “That went well.” And now you have the confidence to make the next two calls.

The second call, your student answers the phone. You ask for her mom and she responds, “Hold on. I’ll get her!” The child comes back and tells you her mom is in the shower, but you overheard them talking in the background. You hang up knowing that the parent is trying to avoid you. She knows why you’re calling and she doesn’t have a solution.

The third call is everything you feared — and more. A very defensive and stressed-out mom turns the situation into your fault. Before long she starts to yell, “You charge too much for your lessons.” Then she adds, “Do you think you should be making so much money off of little children?” Followed by (the real kicker), “Why don’t you get a real job, like the rest of us!”

Meanwhile, you’re thinking to yourself, “I have sacrificed, my children have sacrificed and I’m working twenty-four/seven!” “What the bleep is this woman talking about?” Not only that, but you’ve given her child lots of extra time working on her solo, letting her use the studio to rehearse, offering her extra ballet classes and tons of other stuff! You’re hurt, the blood is boiling and you end up losing it with this mom. Things get out of control and one of you abruptly hangs up on the other.

You’re stressed out and you can’t get her comments out of your mind for days!

The next week the child doesn’t show up for class. You’re insecure about the whole situation, so you don’t call to find out what’s going on. Again, you hope for the best.

The next week you send another bill and wonder if the kid is ever coming back. The Mom finally calls the studio to tell your secretary that her daughter isn’t returning to your school and she adds, “You’re going to have to take me to court if you want your tuition, costume money, convention fees, etc.”

The balance due is well over a thousand dollars. Plus, a big chunk of the costume, convention, supplies, etc., is money you laid out for the child: It’s not just the lessons! Now you have to re-choreograph all the pieces that the child was in; now you have to get a lawyer or go to a collection agency to get your money back; and there’s this innocent little girl out there who wants to dance but can’t because her mom is irresponsible and both of the adults in the situation lost their cool.  Although you do have a right to collect your tuition and the mom knew what the financial commitment was when she registered her child, the situation is still a mess for everyone.

If you go through this kind of situation every year, for several years, there will come a time when you’re going to feel burn-out, unappreciated and not so enthusiastic about owning a school! 

How do you fix it?

1) Start with confidence. Believe that you have a right to make a living at what you do. Know that you work just as hard, if not harder than the nine-to-five “normal” person does!

2) Avoid avoidance! When a parent’s account is overdue, it’s better for them (and for you) to address the circumstance long before that balance gets out of hand.

3) Mail or email a professional bill the week before tuition is due. Don’t hand them out to your students. Half of those statements (or notices) never make it home. Most will land in the bottom of a smelly dance bag and no one ever sees them again.

4) Create school policies related to late tuition or balance dues and then stick to your policy.  Never allow a late account become more than two months overdue. If it happens without any previous arrangement between the parent and your school, someone from the school must call the parent to request that the student does not return to class until the balance is paid in full. This policy may seem harsh, but it would be the same for karate or pre-school, etc. Dance training is no different.

5) Don’t “front” your students by paying workshop or convention fees, competition fees, costumes, dance supplies, etc. Be organized and create a due date for all payments. That date should be one month prior to the event or the time you’re ordering costumes, etc. It then becomes policy that you don’t register the child for the event, or order the child’s costume until the parent has paid the appropriate fee. No questions asked.

6) All balance dues for the entire season must be paid in full before distribution of the costumes for the year-end performance or recital. You explain the “books are closed” for the season the day after the show and your accountant turns all balances due over to a collection agency.

I like to use the analogy that nobody goes into McDonald’s, orders a Big Mac, then tells the cashier they will pay for it next time they come in. The same should be true for dance lessons. Have a tuition deadline and stick to it! ~Mary Beth Dawson, Dance Etc., Kinston NC

We invite you to share your thoughts below –Rhee

Jackrabbit Technologies, which produces Web-based business management software for dance schools and other educational institutions, will be featured in a two-hour question-and-answer session at the 2010 Mastermind Alumni Conference, to be held March 5 and 6  at The Buttes, a Marriott resort in Tempe, Arizona.

Sam Beckford’s Mastermind program is meant to help dance and music studios carry out strategies that will help them grow. Mark Mahoney, Jackrabbit’s president and co-founder, will take part in the Q&A session the evening of March 5. For details about Jackrabbit, visit www.Jackrabbittech.com.

Dance Parent 101
By Rhee Gold
Secrets of successful marketing for the private sector school owner

Yes, you’re the best! Does that make you a success?

Do you know four- to twelve-year-old children and their parents are your market? If you do, how do you draw this group to your studio?

Although there are some well-educated dance parents out there, they are certainly the minority. When enrolling children in dance class; most parents are in the novice category in the search for quality dance training. A huge majority understand a once-a-week dance lesson and a recital at the end of the year. They don’t know a whole lot about strong technique or turn-out, nor do they grasp the concept that their child could someday become a ballerina, professional dancer or a high score winner.

Actually, numerous parents would prefer their child didn’t pursue a serious dance curriculum. Many have a perception that their child can’t create a successful future as a dancer or teacher.

So you ask, “Does that mean I have to lower my standards?” Not at all! Continue to strive to make the best dancers possible. Just don’t flaunt it.

Consider this: A mom is looking through the newspaper for a dance school for her six-year-old daughter. There are several options. A variety of ads proclaim, “We’ve won more awards than any other school in the state!” Another exclaims, “We have the most professional faculty in the community.” The more serious ballet school writes, “Our students are performing with the San Francisco Ballet!” Granted, all are very good credentials—definitely accolades that the school owner should be proud of. But: are those ads really focused on the market that will attract the clientele who will make their school a financial success?

One school with a history of producing professional dancers, choreographers and numerous awards for decades also places an ad in the same newspaper. It features several smiling eight-year-old children at the ballet barre. Each is in a leotard and tights with huge smiles on their faces. Their ad tagline proclaims, “Step #1 Happy Dancers, Step #2 Motivating young minds to be the best they can be.” They simply include their website address, a telephone number and their registration dates. No “most professional.” No “we’re the best.” Nothing about winning the most awards or the professional ballet companies their dancers are performing with!

The novice dance mom glances at all her options and makes the decision to take her child to the school with the happy young dancers at the ballet barre, as do many of the moms (or dads) who are looking to register their child in dance class. Why? you ask.

• The happy school portrays itself as a fun place for children to be. A priority for most parents!
• Parents feel a bit intimidated by the extremely professional image of the other ads.
• The more professional or competitive schools look complicated and more expensive (even if they’re not).
• The happy school appears to be a neighborhood sort of place that welcomes all children, not simply those interested in serious training.

I am all for every teacher and school owner being as qualified and professional as they can be. However, I think a lot of excellent schools are actually scaring off potential clientele because they want to proclaim that they are the best! Even if you are the best (by a long shot), be humble and be smart by realizing that we need to get them in the door. Then we educate both the children and the parents to better understand what quality dance education is all about.