You might have heard about another dance studio management solution called Dance Studio Pro. Using a software solution to manage your dance studio is absolutely the right move to save you money and help you grow your business. However, for that to happen, you need to use the solution that gives you the maximum value for you and your studio. Here are seven of the ways that Jackrabbit Dance provides value in ways that Dance Studio Pro does not.
- Offers parents more electronic payment options
Dance Studio Pro requires parents to either pay by credit card via Stripe or PayPal. Those may not be the options all parents want. You might not want them because they have higher processing fees. Jackrabbit Dance gives you and parents more options. In addition to credit card processing, parents can pay electronically via e-checks or electronic bank transfers. They can enroll in auto-pay using any of these epay methods. Processing fees from the electronic gateways still apply, but Jackrabbit Dance doesn’t add any of its fees to process your parents’ payments.
- Control over payroll by automating collection of work hours
Dance Studio Pro only collects manual time entries after the fact. Through Jackrabbit Dance’s staff portal, teachers and other staff can clock in and out in real time. Automating the time collection as your team is working, is the most accurate way to track work time. Real-time tracking ensures you aren’t overpaying on your labor costs. Manual data entry of hours worked is rife with human error and unfortunately, the possibility of time theft. The hard truth is that 43% of hourly workers admit to padding their hours. With labor as your single largest cost, managing it wisely is critical to your dance studio’s financial health.
- Simplifies staff and class scheduling
Jackrabbit Dance provides a calendar view of your dance classes so you can quickly find open time. Color-coding entries help you avoid scheduling conflicts. Creating new classes in Jackrabbit Dance is a two-click process, which minimizes the time you have to spend managing schedules.
- Jackrabbit Dance simplifies class enrollment for parents
With enrollment as your primary revenue stream, making it as easy as possible for parents to enroll their kids in classes and stay on top of their schedules are vital. Dance Studio Pro’s online class list doesn’t provide any filter options to help parents find the times, teachers, or styles they want. Dance Studio Pro only lets parents see schedules when they are logged into the system. In contrast, Jackrabbit Dance emails parents their kids’ upcoming schedules so they can see them even when the parents aren’t logged on to the parents’ portal.
- Improves your cash flow
Jackrabbit improves your cash flow by clearly communicating to parents what they’ve paid and what amounts are still owed – all without you having to make uncomfortable phone calls! The Jackrabbit Dance parents’ portal shows the parent their current payment balance, along with other useful information, right when they log in. The Dance Studio Pro portal makes balance information hard for parents to find, which means they can easily overlook it. Jackrabbit Dance parents see it clearly when they log in and can pay right from the portal.
- Comprehensive metrics on your dashboard to see the financial state of your business
Having accurate visibility into your dance studio’s financial health is essential to running a successful studio. The Dance Studio Pro dashboard offers only a single metric. The Jackrabbit Dance dashboard shares numerous financial metrics analyzed in different ways. Jackrabbit Dance studio owners also see a visual representation of critical leading metrics, such as how enrollment is trending and new student enrollment. All these elements let you accurately see how financially healthy your dance studio is.
- Superior customer service
Subscribing to a dance studio management software solution is also subscribing to a company. You can go with a company that offers comprehensive support from your first day and through all of the years down the line. Alternatively, you can go with Dance Studio Pro, which provides only email support. The Jackrabbit Dance team is available through multiple customer service contact channels, ones where you can talk to a human! We also run live user conferences and special trainings (in addition to our library of online training videos) for Jackrabbit Dance users.
Realizing the true potential of a powerful dance studio management system
There’s an evolutionary process to every new business. It’s never smooth sailing right from the start. Sometimes it can start to feel as though you’re running on a MacGyver-like patchwork of bubble gum, paper clips, and sheer will. Eventually, if you want to grow your dance studio, you need to expand its management and customer service capabilities. That means taking the next step in your firm’s evolution to include a comprehensive dance studio management software. Be sure it’s the right one for you.
You can read about some of our dance studio success stories here.