What is the biggest problem you want to solve at your dance studio?

We recently asked this question to the dance studio owners and teachers during our workshop sessions and at our booth in New York City at the dance teacher summit.

The responses were very insightful.

Can you guess one of the most popular responses?

++++++++++++ Parents! ++++++++++++

Parents lack of participation, parents who think they are always right, parents who don't read notices or communications, parents who can't accept class placement and the list goes on and on and on.

Can you relate?

We have good news and some bad news when it comes to parents.

(It would be impossible to address every parent issue in one email, so this week we'll focus in on one tip.)

The good news: We LOVE parents and especially enjoy helping dance studio owners and teachers see the gift that each and every parent problem brings to your business. And at our studio, we are not immune...we have our fair share of parent problems to solve.

The bad news: Parents will never give up! They are always going to be a big part of running your dance studio business and will always want the very best for their child.

This week's tip: Give your parents reasons to RAVE about your dance studio. Allocate some time, energy, and resources into your appreciation marketing budget.

Right now, we're in the middle of our open house schedule. Like many of you, we're in the process of building our fall enrollment and getting students registered.

We know that parents are busy, they usually have multiple schedules to plan, money to spend on back to school essentials, bills to pay, and just the many other stresses that life throws us. Dance class registration may not be at the top of their list, so parents need some incentive!

This year, we're still in the midst of testing this...I'll report the full results by mid-September, we're doing one more thing to say thank you to the parents. We know how they talk, they share and they RAVE about our studio. That kind of marketing is priceless. Take these ideas, modify them and test them, we'd love to hear any results you have.

When a parent register's their child by September 1st, we're giving them a chance to reach into a fish bowl and draw a coupon worth a percentage off of savings from our dance shop. The percentages range from 25% to 50% off their total purchase. So with just a registration fee, we're thanking the parents with big savings on ballet slippers, tights, leotards, logo wear and more.

Are we reducing our profit margin from our dance shop? You could look at it that way, but rather we see this as our appreciation marketing budget!

Plus, it gives parents an incentive and sense of urgency to hold their child's class spot by the date of September 1st to receive this special coupon. Anyone who calls our studio hears about this special on the phone as well. Do what you can to encourage and inspire the parents to take action.

What can you do if you don't have a dance shop? Try another variation, we did this for summer classes, perhaps enter each registered student into a drawing for a chance to win $100. off of tuition for this school year if they register by a certain date. Then draw one winner, people get excited about things like this. You can get creative. Try some variations on bring a friend week, send thank you notes or birthday cards.

The time, energy, and money you invest with your existing parents, families, students, customers will grow your dance studio business in wonderful ways.

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