Rebecca Liu Brennan 0:00
Music. Hello friends. I'm Amanda Barr and I'm Rebecca Lew Brennan, and welcome to Dance principles united the
Amanda Barr 0:08
podcast together. We are passionate about helping studio owners with the business of running their studio
Rebecca Liu Brennan 0:14
Join us as we talk everything from marketing, systems, studio culture, motherhood, life and everything in between.
Amanda Barr 0:21
This is the dance principles United podcast, hey friends and welcome to the dance principles United podcast. We are so excited to be back with concert series number two, talking all things parent communication. Hi, my lovely friend Beck. How are you?
Rebecca Liu Brennan 0:39
I'm super awesome and fun. Fact, I just had two concerts on the weekend, so this is a good time for me to self reflect and chat to you about all the things,
Amanda Barr 0:48
absolutely. How did they go? They
Rebecca Liu Brennan 0:52
went really well. So we had our circus acro concerts. Everyone said it was the best circus acro we've ever done, which is, oh, wow, yeah, which was nice. Um, we've got a new team, and they rocked it. I was so impressed with them. So
Amanda Barr 1:07
so good. Alright, well, let's talk parent communication, because probably that's something that you know, like we're always all trying to improve, because we know that parents are busy. They've got so much information coming at them all the time. Doesn't everybody, right? Regardless of their parents or not, it's like content overload at the moment. So we really need to talk about ways to streamline our parent communication. Don't you think,
Rebecca Liu Brennan 1:35
oh my gosh, I even today there was because I'm right near Phoenix's school, and there was cars parked up and down, and it's normally assembly, but then I'm like panicking, going to my emails, being like, Have I forgotten something? Like, it's just so much happening at this time of year. It's
Amanda Barr 1:52
crazy, absolutely. And look, this isn't part of our show, but just on a side note, isn't that so true? I'm finding with schools that the communication is all over the place, and sometimes I get it on we have, we actually have two different apps for our school, which is really annoying. So two different apps and an email, then they post things on their Facebook group, and then there's like, parent run Facebook groups as well. Try and find the info you have the same. Oh, my God, crazy, right?
Rebecca Liu Brennan 2:21
So impossible to know where to find things. What's happening. I always find things out last minute, because I'm that terrible mum that doesn't have time anyway. And then Phoenix will go into a meltdown because something's last minute and it's not what he needs. And, ah, it's horrible, horrible, absolutely.
Amanda Barr 2:39
And so we need to stop that in our studios. We don't want to be what the parents are whinging about going, oh my god, I knew there was something on, but I couldn't find the info. And did they email it, or do they post it on band, or wasn't in their Facebook group? You do not want to be that studio. So today we're here to give you a couple of tips around how not to make that happen.
Rebecca Liu Brennan 3:00
Yes, I think this is so awesome. So what's tip number one? Amanda. Tip
Amanda Barr 3:05
number one is, simplify your information. Too many words are too many words, right? I like to you know, my new phrase is a word salad where you just, like, use all these words and chuck them in just for the sake of chucking words in. I feel like we always need to simplify our information, and that can look like, you know, really clear headings, not too many words, dot points, bullet points. I think it always needs to just be simple as best, right?
Rebecca Liu Brennan 3:38
Yeah, asking things as a question, like, you know, like, sometimes that works really well, I think, like the FAQ, sort of style, FAQ, sort of style, so that they know, like, you know, they can go straight to it, so that it makes it simpler. But I never read long winded emails as soon as it's more than one paragraph, for me, forget it. It's way too hard,
Amanda Barr 4:01
absolutely so really making sure you're simplifying your information. FAQs are a great way to do it. Bullet points, you know, sub headings, infographics. I'm a big fan of infographics. You know, a little pretty Canva design with infographics, you know, around like, dates to remember with, like, a little graphic to save, or, you know, important things to know this week, or something like that, or even if you've got like, a newsletter, like a little like summary at the top in a pretty bold color, in an infographic style, that can make it so much more simple on parents, it's so much easier to read, rather than Just writing words for the sake of writing words
Rebecca Liu Brennan 4:41
also like a really clear, if you are sending emails, a really clear email heading, it's like exactly what it's about, not just find it 100%
Amanda Barr 4:53
absolutely and look, I think talking about, you know, the word salad thing, it kind. Kind of goes into my other point around, you know, really making sure everything is benefit driven. And I've look this is coming from let me tell you the story. Let me go back and tell you the story. Tell me the story. Tell I was reading a couple of people's information. Obviously, it's our job to make sure we're up to date with what's happening across, like, lots of studios, and I have found that some studios almost apologize for things before it's even an issue, right? I like very, very like, this slight undertone of like, an apology, you know, like, I hope you understand that it is necessary for our students to rehearse multiple times in the lead up to the concert. You know, something like, it's almost an apology. It's not quite but it's almost framed like a negative thing, rather than framing it as a students get to participate in lots of rehearsals so that we can make sure the concerts, you know what I mean, like, or they get to come along so many times to experience the joy of the theater multiple times. You know that is more of a benefit driven than like an apology. Does that make sense?
Rebecca Liu Brennan 6:14
Yes, you know what else I hate? The word compulsory. Oh, stop using that word. That is the worst word to use. Like it compulsory photo day. Or,
Amanda Barr 6:27
you know, the photo day,
Rebecca Liu Brennan 6:31
just photo day for all of our students in, yeah, in the studio. Like, isn't that a better way of putting it than compulsory photo like, it just sounds like that, yeah, and it's like, Screw you. Then I'm not coming to the photo day if it's compulsory that, like, people just take such a negative sense on it,
Amanda Barr 6:48
like, Absolutely, which is actually I had, I
Rebecca Liu Brennan 6:51
was, um, staff training on the weekend, and I I'm fine that at this time of year, my staff do tend to start to get a bit negative with their emails because they're tired and stressed as well. And so I said to them, as part of the training session, every email now needs to go into chat GPT, and you need to write, please, write this in a more positive frame, just so that we constantly are getting that positivity out and it's not such a negative and that's such a simple thing to do. Absolutely. Write that in a compulsory photo day and then get chat GPT to write it positively, absolutely.
Amanda Barr 7:25
I love that so so much. Now our other big thing that we wanted to talk about is using dynamic info. And what I mean by dynamic info is info that can be updated, because there is nothing worse than sending an email, you know, the times then change slightly, but the parent on, you know, and you send an updated email for sure, or an updated PDF attachment, or whatever that is. And then the parents go back to the first email because they're in a rush, and they just search their inbox, and it was the first one that came up and they look at the old times, that is so annoying, right? It's annoying for you, but it's also annoying for the parent. So I love dynamic info. We really, you know, teach through all of our programs at using like concert mini sites you could use, like a live Google document or a live Canva site or anything like that, but something that you always point parents to, you can always find our info here on this website, and then you just can keep updating it if it changes, rather than having to send a new email and please disregard the old one or anything like
Rebecca Liu Brennan 8:36
that, right? Yeah. So what you mean is like a live page, like a Google page, you can go to Google Doc, yeah, yep, Google Doc, which just has, like, a link, and then they can go in, you change your information in there, and that way they're not going to the emails, like you said. They're always just going to the link. And I think that's been a game changer for a lot of our SGC members, absolutely. Yeah, me included. Because, you know, I think you told me about that maybe five or six years ago. Amanda, yeah. And that has been a massive game changer for us, because all our parents just go to the concert website, and so they know where to find all the information. It's not so last minute and crazy and it's awesome,
Amanda Barr 9:18
yeah. So I think, you know, making it a website is really the great thing. That's what I mean by a mini site, a website, you know, Canva has a great way to do it. You can do it on Google site. You know, you can do it on so many different ways that you can do it to make it look pretty that are free and accessible. And that way you can just create a little URL, and you can always point parents to that information. So rather than them reading the email, the email says, go to this website to get all the information. Then the band Post says, go to the same info website to get the information. The Facebook or the Instagram post says, go to this place to get so then it's not like this conflict. Information everywhere. They just learn that that's where they find all the information so much easier.
Rebecca Liu Brennan 10:05
Genius, you're a genius. Amanda,
Amanda Barr 10:09
I don't know about that, but I think it does make everything so much easier. So if you're not doing that, really, really think about how you can do that. There's so many great like YouTube tutorials. We teach it in tribe as well, and it's such a great way to really, you know, enhance the concert experience for all of your parents. And I guess that comes back to as well, making sure you have all your ducks in a row before you send out information. You know, there's nothing worse than dribs and drabs of information coming slowly. You need to be prepared if you decide that you're sending out your concert information eight weeks before the show, which I think is perfectly acceptable. Like eight weeks before is great. You know, make sure eight weeks before you know everything. You know what time they're to arrive. You know. You know how they have to purchase their video link or their DVD or whatever. You know their hair and makeup. You know the exact price of tickets, you know the date that goes everything, every single piece of information needs to go out at that eight weeks before, if that's the date you choose, or six whatever it is, not like, hey, we'll tell you that later. And hey, we'll tell you that one later, and this info will be ready later. Just have it all together,
Rebecca Liu Brennan 11:19
yes, and plan it well so that you don't have to go back. Like, there's nothing worse than changing things last minute. On parents, they hate that. And I totally get it as well. And so I think, like, get it out early and then just stick to your guns. Absolutely it's going to cause angst with them if you keep changing it up, changing it up, change it up. Don't you think absolutely,
Amanda Barr 11:41
there is nothing worse than, like, a last minute rehearsal being called, you know, a change of Showtime, a, you know, whatever that is. There's nothing worse for parents, because not just parents, but all of us this time of the year, I don't know about you bet, but my weekends a book solidly from now until Christmas, like, literally, there is not a free date in there so far. Yep,
Rebecca Liu Brennan 12:06
it's so crazy. And things like last minute hair, like, I've done that before, I have to admit, like, back in the day, where I was like, Oh no, okay, that parent complained about braids. I'm now going to do buns. And then there's that poor parent that turns up with the braids because they didn't read the last minute info, and then he feels so sorry for them. He feels sorry for the child. Then we're ripping the child's hair out to redo it. Like, so dumb.
Amanda Barr 12:31
Yeah, absolutely. And I guess that goes into like, not being reactive as well. Like, just because one parent complained about the braids or whatever, don't go and change every information. Like, make your decision and stick to it. I think generally, like, you know, sometimes I agree things need to be changed, but generally, like, make a decision and stick to it. Don't be reactive because one parent complained or because, you know, this one thing happened, because shit happens, right? Parents are going to complain. That's just the nature of business.
Rebecca Liu Brennan 12:59
There's always one, sometimes two or three, but it's two or three. And I think we listen to them so hard sometimes, and then exactly what you're saying be reactive. And that's a never great,
Amanda Barr 13:12
absolutely, hey. And I think also, just like, it's a little bit of a reminder to all studio owners listening at the moment, don't let that get you down. Like, I, you know, I always say on Facebook groups, you know, there's a Negative Nelly, you know, studio owner going, I'm just feeling exhausted. My parents are complaining. Like, absolutely like, I know, I hear it like it is hard when you get complaints. But we are business owners, and it's not just dance studios that get complaints. It's every business. So it's not our industry specific. It's just business owners get complaints and it it sucks, but you've got to remember, it's generally a small percentage of people, and most people love what you're doing.
Rebecca Liu Brennan 13:56
Yep, absolutely. And also, sometimes you need a complaint to listen and change what you're doing like I think that's the key as well. You know, we always try so hard to listen to our clients as much as we possibly can, to take that feedback on, to try and see it from their perspective. You know, we've had people complain so much about communication in the past, and I've been really bad at that years and years ago, I was probably the worst for communicating quickly and reacting and doing all the things. And I think when people give you that feedback, you've got to look at it from their point of view and go, actually, possibly a fair call there, you know, but, and that's great, like, if you can say to them, yep, I totally get where you're coming from, and that's on the list of fix next year that's going to make them happy. It's when you defend what you're doing and say, I'm you know, I've done that great, and I don't know what you're talking about. That's when they get annoyed. And I totally get that as well,
Amanda Barr 14:53
absolutely. Hey, the last thing we wanted to talk about today was training your team, because there's. Such a big thing, and I know you're so passionate about it, BEC, but training the team to actually know your constant information and be able to confidently answer questions, it's important, right? So important,
Rebecca Liu Brennan 15:11
and not just giving them the notes to read and then expecting them to know exactly how you want them to react to parents when they have questions and stuff, because they won't know from reading the note. But I think actually playing that out, even if it's a Zoom meeting, even if you can't get everyone into the studio at once, because that's something that I hear from a lot of people, oh, I just can't get my team all into the studio at once then do a Sunday night zoom. I guarantee they're all sitting at home on a Sunday night or, you know, like early morning zoom, or whatever you need to do to get them all there and then make sure that you have questions that parents are going to come at them with and how you want it answered. There's nothing worse than than answering things, and it's not the way that it's meant to be answered because you haven't trained them properly. Absolutely
Amanda Barr 15:57
a bit of role playing in that is always such a good thing, right? Like, a little bit of you know, like, Hey, what are you going to say to the parent who says, oh my god, costumes are so expensive, you know, makes a slight comment about that. Like, actually saying it out loud and practicing it together is so exciting and so exciting. Sorry, so important to do. And you know, you need your teachers to be able to confidently answer the parents questions, but you also need them to build that hype with the parents and the students in class. Because, you know, the concept is meant to be exciting, you need to build hype around it. So you need your team on board to help you build that hype.
Rebecca Liu Brennan 16:35
Yep, absolutely. And giving them those tools and teaching them to do that stuff is, I think, the key to it, amazing business.
Amanda Barr 16:44
Absolutely, absolutely. Hey, I hope you've been liking our concert series so far. We love chatting all things concert. We're going to continue this next week, so make sure you tune in. Hey, and if you like the show, Could you do us a HUGE favor? Could you jump on Apple or Spotify, or wherever you listen to this and like write a little review, it means the world to us. We would so so appreciate it. It's how we can reach more people and help more studio owners. And we would love that. It would mean the world. Thank you so much Absolutely.
Rebecca Liu Brennan 17:16
Thanks so much, guys, and we will see you next week. Bye.
Amanda Barr 17:21
We hope you enjoyed this episode of the dance principles United podcast. If you'd love to learn more from us, we have a special offer just for our podcast listeners, go to the link in the show notes right now to get two weeks free in dance principles United tribe. We would love to see you there. You
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