There are lots of software options for management of your music school or music studio, ranging from excel spreadsheets, to online scheduling services, to payment collection companies. I believe that if your goal is to make studio management a simple and effective process, and free yourself up for the creative things that give you your energy, then Integration is the answer.
I hear stories all the time about lost customers, and lost revenues, simply because the slip of paper that was supposed to be entered in Quickbooks went missing!
So how does Integration help, you ask? Here are just a few of the ideas that can save you time and increase customer satisfaction and customer revenue:
- Website-Admin System Integration:
- Add a teacher and they are automatically featured on your website
- Class fills and the website directs interested customers to contact you instead of register
- Customer enrolls and their Account Receivable is updated with charges and payments, future payments are scheduled, they are added to the roster report, they get a confirmation, and they are on your email list
- Potential customer asks for info on your website, and they are automatically included in your future marketing mailings
- Customer looking for private lessons can reserve a timeslot based on your teacher(s) and room(s) availability
- Customers manage their own changes to contact information
- and many more...
- Accounting - Class Roster integration:
- Enrollments, drops and adds automatically update customer accounts
- Payments scheduled and collected based on actual class/lesson enrollments
- Customers can manage their own accounts and credit card information
- etc...
- Mailing - Admin integration
- All customers and prospects automatically available for bulk emails
- Easy to select customer "enrolled in X" or "with a student eligible for class Y"
- etc..
Basically, it boils down to one key idea. You have a set of tasks to do every day to keep your school or studio running smoothly. Integration gives you one place to do it effectively, without repetition, and without switching from one system to another.
Maybe there is an integration idea you have that would make your life easier? Let me know, and perhaps I can get it included in our upcoming release of YourVirtuoso for you.