Opportunities for revenue growth are just around the corner. We asked Gabi, Founder of The Playing Space, an award-winning drama school, and James, Strategic Business Manager at LoveAdmin, about the best strategies to unlock more revenue. Discover what their words of advice are below.
Don’t be afraid to make changes
Change can sometimes feel scary but remember it can also be an opportunity – helping you to open new streams of revenue.
What types of change are we talking about?
A good example would be switching from monthly to termly billing. Gabi explained why she decided to switch to monthly billing.
She said that using a termly billing model meant receiving large amounts of money a few times a year.
Sounds great, right? That’s exactly what Gabi thought, until she had to make each sum of money last the term. She also had parents asking to postpone or even struggling to pay a whole term’s worth of fees up front.
However, with a monthly billing model, money only needs to last until the next month. Parents also pay less each billing cycle, which Gabi noticed they found easier to digest. She says:
“For parents who have signed up with a direct debit through LoveAdmin, it’s fantastic. We click a button and then our bank account is full. But it’s quite lumpy in terms of cash flow. We get these six big lumps, and then we’ve got to try and make sure that they’re spread out through the year.
And the other thing is, not all parents have signed up to this. So, we also end up spending hours sending reminder emails, text messages, and eventually actually having to pick up the phone. It’s not that parents don’t want to pay. It’s just that they’re busy as well. They have life admin to do too. So, I think monthly billing will make life easier for them too, and it will spread the cost out”.
But remember whatever change you make, communication is key.
Make sure parents and customers know exactly why the change is happening and how it will benefit them. Remember, you need to be transparent and upfront. James says:
“Change can be seen as a big scary thing hiding in the wardrobe. But if you can start to break it down into smaller elements of change, and make sure you, your team and your customers understand each of those little steps, it becomes a much less scary thing to do.”.
Most importantly, any changes you make must align with your ultimate business goal. This will help with working towards that goal.
How can LoveAdmin help?
Our advanced performing arts management software makes reviewing your drama school easy. Use simple capacity filters to see how your classes are performing and choose from over 17 reports to see everything from sales and payments to reconciliation amounts.
Look for new opportunities
Growing your revenue is simpler than you think. By looking at opportunities you have, you can figure out if there’s a new type of customer you could reach.
Look at your competitors, what are they offering their customers? Is anything they’re offering that’s unique to them? Could you add something similar to your drama school?
We’ve got an example you can try…
Have you thought about being a LAMDA teacher? You don’t need any qualifications to start, and schools are always looking for LAMDA experts to support their students.
Weirdly, the main benefit to trying this is also a pitfall you should consider – Because there isn’t an official qualification needed, every LAMDA teacher uses their own teaching techniques. This can end up with students not passing their exams.
You can avoid this by completing a quick LAMDA overview course. Gabi offers an introductory course that gives you a basic understanding of LAMDA practices so that any student you teach has the has the tools to pass their exam. A course like this can also be beneficial for anyone who hires a LAMDA teacher – it means you’ll know if they’re not teaching accurately. Gabi says:
“You can either bring in someone who already has experience teaching LAMDA, or you can train up one of your teachers who’s works for you already. I would say if you’re bringing in someone else, it would be really helpful for you to do the introductory course as well.
If you know nothing about the LAMDA syllabus and how it works, you could get someone in who’s doing things so differently from expectations, and you’ve not got any way of saying, well, are you sure you have to do it in this way?”.
Another avenue of revenue Gabi has recently explored is public speaking training. Gabi finds that some parents will take their students out of drama class while exams are taking place, and then sign then back up once they’re over. She believes this is because parents want to know that their child is getting something valuable out of their time. Gabi also offers public speaking training for teachers.
“Public speaking lessons are hugely popular, and they are a way of bringing kids into your organisation that maybe would never be seen dead in a drama class. That’s not for them at all, but the idea of doing public speaking, that’s a life skill that’s suddenly much more appealing to some students”.
Communication, communication, communication
Communication is key to increasing revenue. Not only does it help you build stronger relationships with customers, but it’s also a way to chase things like late or cancelled payments. In our recent report, we found that 87% of parents think communication is important. On top of this, performing arts parents are more influenced to renew by good communication than the average we surveyed.
Comms can be sent in a couple of ways so you can accurately reach your target audience. This includes a specific class, groups or individual.
Emails
Add video, images, gifs, and more to keep recipients engaged. You can also use our detailed reports to see useful engagement metrics like clicks, open rates, and if an email has been marked as spam.
SMS
With an average open rate of 82%, talking to customers through SMS is a no brainer. It can be useful for notifications like acknowledgements of class registration or reminders of upcoming payments. However, you don’t have as much to play with compared to email because 160 is the character limit.
By having the option of SMS and email, you’re satisfying the parents who prefer to be notified via email as well as the parents who prefer to be notified by SMS. On top of this, there’s no extra effort needed on your part once communications have been set up. Both SMS and email can be managed through LoveAdmin, meaning you’re handling all comms on one secure system.
How can LoveAdmin help?
With performing arts management software like LoveAdmin, you can create email and SMS messages customised to suit your needs. We’ll even build your header and footer for you; with whatever design requirements you desire. On top of this, with smart automations, you can set up billing, chasing payments, comms and more, potentially cutting out 80% of your admin!
So, to summarise:
- Be bold and make changes. Just make sure you’re transparent with your customers
- Opportunities and new markets are always opening up, so take advantage!
- Good communication with customers is essential
If you’d like to learn more tips to grow your business, watch the full webinar here. If you’d like the same help as Gabi, then click here to find out how we can help.
