Dance Studio Management Software

• Not All Dance Studio Software Is Created Equal: What Sets Jackrabbit Dance Apart
• Welcoming New & Returning Families to Your Dance Studio, Part 1
• Welcoming New & Returning Families to Your Dance Studio, Part 2
• Welcoming New & Returning Families to Your Dance Studio, Part 3

Not All Dance Studio Software Is Created Equal: What Sets Jackrabbit Dance Apart

When it comes to dance studio software, you know the basic perks: better communication, organization, and increased growth and revenues. Getting a program that does that is virtually a no-brainer. But you have plenty of choices as far as which software to implement. Jackrabbit Dance and Dance Studio Pro are two leading software options, so it makes sense to compare the two. In addition to the many ways Jackrabbit Dance will score higher with parents, you and your staff will greatly appreciate the many added benefits, when compared with other dance studio management software solutions. Considering another leading dance studio software option, Dance Studio Pro, we think you’ll soon realize why Jackrabbit Dance is the better option.

Simplified Scheduling

Jackrabbit Dance Web-Based Class Management Software gives you access to a calendar view of dance class schedules, allowing you to easily find open time slots. Add in color-coding to avoid the possibility of schedule conflicts, and you have a scheduling method that allows you to quickly and efficiently create a workable schedule. Creating new classes is simple, too, requiring only two clicks! Imagine the time you’ll save once you switch to Jackrabbit Dance!

Payroll Control

Sure, Dance Studio Pro collects manual time entries, but only after they’ve occurred, creating plenty of margin for error and even deceptively padding hours — as nearly half of hourly employees report doing! Jackrabbit Dance includes a staff portal through which your teachers as well as other staff members are able to record hours worked. Because this web-based system is updated in real time, you as the manager can track hours accurately and make sure no one is going over budget. With labor expense typically making up the most significant aspect of your dance studio’s budget, making sure it’s carefully tracked and wisely managed is a major factor in maintaining financial stability as well as promoting growth.

Increased Revenues

Your dance parents will be able to see current balances whenever they log into the parent portal — unlike Dance Studio Pro, which also offers parents access to payment information available but makes that difficult to find. When payments and outstanding balances are easily viewable by parents, cash flow will be improved. (Your staff will appreciate no longer having to make awkward phone calls, too!) Parents can also pay directly from the Jackrabbit Dance parent portal.

From the management perspective, Dance Studio Pro has a dashboard with a single metric available. By contrast, your Jackrabbit Dance dashboard offers comprehensive metrics, allowing you to see the bigger picture of your dance studio’s financial state. From enrollment trends and new students to unpaid balances and staff hours, you’ll have all the details you need to evaluate your dance studio’s financial situation at your fingertips whenever you log in.

To experience the Jackrabbit Dance difference, find out how you can start your free trial period, today.

Learn more about our Dance Studio Management Software. View the powerful features of Jackrabbit Dance and try a customized live demo.

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Welcoming New & Returning Families to Your Dance Studio, Part 1

Skillful instructors. Well-organized classes. Impressive recitals. Your dance studio may offer all those things, but they won’t matter if you get this one thing wrong. Similar to the importance of “soft skills” for employees, customer service that goes “above and beyond” is what will set your dance studio apart from others with equivalent — or even superior — levels of expertise. In today’s competitive market, it’s the little “extras” that help make people feel special. Just like returning dance families will appreciate perks like priority enrollment that let them know that you appreciate them, new dance families want to feel warmly welcomed and included.

This goes beyond making information accessible; it means taking that extra step to let your students and their families know they are very much welcomed into your studio. From well-designed activities and gifts to carefully crafted welcome e-mails, intentionally welcoming new and returning students can go a long way toward setting up your dance studio for a happy, successful season.

Official Welcome Activities

With all the time you’re saving by automating your registration process with Jackrabbit Dance management software, you and your staff can put some creative energy into planning a welcome party — or maybe two separate events, one for returning participants and one for those new to your dance studio. The party could include a combination of ice-breaker kinds of games to introduce dancers to get better acquainted with staff members and to provide helpful information to make the first week of classes run smoothly. Another possibility is to offer gift bags with items that have your studio logo on them — which, of course, would offer added free advertising, of course! But no matter how many or how simple or elaborate your “welcome package” may be, you need to make sure it includes a carefully crafted welcome e-mail.

The All-Important Welcome E-Mail

Once you’re already using cloud-based Jackrabbit Dance for online class registration, you’ll be easily able to send out professional-looking e-mails to all families of registered dance students or specific groups of students. Not only will this step be able to give them more information so they’re prepared for their first day (or first day back), but it will also give them an added sense of connection with your studio. The more information you give new students before they enter the doors for their first time, the more comfortable they will become. The key for returning students is to inform them of any changes to staff or setup, so they aren’t confused when they come back.

As you think of what to include in your welcome e-mail, some helpful aims are to help students plan and prepare, to communicate with precision and professionalism, and to include personality and a personalized approach.

When you’re ready to start drafting your welcome e-mail, you’ll find some more tips on what to include in Part 2 below.

Learn more about our Dance Studio Management Software. View the powerful features of Jackrabbit Dance and try a customized live demo.

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Welcoming New & Returning Families to Your Dance Studio, Part 2

Welcoming and connecting with both new and returning dance students and their families will be a key way to get your year started out on a positive note. While this step can include other means, a welcome e-mail is an extremely important part of the equation.

Details for Your Welcome E-mail

Words matter, as do proper punctuation and grammar, but what matters even more is the clarity with which information is presented along with the tone it communicates. You’ll want to start out by listing the kinds of details which new families will need to know before they show up for their first class. Information may include details or links to important categories of information on your dance studio website: dance studio policies, yearly calendar, and recital and/or competition information. As important as those categories of information may be, you don’t want to neglect things like dress code and recommended sources for dance attire, hair style tutorials, and items to include in your dance bag.

Perhaps preparing for your welcome e-mail on the first year will include writing blog posts for your website about the various topics, so you can easily link them in the e-mail. This may take a lot of time your first year, but in future years, you won’t need to re-write them. Not only will it be helpful for your dance families to have the information they need readily available, but it will also save you and your dance studio staff members valuable time and energy when you don’t have to field tons of questions.

Drafting Your Welcome E-mail

Once you have the information you want to include along with any relevant links ready to go, you’ll be ready to write your welcome e-mail. (We recommend drafting it in a cloud-based platform, such as Google Docs, that allows you to easily save and share your work.) Make sure you begin with an introduction and confirmation of registration, and then include a section about what to do the first day. Also be sure to include sections with clarification and support, along with how to find out answers to any questions they might have.

Delivering Your Welcome E-mail

Once you have drafted this important communication, you’ll want to look back at the list above to make sure you’ve included all the information you had planned to include along with whether it meets all the goals listed above. Then ask a couple of staff members to read over it and let you know if anything is missing or needs to be re-worded — for clarity, correctness, or tone. Once the e-mail draft has been written and proofread, it’s time to give one of your administrative staff members the task of sending it out — which will be simplified, thanks to Jackrabbit Dance studio software.

Remember that although the welcome e-mail is one of the most significant forms of communication, it’s only one. Consistently and reliably communicating with your dance family will be key to maintaining warm relationships.

Learn more about our Dance Studio Management Software. View the powerful features of Jackrabbit Dance and try a customized live demo.

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Welcoming New & Returning Families to Your Dance Studio, Part 3

Your dance class season is coming up, and you have so many details to put in place before classes begin. But in the midst of all those tasks, you can’t afford to forget about relationships. Once your online registration process is complete and you’ve sent out that all-important welcome e-mail, there are many details you can address in order to make your dance students and their parents feel comfortable and valued on that first day.

Helping Dance Students and Parents Adjust

While you may be thinking that only those families new to your dance studio are in need of acclimation, even returning students and parents will appreciate opportunities to get to know new instructors as well as other families. You can start by having class schedules and maps of your facilities posted in the lobby and having rooms well marked. In addition, you’ll want to make sure a staff member is available to greet parents and students and help them find their way around your facility. You can even incorporate a 5 to 10-minute meet-and-greet segment of each class for the first week or two, in order to help students and parents feel more comfortable.

Making Dance Students Feel Valued

Instead of waiting for your new dancers to figure out where to go on their first day, you can offer for a staff member to give them tours of the facility ahead of time or even on their first day of class, before their scheduled class. You can also add excitement to the first day or first week by holding drawings for dance-related prizes and giving each dancer a welcome package or gift bag — especially if you didn’t include something like that in your earlier welcome events. These don’t have to be expensive items, but anything branded will help new dancers identify with your dance studio. Think of laminated bag tags with their names on them or labeled water bottles.

Keeping Dance Students and Parents Informed

Even if you’re keeping up with online communications, distributing hard copies of information can also be helpful. On the first day, you may want to include a Welcome Handbook in gift bags for each of your dance families. After that, you can keep everyone on the same page by distributing monthly or quarterly newsletters that feature content written by and otherwise provided by some of your dancers.

Using Social Media with a Smile

You probably have a love/hate relationship with social media. We get it. But like it or not, it’s part of how we all function. Not only can social media be helpful in getting the word out about your studio to new prospective dance students, but it can also be a great way to encourage connectedness within your dance studio family. You can start by creating a welcome video to allow dance students to see your facility first hand and get a virtual tour. You can introduce staff members and, of course, yourself!

Learn more about our Dance Studio Management Software. View the powerful features of Jackrabbit Dance and try a customized live demo.

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