High Tech…High TOUCH!
Today I was leading a tele-seminar for dance studio owners. The topic was “Leadership Lessons from the Life of Zig Ziglar” and we were talking about ways to demonstrate warmth, authenticity, and love to our students and clients. During the conversation, one of our members, Katie Owings, made a “stop-me-in-my-tracks” comment. Katie’s comment was simple, yet profound. Commenting on the importance of personalized service, she said:
“The bottom line is: The more high tech we get, the more high touch we need to be.”
Stop. Me. In. My. Tracks.
You see, I am in the middle of building a beautiful new website for my studio. I am also working with an expert to put together training materials for studio owners on search engine optimization and Google’s new search algorithms for our Preview Weekend coming up in February.
These are two really important things to do for my business. Our world and are businesses are becoming increasingly high tech and our students are living more of their lives online. If we want to move ahead as an industry we need to be relevant and engaged online.
And yet, when it is all said and done, dance studios are still a PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE enterprise. People may go to Google to find dance lessons, but they won’t hire Google to teach their children classes. People may enroll at your studio based on your reputation, but they won’t re-enroll if they don’t feel known, loved, and valued when they are in your care.
TECHNOLOGY can serve as the ignition to start a client relationship, but RELATIONSHIP is the gas that keeps it going.
So, optimize your website, tweet, blog, and post on your facebook. Leverage every technology to get people in the door! And, then make their investment worth while by investing in them. Be available, be real, be interested.
The more high tech we get, the more high touch we need to be.