We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cathy Nelson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Cathy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. The first dollar your business earns is always special and we’d love to hear how your brand made its first dollar of revenue.

When we opened our brick and mortar location we had already spent six months marketing online and networking in person before our grand opening weekend events. Selling a non tangible service can be challenging and requires you to overdeliver and earn trust if you want a customer for life,

We held a soft opening first for our VIP Clients. Those were the individuals who had already been working with us prior to the formation of our business partnership. We made them a special offer on a program of 16 dance lessons with a rate for them to purchase at one time only, paid in full. We wanted them to feel appreciation for trusting us and rewarded for maintaining our long term relationship by offering this discount. This income gave us working capital and several weeks of appointments for staff to service. We would recommend any new business develop a base before launch. It takes the pressure off and gets things rolling.

Second, we held a VIP party just for these clients at no charge. It was an exclusive insider event just for them to know one another. This allowed us to create a community of support. We believe the more ties the client has to your business they more they will want to stay active and positive.

Next we asked a favor: would they attend our free grand opening parties on Friday & Saturday (they normally pay to attend these popular events, so it was a yes!) wearing a special corsage to set them apart from the general public and act as an ambassador to help share their direct personal experiences with our brand with the new faces in the room. This recognition is a fantastic motivator for our clients, it created a culture where they felt they were involved in our business, it allowed them to share their shining moments (which strengthened their relationship with us) and gave us living testimonials. When your clients are sharing the benefits of doing business with you using their words face to face with potential clients it is the most powerful recommendation or review. When you use these same picture stories it can sound salesy, even though you are speaking the truth!

Lastly was our grand opening. We had over 200 people come enjoy food, drink, music and dance. We had a special offer for guests at that event only. We were positively delighted with the turn out, because despite best plans there is still uncertainty.

Happy to say, 12 years later many of these founding customers are still with us!

Cathy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

We have a business partnership. One had an established career within the specific creative industry, and one from a corporate analytical background. We believe the two halves are better together than either would be going solo, We have diverse views that we respect and enjoy collaboration for the best possible outcome for our clients and our business.

Our brand sets us apart from others who work on commissioned sales which results in customers feeling pressured and driven away from something they wanted to enjoy for life. We set up a no haggle fee schedule transparent to customers which took the pressure off our staff and allowed us to keep rates lower than our competition. We believe when people are enjoying the service they will naturally want to continue. Our five star small business is full of reviews that describe us a “cheerful, friendly, warm, welcoming” and ‘no pressure’. This culture is so important for us to maintain as so many people put off starting something new out of fear. We love the feedback our customers deliver, it confirms we are doing a good job for them,

We are also very customer focused, We help them uncover their goals and motivation instead of pushing them in a direction they may not want to go because our business model is set in that direction, After all, it’s their money, and we always respect it’s their choice at every point of service.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Everyone can relate to recent current events in a time of COVID where their lives were turned upside down. We work in a business of personal service, requiring hands on touch, within someone’s intimate personal space.

First, there was a complete shut down with the Stay At Home order where our business sector was not permitted to offer any onsite service. We were so grateful for technology that allowed us to offer live and interactive virtual training. We offered it to clients but we did not require it. So many were grateful to have the ability to do something active in their own safe space and not to have to sacrifice all of their hobbies. For some customers we were the only contact with the outside world and it was affirming to be there for them and receive that appreciation.

Next we were permitted to open with many restrictions, including our individual health concerns about staying well so we could continue to operate our business. When you are a tiny business you can’t afford to be ill…business doesn’t work unless you do. We had a 3000 square foot space and we were hosting two people at a time for each session, so they had a huge amount of personal space. Sanitizing like crazy, and taking all conservative precautions and recommendations helped people feel safe to return. Not all did, some never will.

Later we added small size group activities where we had the floor marked out clearly identifying each persons radius of space. Everyone learned their part on their own unless they cohabitated. Lots of our mixed events converted to cohabitating partner only event. This limited attendance and income but safety was put first.

We operated like this for close to 2 years. No new business. All events cancelled. And our fabulous existing customers continued on, supporting us through this challenging time. We never will forget the trust that they showed in our ability to persevere when many businesses were faltering.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

We opened 12 years ago with word of mouth being our biggest driver. Being a new business we did run small and limited local print campaigns just to let people know we were there. Print over time became less and less of a source, as did word of mouth. Now people turn to the internet to research more than they ask friends or family. We are actively daily on social media platforms with limited engagement but we know our clients are watching. Asking customers to leave a review on media has been the best source of new clients. We do a lot of charitable donations, small business networking within our local community more as a source to give than to receive. Satisfied customers are our best source!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://danceforeverflorida.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danceforeversocialdancestudio/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanceForeverFL/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dance-forever/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/dance_foreverfl
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzqJfxcWTa5FndJOqrxQYMw

Image Credits
Sean Neumayer Photography (images that contain logo), Koryo Photography