I researched several dance studio software programs, and this one was the most comprehensive AND user-friendly. I received amazing customer service both before and after my purchase. Not only was I walked through my specific questions, but when I explained some of my studio needs, the rep I spoke with, Peggy, came up with a custom-made solution to my wishes. She knew the business well and was able to give me great advise and walk through the pros and cons of different ways to set up the software for my specific business needs. Her help was above and beyond what was to be expected.

The class schedule is displayed beautifully, I have easy access to all kinds of reports, my teachers can input their attendance and costume measurements directly onto the system, and the system will calculate costume sizes according to the vendor size charts. I can then run a report of what costumes in what sizes and quantities that I'm ordering from each vendor. This is just a very small sampling of what the program can do to simplify my work. There are also many checks and balances on the program so that, for instance, costumes are not ordered for a student who is taking class but not performing.

I don't like how I have to enter a character for all the prospect info such as address and phone if I don't have it. But this is a very minor issue. The only other "con" I have is that if you sign up for the 2 week trial, you're just going to have to have it! It's just that awesome!

I have worked in many corporate databases, and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised when I started using The Studio Director. The dance studio I work for had already been using it for quite a few years when I became the studio manager. I was able to figure almost all of our daily functions in less than two days! The software is user-friendly, dynamic, and has great technical support! The staff are always friendly and prompt and have some kind of solution for most of our questions.

This software is dynamic! It lets us manager our studio store items and sales, our dance classes, seasons, and performances, our online client portal, our families, students, and communication methods - all in one program!

Setting up seasons can be a little complicated, depending on the various types of class set-ups we may want to offer - in the summer we have multiple 1-week camps, a 7-week session, grouped dance intensives, etc., and all require some real thought to make sure they are set-up correctly for the right dates, charges, and so they make sense to the client in their online registration portal. In addition, there is no good way to pick and choose clients to email out of a group - you can only email the whole group or an individual family, unless you can figure out which clients are which by their email address and delete them individually from the "to" line - which is near impossible!

I like the pre-approval feature and the online store feature. However, attendance tracking for faculty is not efficient. A staff portal with attendance and skill tracking would be a huge improvement. Allowing parents to schedule make-ups would be great as well. The event management is also time consuming. One window to drag and drop classes into an event would be preferred over constantly going back and forth between windows to add performances for classes and adding classes to an event.

The pre-approval feature makes registering for the next season so easy for parents. They don't have to search through all class offerings to find the classes they should sign up for.

I feel like I constantly have to switch between windows to do things. It is very hard for staff to quickly take attendance for their class.

It was the key to our growth from 1,200 to 4,500 +/-.

Very fast. Accessible by customers on PC or phone via app. Super search capability. Full accounting capability -- can support GAAP, tax, and custom reporting. Fits with QuickBooks. Support extremely responsive and new features appear every two or three months. Has many features competing programs don't have including elaborate skill tracking, inventory and event support. Price capped even with thousands of students in the system. Usage is highly customizable to speed registration work. Exhaustive standard reporting plus support can create custom reports. Most information can be exported to Excel. Can integrate with your web site, too, to show what's available. Useful for every member of the company and customers.

Can't consolidate accounts over several sites, so customers can end up enrolled in two or three places. Not as cheap as entry-level systems; this is the high end product for knowledgeable users. Doesn't allow API access to your data for customer reporting.

The most outstanding thing about The Studio Director is their customer service. They are thorough, polite, helpful, and knowledgable. I get an email response typically within just a few minutes of asking my questions and the response includes step by step instructions on how to proceed. Their advice is invaluable.

Being a performing arts studio that offers both group classes and private lessons, my main complaint would be that I have to create 2 different seasons for both. Because of this, I have to do a little extra work when I want to send a group email or offer discounts to students who take classes in both seasons.