Great front desk service is now more important than ever before.
Your front desk is the centre of your dance studio - it's the first in-person point of contact new families will have with your studio and is involved in almost every touchpoint for current students and their families.
But while studio owners are diligent about hiring the very best teaching staff for their studios, often the same effort isn't put into finding the perfect front desk team .
However, the reality if that your front desk staff will be dealing with students and their families more often than any of your other team members - sometimes even the studio owner themselves.
From dealing with enrolment and registration to taking payments, selling merchandise and dealing with questions, concerns and even complaints - it's important that your front desk staff are well-trained and, most importantly, the "right fit" for both your studio and the role itself.
WHAT MAKES THE PERFECT FRONT DESK TEAM MEMBER?
When putting together a front desk team - whether you will have a few staff looking after this important role or just one - it's important to firstly look for people who have the right attitude.
They need to be friendly and welcoming, attentive, organised and detail specific, empathetic, solution-oriented, sales minded and an all-round studio cheerleader.
Your front desk team are your gatekeepers, your pulse, and your frontline of battle. All of those roles are considered mission: critical to the success of any operation and your studio is no exception.
Given their frequent interaction with your students and their families, your front desk team also needs to have fantastic customer service skills. Research conducted by Amercian Express has found 86% of people are willing to pay more for great customer service so it makes sense to put a lot of thought into filling this pivotal role with the right team.
When writing your job description make sure you have a clear idea of what you're looking for and be explicit about it. If you're not sure where to start, make a list of common tasks you'd like your front desk team to complete and go from there to expand the role description including the hours you need someone and your budget for paying them. Make sure to include what type of skills your ideal candidates should possess.
You could also consider asking potential front desk team members to answer a questionnaire as part of their job application which asks questions about their customer service experience, their interpersonal skills and other personality-based questions.
Remember finding the right personality is key here - it's much easier to train someone on key tasks than try to change who they are!
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR FRONT DESK TEAM MEMBERS?
Once you've found your "dream team" it's important to ensure they're properly equipped to carry out the role. Develop an onboarding process for staff that includes information about your studio mission and values as well as common studio tasks so they can be brought up to speed as quickly as possible.
It's more effective to deliver training in small chunks rather than long sessions to ensure you're delivering a manageable amount of learning. If possible, deliver some training before their first day to ensure there is some prior knowledge.
Your training should include a mix of 'hard' and 'soft' skills such as studio management software, policies and procedures, your opening/closing/cleaning procedures, customer service, phone techniques and experience delivery.
Lastly, remember it's never too late to start training your front desk team - even if they've been with you for while. Qualifying skills such as customer service and sales processes can benefit both you, your team members and - most importantly - your customers!
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