The real reason parents leave your preschool dance program
Want to know the biggest reason why parents leave a dance studio?
They leave because they don’t feel connected.
Studio success, especially for the preschool years, is built on relationships and consistency. Believe it or not, connection comes from small, consistent moments. It's the small things that really add up:
A polite greeting from the front desk as a family enters
A clean lobby and a clean and well stocked restroom
The teacher greeting children by name
The teacher briefly acknowledging the parent
Starting and ending class on time
Consistent email communications from your studio
When these things happen, parents don't just stay. They talk about your program with their friends. And many of their friends are also young families with tots and preschoolers—your ideal customers.
I know so many studios that focus on things like ads on social media. In reality, however, all they need is to spend a little more time on their customers’ experience at their studio.
When my own kids were little, we went to the gymnastics gym near our home for a while. We later switched to a gym in the next town over. Why? Well, from a parent's perspective, I remember the front desk staff being consistently unfriendly and disorganized, their waiting area was always just a little bit messy, and their teachers were constantly changing with no communication to parents. Some teachers seemed knowledgable, but others didn't. I wasn't expecting my kids to become Olympic gymnasts, or even competitive gymnasts. But I wanted them to learn and to be given the chance to do their best and to grow as individuals while they were there.
Eventually, we changed gyms because the small things really did add up.
Now I know that was a gymnastics gym and not a dance studio, but the impact of customer experience on enrollment really is the same.
I also know many of you and even your staff were never trained on things like this. We become business owners because we fell in love with an art form. We teach because we danced. Marketing training will typically teach you things like how to run ads. Teacher training typically teaches you what steps to teach.
That's where the Little Dancer Program truly shines. We also train you on the little things that truly make the biggest difference when it comes to enrollment and retention. We provide training and materials you can share with your staff and teachers too. When your whole studio experience feels polished and professional from the very first class, parents notice.
Later, I’ll be sharing one studio owner’s story, and how her studio has grown with simple strategies like these. I think you'll find ideas for your own studio from her story.
Talk soon!
Ashley and the Little Dancer Team
