The milk production by small-scale farmers has great importance in Brazilian agribusiness, however this sector is deficient in terms of technology to ensure minimum quality standards. Many aspects are needed to achieve these quality criteria, but among these, an important factor is the transfer of technology through technical assistance programs. The study was conducted in State of São Paulo, Brazil, and had the objective of identify the characteristic of small-scale dairy farms that are related to technology transfer facility to improve milk quality. During 12 mo, 60 farms were monitored for milk composition, somatic cell count and total bacterial count, and received technical assistance. At the beginning of the study, the producers were interviewed with the use of a semi-structured questionnaire. After 12 mo, the farms were divided into 2 groups: greater improvement and lesser improvement of milk quality, and a multiple correspondence analysis was performed to identify the characteristics that differentiate the groups. The results show that properties had average herd of 38 cattle, 180 L/d milk, total area of 30 ha and use of direct family manpower. Multivariate analysis enabled to identify some characteristics that helped in improvement of milk quality. The group with greater improvement used artificial insemination without technical advice with the choice of bulls, were in quality-based payment programs, used formulated diets with no silage. These characteristics were evaluated at the beginning of the study, and altered according to the needs of each property, resulting in improvement of milk quality. The changes suggested by the extensionists in nutrition, mastitis control, and milking hygiene had great importance, however the participation of quality-based payment programs had the greatest impact on improvement of milk quality. These information are useful and could help to develop and guide technical assistance programs and the transfer of technology to small-scale milk producers. Financial support: FAPESP.