If you run a dance
studio, answer this question:
how many software
applications do you use to organize your business?
Perhaps you haven't
gotten around to getting any dance studio management software to manage your
business and instead juggle a bunch of applications such as spreadsheets, Word
documents, and other individual applications to manage your business.
A Dance Studio Has Many
Software Needs
When you break it down,
your dancing business has many software needs including:
·
scheduling;
·
payment processing;
·
managing staff and
payroll;
·
perhaps you sell
products and services online (e-commerce - if not, you're missing out on a
great opportunity);
·
client contact
management;
·
financial and sales
reporting; and
·
marketing.
There are certainly
individual software applications that can serve all of the functions above, but
in my view, you can make your administrative and marketing roles much easier if
you use an integrated, all-in-one software package that performed all those
tasks for you.
The trouble is there is
a lot of small business software out there - even software that caters to dance
studios. How do you start your search for the best dance studio software for
your dance studio?
6 Tips for choosing the
Best Dance Studio Management Software
1. Choose Web-based
software.
Web-based software is
hosted by the service provider. You simply log-in to your account through the
Internet. All your data and functionality is accessible through the Internet.
This avoids the hassles of downloading, installing, and then configuring
software (typical of desk-top software).
The real advantage of
web-based software is you can access it anywhere you have an Internet
connection.
2. Opt for an all-in-one
solution.
Juggling a variety of
applications to manage your dance studio is inefficient - even when
well-integrated.
These days there is
dance software that integrates all your business' needs in one platform. This
results in a central database from which you can process sales, client
management, scheduling, inventory, payroll, employee management, marketing, and
more within one software platform.
3. Look for as many
automation features as possible.
Software is to make your
life easier and save you time. Look for software that automates processes.
Activities you can automate with software include:
·
online class bookings;
·
online class purchases
(including packages, classes, workshops, memberships, gift cards - whatever
your pricing models are)
·
student self-check in
·
e-mail and text
messaging class reminders
·
automated wait-list
generation with e-mail messages giving notice of openings; and
·
report generation -
sales, class attendance, no-shows, etc.
4. Get powerful
scheduling capabilities.
Your dance studio's
business model revolves around its schedule. Without great scheduling software,
you spend more time than is necessary managing your schedule. There a 3 types
of scheduling involved:
·
centralized dance class
schedule creation: how many locations do you presently have your dance class
schedule posted? On your website (on several web pages), in your studio -
possibly many places which if not centralized in one location, makes changing
your schedule a hassle. Look for scheduling software where you need only make
revisions in one online location which then feeds the changes to all
electronically posted locations.
·
booking appointments and
class sign-ups: look for dance studio management software that lets students
sign up online for classes. This takes you out of the booking process.
·
staff / instructor
scheduling: centralized staff scheduling makes it easy for you to manage all of
your staff scheduling complexities - especially if you have several instructors.
5. Customer-service
oriented software.
Always think of ways you
can serve your dance students better. One easy way to do this is to make it
easy for them to access and buy your services. Methods to improve your customer
service with software includes:
·
online bookings;
·
online purchases
(classes, workshops, memberships, private instruction, packages, products,
etc.);
·
online self check-in and
in-studio self check in with swipe cards;
·
automated class
reminders sent via e-mail and phone; and
·
easy credit card payment
system.
6. Marketing
integration.
Unfortunately so many
dancing business owners get too busy to focus any real attention on marketing.
One often missed opportunity is e-mail marketing. Actually, I don't really like
the term e-mail marketing. Instead, I prefer calling it client communication by
e-mail.
Think about it - your
dance business is based on your students. That's a large database of contacts.
Wouldn't it be great if you could automate communicating to your students and
interested students via e-mail? It's effective and extremely inexpensive.
Moreover, with the right
dance business management software, you can get powerful e-mail software that
attracts new members on your list and automates e-mail message sending to your
existing students.
If you aren't doing any
e-mail marketing now, you're missing out on a very easy and inexpensive way to
build your dance studio business.
A final obvious tip is
not to spend too much on the right software. Typically, web-based software is
priced according to the number of users in the system. If you're a small dance
studio and you're the only user, then your price range should be $40 to $50 per
month.
Discover which dance studio software does
all this and more.
You can also check out
an in-depth dance studio software review
to learn more.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Lawlor
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5492234
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