This is a podcast episode titled "Mastering the Art of Following-Up to Grow Your Dance Studio - No Bulls#$t Business Tips 22" recorded in May 2024. It features Amanda Barr and her co-host Bec discussing effective strategies for following up on leads in the context of running a dance studio business. The conversation covers practical advice on persistence, understanding client behavior, and maintaining good customer service without being intrusive.
Hey, friends, Amanda and Bec here with more no bullshit business tips to help you grow the studio of your dreams. You.
What is it? Oh, following up on your lead. Sorry, forgot what it was. Okay, I've got it.
Do you want me to keep going on that or. That's fine.
It's fine.
Hey, friends, Amanda and Beck here, back with no bullshit business tips to help you grow the studio of your dreams.
Now, today we thought we'd talk to you guys about following up on your leads. And one of the questions we always get asked is, how much is too much? How many times should we follow up on our leads? All of those questions, right?
Absolutely. And we've all been in that situation, right? The inquiry comes through, we send them an email back, we do it in a quick time frame and then it's just like crickets. We don't hear from that client. And I think so many of us then just go, oh, they weren't interested in dance classes.
Yeah.
And don't think anything of it. But I don't think that's the right way to do it. Right.
No, we think we're annoying them. And can I just say, I'm totally that person that gives crickets to people who message me, email me all the things and I'm, like, too busy to answer. I. I know. You're that person, too.
Absolutely. And I think we really need to think about our clients, right? And what our clients, you know, their lives are like. Most of our clients are busy mums. They're mums that are really busy, that really need a bit of reminding, to be fair. Because it wasn't that they're not interested in your dance classes. That's not what it was. It might just be that they got busy and forgot to get back to you, because we've all done that before. You know, I have told the story before to our clients about this one situation I had with an eyebrow appointment. You know, I think. And it's such a good thing. And we've probably all been there, right? Because, you know, you've got to have the brows looking good, right? So, you know, I did an inquiry for. I think I DM'd them on Instagram saying, hey, I need an appointment. Can you give me a call? Cool. They gave me a call. I saw it coming through from them and it was school pickup time, so I didn't answer it, no problems. And then the next day they called me again, but I was about to start teaching, so I didn't answer it. And they text me saying, hey, can you give us a call. It was the start of the night teaching. I forgot about it, didn't do anything about it. Next day, they called me again. I didn't answer again. But, you know, I still needed my eyebrows done. Yep. They text me again later in the day going, hey, are you still interested in getting your eyebrows done? And I was like, yes, Yes, I was. So that was like four or five times they reached out to me over a couple of day period, and nothing changed. In that point of time, I wasn't not interested. I still needed my eyebrows done. I was just busy. They just called me at bad times. You know, I just forgot to get back to them because, you know, it's not like it was super high on my priority list. You know, all these things happen. But if they hadn't kept following me up, would I just not have done it? Like, you know, it just happened so easy.
Right. And that's the interesting part, because I bet you saw it as amazing customer service over someone annoying you.
Absolutely. Absolutely. But I think sometimes as studio owners, we say it the other way. We're like, oh, we don't want to annoy them. Yeah, they mustn't be interested. But think about it the other way. It is actually amazing customer service. So how many times do you follow up inquiries bec. Do you have, like, a certain number, or do you think it's a more personal kind of approach?
I don't think we have a certain number, but we keep asking them until they tell us to stop.
Absolutely.
I think that's the best way to explain it to you guys. And what I loved about Amanda's eyebrow story was the last thing they did was texted her and. And said, hey, are you still interested? And even if you do that, after a few times of trying to contact them, just that message, hey, are you still interested? Can allow them to say, oh, no, sorry, it's actually the wrong time for us. Great. Put them in another list that reminds them that you're there. Okay. Like we've talked about to you guys before. Or they might say, yes, I am still interested. Sorry. The kids have just been sick and it's been a week, but I'm definitely interested. When can we book in?
Like, absolutely.
It's just giving them that option, I think, is the key.
I love that. And I love that you don't have a certain number, because we hear from studio owners when we're chatting to studio owners a lot, you know, they're like, oh, you know, is it four times? Is it five times? Is it like, there's not a perfect number because everything is such a personal situation. So I think that, you know, whatever you're doing, you just keep trying it and you will know the right amount of time. And I love. It's just basically until you hear from them, right? Yeah. And because every person's different and people need to be treated not as a number and a process, but as an actual human being. I really like the trying different methods. If you have multiple contact details for them, you know, call them, then send them a text. You know, if you have an email for them, do that as well. Because I think sometimes people like to connect on different platforms as well.
Totally agree. And the last thing I want to say about it is have understanding that they're busy and address that. Be like, hey, I know times can be super crazy. I totally get it. Don't make them feel bad about the fact that they haven't gotten back to you. I think sometimes we do that and then they think, oh, this is embarrassing. And they definitely won't. But if you just address it and go, hey, you know, I do this too, or whatever you're going to say, it just will make them feel more comfortable.
Absolutely. I love that because we've all been, you know, we've all been in a situation before where we feel guilty. Yeah. Cause we've done something to a business like, you know, we forgot to show up to an appointment. We, you know, didn't get back to them, whatever, and we feel bad. But I love the effect of addressing that because it's just, you know, putting it out there and going, hey, I know you're super busy. I don't know if there's a better time to call you, like, let me know what a good time to call you is, or something along those lines, you know, can just really make them feel at ease.
Yep. So make sure you guys take some action on this. We'd love to hear how you go and, yeah, love to hear all the things about it.
Absolutely. So check those emails that you've sent recently. Have a look at them and go, oh, I've only followed that up. I've only set that one email and they never got back to me. So what email could you send today? What phone call could you make today to try again and follow up that lead again?
