Ep 12 - First Impressions Count!

We all know the saying 'You only get once chance at a first Impression' 

For our studios that first impression can be make or break for a student continuing with a class! Join Amanda & Bec in today's Podcast, as they outline their Top Tips for making an EPIC first impression on new students and their parents.

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Show Transcription: 

Amanda Barr
Well, hi, friends, welcome to another podcast today we're talking about creating lasting impressions on all of those new clients. How are you Bec? I know, this is something that you are so so passionate about.

Rebecca Liu-Brennan
Absolutely, I'm amazing. Thank you. I do this a lot at our staff training days, when I go out to different studios and train their staff. And I think the most important part about this is that if they don't have that good impression, the first time they come into the studio, they potentially could go off and say, well, let's just try netball instead. And what are the things? Yeah, one of the things I say to the staff is, imagine if that was you imagine if that was your first time going in, and you had a bad experience, and then you left and never actually had the journey, the amazing journey that you've had through dance, and we have to look at every single client like ourselves, and that we can give them that journey by making that very first time they come to dancing, the most magical, amazing time.

Amanda Barr
Oh, that is so so valuable, because we all know, whether you're a dance teacher, or a studio owner, usually we're here because we've had this amazing experience through our dance life. And you know that it has a total lasting impact on us. You know, it's something happened when we were a child, a teenager that made us fall in love with dance. And you know, sometimes we might be losing that opportunity of someone that could possibly be that type of person in our world, and our industry, because we've made a bad first impression. So it's so so valuable to make sure that these first impressions, they count, and they're a good one. So you know, there's so many factors that come into making that first impression. There's some great tips and tricks we're going to give you a little bit later on. But I know you wanted to tell the story about you know, you never know who's walking in your door. You never know who it is.

Rebecca Liu-Brennan
Yes. So I went to a staff training, and the admin person was sitting on a chair, and she was on the phone. So I sort of, you know, waited and stood next to her. And then she got off the phone. And she completely didn't acknowledge me. And then I was sort of like, Oh, hey, where's such and such, you know, which was this year? I know, that I was looking for at the time. And she was just like, yeah, she's through there. And so later on, I sort of said to her, you know, did you really know who I was? And she said, Well, no, I didn't. And I said, Cool. Well, the thing is, like, I could have been a new parent who was going to sign up to absolutely everything at the school. And then I had that bad first impression. And so I left and went down the road. And that's the thing like you just that one moment could have been a really defining moment for, for me as a parent, or new client coming in, and that that first talk to whoever it might be is so important.

Amanda Barr
So valuable. And I don't know, if you resonate with that, you know, maybe your staff are amazing 80% of the time. But what about that one time when someone walks in and, you know, something's just happened in their day, they're on their phone, they're not really on their A game? And what if they're about to, you know, lose this amazing client, that could be your absolute, a player client that's there with you doing unlimited classes for the next 16 years, you know, it's really important that they're not just on a game 80% of the time, but that every single person that walks into your business has that same amazing first impression no matter what. And I think that's important as making sure you know, you really train and talk to your staff about the lifetime value of a client. You know, I I know that sometimes we've done this with a couple of our, in our private groups back, haven't we in tribe. And so many studio owners are absolutely amazed. Because they haven't actually added up the sums. If you sit there and you think about one of your kids, and I've used the example of one of my students, and I talk about the family. And you know, the Smith family, they started with me when they were three. And the first two years they did two classes a week. Then they joined the six and under troupe and they started doing five classes a week. And then they were doing nine classes a week by the time they were eight and under. And then they started a solo as well. They're still with me at 18 but they've also had the sister join me since then and gone through the same and if you sat there and added that up. Sometimes it's a lot of money. And I'd love for you to do this and if you haven't already, definitely add that up. Whether it's a real person or a make believe person in your studio, add it up from when they're three to when they're 18. And usually, you might find that it's 30, 40 $50,000. It's a lot of money. And obviously, not everyone walking in our door is going to be that person. But I guess the big question is, you don't know.

Rebecca Liu-Brennan
Yeah, 100% you never know if that person is going to be your very, very best student. It's like with preschool, you know, we always offer a couple of free trials for preschool, I don't care if they do for four or five free trials, at the end of the day, like that could become our best, most valuable seat, she might become our most amazing superstar, she might be our longest ever client, like you just don't know. And every person, you've got a values to be that much,

Amanda Barr
for sure, for sure. So that is so you know, so many things to think about why it's so important to make this great first impression. But we also know that sometimes that first time that they're walking into the dance studio, whether it's to inquire all for their first class, that it's a really special moment for some parents, some parents, you know, they might have had a little girl. And it might have been something that they've been dreaming of this is the parent, that's been dreaming of it for years, we know that that happens. There's parents that are like, I just can't wait to fall pregnant and have a little girl so I can take her to ballet. That is like that's a story that a lot of people tell. And you know, we want to make it special. It's something that perhaps they've been building up in their mind of five, six, I don't know, maybe they've been trying to get pregnant for 10 years, you don't know. And perhaps that's something that they've been wanting to have with their little girl for such a long period of time.

Rebecca Liu-Brennan
Yeah, totally. And then you can also have the flip side where you've got a parent who, whose little girl does, or boy just wants to dance, but they don't really know anything about it. And so they're going into a situation that they're extremely nervous about that they're extremely unsure about, they possibly just seen some bad press on Dance Moms. And so it's educating and helping that parent as well, who making them have an amazing experience and helping them to understand what a great journey their child is going to have through dance,

Amanda Barr
for sure, for sure. So, you know, we know it's important. So we want to talk about some ways that you can create a magical moment in your studio for that first time that the student comes in. And you know, there's so many ways to do it, some costs a little bit of money. But you know, as we just talked about, you know, that lifetime value of that client, especially if a lot of our new students coming in a preschoolers, they could be there with us for a very long time. And I guarantee it's worth it. We put a bit of a post up on the Dance Principals United closed Facebook group about this the other day. And there were some amazing ideas from lots of different people who showed photos and different things that they did. But we wanted to talk about a few things that we do in our studio. So Bec, what are you do to make that first day super exciting for people?

Rebecca Liu-Brennan
Yes. So one of the first things we do is we give them a little badge. And on our badge, it says Welcome to the PAWS family, and then we write their name on it, those badges is super easy to get, you can get them from Zazzle or even Officeworks, I think doesn't know like you can really get them from pretty much anywhere like that. And it's so cute for them to wear that. And they absolutely love it. We do like a first day Instagram sign, which makes them feel really special as well. So we have some balloons up, especially if it's the beginning of the year, we have those balloons up for them. And we've got a big balloon stand at the moment, because it's the beginning of the year here. And it just looks cute to have them behind that.

Amanda Barr
That is so so cute. And I know lots of studios do that it's, you know, making those Instagrammable moments is what we all want. We want that cute photo that the parents can put on social media. You know, that whether it's the balloons or the archway or the pretty wall or the you know, Instagram frame thing that they hold or a little sign that says, my first day at and your studio name, you know, investing in a few things like that can make it really special for parents. We do the badges to I got that idea from you back. And they're super cute. And we love them because it really identifies like to all of the staff that this child is new, that they need special treatment, because they are new. We even do we've started doing let little symbols that we know what they're what they mean. And you know, we'll write the child's name and we put a love heart after it if they're going to need some extra TLC or a star on it. If they're we gave them to everybody. So it was a star if they were returning from last year. So we knew, you know, like after their names so that they didn't quite realize what it meant but the staff all knew what the symbols meant. And that really works really well for us.

Rebecca Liu-Brennan
I love that that's Something amazing, definitely stealing that. That's so clever.

Amanda Barr
Yeah, it was just like a little thing. And it just sort of made us all know exactly what we meant by that child. And you know what that child might need from everybody from the teacher to the admin team to, we have a lot of admin, you know, junior staff that are like floating, that just tried to give, you know, great first experiences during that first crazy few weeks. So that just helped us all with that. Yeah, and then we want to talk about a few other things, there were some other great ideas we had, we also do, congratulations on your first day of class certificate for our kids, which is a really cute thing, we fill out their certificate with their name and everything that they need. You know, and it's a great thing, because once again, it's that photo ops, so they have the photo up before they go into class with their badge, then they have the photo up afterwards with their certificate. You know, and once again, they're really easy to get printed, you just design them on Canva, you, you know, have them printed at Vistaprint, or whatever it is. And that's so, so easy. I know, there's another studio near us. And they're, you know, just getting started and probably don't have huge studio numbers, but they do a photo of every new student coming in and I tagged the parents, they put it on socials, you know, like, welcome to the family with the little child's name and a tag of the parents. Wow, that would make people feel special. If everybody got their own Instagram post, welcome to the family. How lovely is that?

Rebecca Liu-Brennan
That's gorgeous, I absolutely love that. We just we've COVID Haven't been having as many parents come and watch the first class. So we're really careful then that we take a video of the child and send it to them. So their parents still feels the part of that experience and can see that they've, you know, joined into class and had a great time. And I think sometimes it's important if you're a school that doesn't allow parents to come in and watch which we are a school that Listen, do that. But you know, some parents aren't feeling comfortable at the moment, which is completely understandable that you still share that experience with the parent in some way. And I think doing that is great as well, that Instagram post is really clever. Another thing that another studio does that I love is once they've done their class, they try and get their parents to try and then you uniform, and then take a photo of them in their new uniform with the sign, which I thought was really cute, and makes them feel a part of things already, because they're already in that uniform. So I sort of loved that idea too.

Amanda Barr
So, so cute. And I love that idea. You're talking about using technology that can be so so valuable. There's some amazing apps out there that can help you connect with the parents, but it doesn't always have to be, you know, so high tech, it can be lower tech, if that's what you want. One of the things that we do is, if the parents haven't had a chance to talk to the teacher, which sometimes they don't, because they've got back as much as we'd love than them to talk to every teacher, it doesn't always happen, they've got back to back classes, is our teachers all take a selfie video of themselves, you know, and we send it to the parents, you can just text it to the parents, you know, you can just do it on your iPhone, it doesn't need to be through a fancy app. But that you know, they take a little video Hi, my name is Miss Amanda, I am teaching the jazz junior level one class today. And I am so excited to have your little one join us. They you know, we started learning, skipping across the room and really focusing on lifting our feet up high, you know, whatever it was just to give them that little bit of a glimpse into the classroom. And you know, that can be so so special for the parents to receive as well. So you know, there's so many little touches you can do, we could just go on and on this. Like I know we both do so many things at our studio, we both do sticker cards that the kids all get on their first day as well. And you know, every child gets a sticker, I saw someone posting the other day that they give lollies to every kid in every class every time. That's huge. And you know, that might work really well at your studio. We just do stickers for us. But you know, every child always gets a sticker. Do you do stickers?

Rebecca Liu-Brennan
Yeah, we should do especially with our younger classes. And we even use stickers as the incentive for hard workers so that they get stickers throughout the class for who's working the hardest or who's doing whatever. So some kids will go home with three or four stickers. But everyone goes home with at least one of course. But you know, it is a great incentive in your classes. But look, it doesn't have to even be that complicated. It can be that your staff are making an effort to build a relationship with that new parent, be it before they come in or whilst they're there. And you know, for example, one of my staff were holding the baby of a new preschool students so that the mom could go in and put the uniform on the child and try that uniform on and just making that parent's life that little bit easier. And I think doing things like that is a special moment because it makes them feel like you really truly care about them or asking then, you know, What school does the child go to? Or what what sort of other things do they like, like just investing in that child, and investing in that family makes them feel like they're not a number, it makes them feel really amazing,

Amanda Barr
for sure. And I think it is, it's all about that connection. You know, that's Nathan's special trick at the studio. Nathan loves babies. So he's always holding everybody's babies to try and make it easier for the moms or the dads that are there with their preschoolers. And, you know, there's so you know, the building of the connections is so, so valuable. So making sure that you if you have front desk staff, that that's what they're doing in the waiting room, they're asking about their weekend, they're asking what they learned at school today for the little girl or, you know, telling someone how pretty their bow is, or whatever that is, it's building those relationships in those connections. And that can have such a lasting impact. And I know, you know, I know, we're kind of flitting between half preschool and have other classes, but I think you can apply this to everything. Beth, I know your staff do an amazing, you know, little welcome where they read books to your preschoolers before as well. Do you want to tell us about that?

Rebecca Liu-Brennan
Yeah, sure. So we actually had some furniture made, especially for this, and it's sort of a round seat, and it's got books in the middle of it. And so when our preschoolers come into the waiting room, just to help them feel settled and more comfortable, one of my staff members is there reading them a story. And it just, it really brings them together. And you know, if they're a little bit upset, they sort of feel a bit better about things and a bit safer in there. And then we take them into class. So it helps parents to make them feel safe as well, because like I said to you, they're just dropping in running most of them. And so they feel comfortable to drop in, they're not just waiting in the waiting area, you know, awkwardly, they're dropping in, they're sitting them down, and they're reading this book, and it's a really great start to the classes, actually.

Amanda Barr
Oh, it's so so lovely. Before we finish up, I want to share with you what I what I explained to my staff when we first training and talking about how we want parents to feel when they come into our building for the first time. And I always talk to my junior staff about that you've got to think about the studio is your home. As the staff member, it's your home, and you're the host of this party of whatever it is. And you would never open the door to your house and say hi. And then nothing and not say, Would you like to come in? How about you sit down here? If you need to put your bag down, put your bag over there, oh, can I get you a drink? Oh, by the way, the bathrooms are just up there, you would never just say oh, hi. Awesome. And then that that's it, because people don't just know where to sit, where to find the bathrooms, what they're allowed to do, what they're not allowed to do. And I think it's so important that you really think about the studio as your home and you welcome people into it. So you know, making sure you're like oh, so here's what's going to happen. If mom wants to have a seat on this couch over here, where they're going to take little Suzy down to the studio, mom can stay here she can watch on the screens or whatever it is in your studio. Of course, by the way, if you need to take it to the toilet before class, there's a bathroom down the whole on the right. And then after class, we'll have another little chat shall be bought brought back out here from the teacher or you have to collect her at the studio door, or whatever it is, but actually explaining to those families exactly what the process is, where to find everything and what they can expect rather than them just being like gone. Okay, we're going to have a trial class, awesome. And then nothing. So really, really think about that the studio is your home, and you have to be the host of the party. You also wouldn't add if you were having a party at your home, you wouldn't just have someone new come in and not introduce them to somebody else. You would always say, Oh, I've just got to go do something. But you know, have you met so and so you guys know you both go to the same school or you both have children, you know, you must live in the same area, you would always introduce them to somebody to make them feel comfortable. And so they had someone to chat to. We try to do that in our studio as well. Because once again, it's building that culture, it's building those relationships, and making it a really great first impression, because you want those people to walk away going, Ah, that place felt so good. It felt real that I felt comfortable. I felt like home. That's what you want people to say.

Rebecca Liu-Brennan
I absolutely love that. And just to add to that, I think if you don't have a waiting area and you don't have that first point of contact, make sure you're doing exactly what Amanda said before they come in, let them know what's going to happen when they walk in. Your walk in the door will be there but it won't be open because we're probably teaching another class so please just wait for the teacher to come to you or whatever the steps are. Let them know that that's the case so they know exactly what's happening and they don't feel scared or unsure about it. anything they're about to have. And if you're not letting them watch make or because you're not allowed to, or whatever it might be, make sure you tell them that beforehand, and then make them feel comfortable about that situation. Because, you know, we've all heard the horror stories about the child being brought into class, and then the door being closed and the parents like what is going on?

Amanda Barr
Who just took my child?

Rebecca Liu-Brennan
Yeah, exactly. So just making sure that if you don't have that waiting area, and you don't have that, that you're still doing exactly those things and making them feel comfortable about it. Yeah, I love that. Well, hopefully that helped you. You know, really think about how you can create those lasting impressions on everyone. If you have any questions. Please feel free to drop us a DM we're on Instagram at Dance Principals United and we can't wait to chat to you again next week.

Thanks, everyone. Bye