Inspirational and Empowering Child Care Business Owners To Build Successful Child Care Businesses

Posts tagged ‘Building Enrollment’

A “Marketing” Plan That Builds Enrollment

When I first moved into my childcare center, I discovered that Marketing never stops.  According to Milan Kundera, Business has only two functions – marketing and innovation!

Are you ready to develop a plan to Market your childcare business on a scale that attracts parents to you? I’m sure you do, because Marketing builds enrollment and being filled to capacity assures that there is a strong cash flow in your business.

Are you happy with your enrollment right now? In a recent Guerilla Marketing newsletter, Jay Conrad Levinson wrote: Did you know that 70% of your marketing could be missing the mark?

In Jay’s January 16, 2012 e-newsletter, Jay shares 2 reasons why people purchase products or services and they are as follows:

  1. People buy to increase pleasure and decrease pain. Are you marketing a pleasurable experience for children and parents?
  2. Other reasons people buy are to increase or improve their condition, seize an opportunity, and make life better. They buy to preserve what they’ve got, avoid risk, and keep themselves from becoming worse off. In other words, if they choose you, it’s because your program will make their life better.

Jay also wrote: “The Internet is the best way for advertisers to market to business decision-makers, according to a poll. A survey of nearly 1,000 people by Minnesota Opinion Research found 60% agreeing the Web was persuasive. Fifty percent said it influenced them to make a purchase. “Business decision-makers have told us that the Web is the best place to reach them,” said Chris Schroeder, CEO of Washington Post/Newsweek Interactive. “Most importantly, they’ve made it clear that what they’re seeing on the Web is leading directly to purchases.”

I hope that you have been inspired to find out how you can create a plan to attract parents to you or how you can make your program a pleasurable experience for their child. For example, I recently gave a parent a tour of my center. She was driving too many miles a day to take her son to preschool. Choosing my facility saved her gas and her son would now be in a program that was prepping her son for school success. In fact, her decision to choose my program improved her life.

If you are wondering how you can improve a parents life, ask questions when the parent calls you. Here are two examples of questions that you can ask parents that inquire about enrollment:

  1. Where are your children currently enrolled?
  2. How is that working for you?
  3. What are you looking for in a childcare program? If you can meet that need, invite the parent to stop by!

Finally, as Jay mentioned, the internet is becoming  a more persuasive way to attract customers. I challenge you to review your website and develop a website that inspire parents to choose you. If you do not have a website, set-up a blog. Whatever you do, get a website.

A parent completed a Free Trial day form on my website and I called her back in December 2011. She told me that she loved my website and she just wanted to see the program. In fact, she told me that she had already made her decision to choose my program after looking at the website. Wow!! Just when I thought I needed to update my website.

In summary, take some time today to organize a 3-step marketing plan that includes questions that you will ask parents that contact you and a plan to develop a website that inspires parents to call or contact you.

What do you think about the marketing tips in this post? I look forward to your thoughts.

Shiketa

Category:

Enrollment Building, Marketing

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A Key Part of Building Enrollment Is In the Follow-Up Process

I arrive at my center on August 22, 2011 and I checked my telephone message log.  As I scanned the message log, I noticed that several parents called the center to inquire about  enrolling their children.

After checking the message log, I went to the talk with the  Assistant Director about the enrollment inquiries. As we began to discuss the telephone message, she also informed me that a mother of a School-age child had stopped by the center shortly before I arrived to pick-up enrollment information.

I was thinking to myself…Wow! I love it when parents inquire about enrollment.  After our conversation, I immediately wrote down the mother’s phone number that stopped by the center and went to my office to call her.  

When the mother answered the phone, I introduced myself and  thanked her for visiting my center.  I asked her if she had any questions in regards to enrolling her child. She said, ” I would like to schedule a tour to get started on the process of enrolling my child and what is your registration fee?

After my phone call with the mother, I realized the importance of follow-up with parents. When parents are visiting your program, they may forget to ask you something, however,  if you follow-up with them, they may have more questions.

Several days, prior to writing this blog post, I decided to contact all the families that had recently visited my center, to see if they were still interested in enrolling their children.

I was quite surprise to discover that many of the parents that recently stopped by center, had already enrolled their children in the program. 

One of the parents on the visitor log had already found a center for her two-year old child. She seemed so excited when I called her and she thanked me for following up with her. In addition to me calling her, she assured me that if her current baby sitter did not work out, that she will keep my center in mind.

Here are six ways to follow-up with parents and help to build enrollment :

  1. Create a visitor log that ask for the parent’s name, phone number and email address
  2. Collect contact information from parents when they call your home or center.
  3. Follow-up within parent 24-48 hours of calling or visiting your program
  4. Send an email  or e-newsletter to potential customers every week so that they won’t forget you.
  5. Invite parents to follow your program on social media. This allows the parent to check our your program.
  6. Send a post card in the mail to the family and consider offering a “Free Day”

With Your Child Care Business in Mind,

Shiketa

Category:

Enrollment Building, parent communication

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