How to run a family survey at your dance studio

A family survey is the cheapest way to find out what your records cannot tell you. Done well, it takes parents a few seconds and gives you a short list of conversations worth having. Done badly, it teaches families that their opinion goes nowhere.

Ask one question, not twenty

Long surveys get abandoned, and the families most likely to finish them are the ones with the most free time, not the ones you most need to hear from. Ask one question every parent can answer in a tap:

“How likely are you to recommend [your studio] to another family?”, from 0 (not at all likely) to 10 (extremely likely).

Then add, at most, two optional written questions: “What is the main reason for your score?” and “What is one thing we could do better?” Make it clear both are optional. A family that taps a number and leaves has still told you something.

Send it at a moment that leaves time to act

Mid-season, when the routine has settled and there are still months to fix what is not working.
Two or three weeks after a recital, when feelings about the biggest event of the year are fresh but not raw.
Before re-enrollment opens, early enough that a phone call can still change a decision.

Avoid sending it the week fees are due, or in the middle of recital week, when every answer will be about that week alone.

Send it from your studio, as yourself

Parents open email from the studio they know. Send the survey from your studio’s own address and name, address it to the parent or guardian, and keep the tone the same as you would at the front desk. If you use a tool to send it, the family should still see your studio, not the tool.

Make answering easy on a phone: the numbers should be tappable right inside the email, with no login and no app to install.

Tell families who will see their answer

If you will see each family’s name next to their answer, and you should if you want to call them back, say so in the email and on the page. “[Your studio] will see your name with your answer.” Honest framing earns more honest answers over time than a promise of anonymity you cannot keep.

How many answers you need before the number means anything

Read the individual answers from the first day. But be careful with the overall score until about 30 families have answered. Below that, the score moves more with who happened to reply than with anything happening at your studio; with ten answers, it could plausibly sit almost fifty points either side of what you see.

The same applies, even more strongly, to slicing the answers: comparing your competitive families with your recreational ones, or new families with long-time ones. Each group needs enough answers on its own.

Follow up within a week

This is the step that makes the survey worth sending. Everyone who answered 0 to 6 has told you something is wrong. Call them, or ask whoever knows the family best to call. Listen more than you explain. Write down what you heard and what you did about it.

Then tell all your families one thing you changed because of what they said. It is the strongest reason for them to answer next time.

A short checklist

One 0 to 10 question, plus up to two optional written ones.
Sent mid-season, after a recital, or before re-enrollment.
From your studio’s own address, readable and answerable on a phone.
Honest about who sees the answers.
Every 0 to 6 answer gets a call within a week.
The overall score read with care until about 30 families have answered.
One change shared back with every family.

Where SARA fits

SARA runs this whole loop for dance studios: the question from your own address, the answers in one place, and the list of families to call. It is in development with Synergy Dance Studio in Austin, Texas, and not yet generally available. Read the guides.