In today’s competitive marketplace, what is one way to help prospects choose you instead of the center or home down the street? Make it easy! Easy to do business with you, easy to communicate with you, easy to complain about any dissatisfaction or desire unfulfilled by your service.

Easy to Do Business With You:
How easy do you make it to visit your center or enroll? Do you offer to send information to inquiring prospects? Do you follow up in a timely manner? Do you ask them to visit or enroll? Do you refer them to your website for more detailed information? Do you have a packet ready for them when they visit? Do you make payments convenient and easy? Are you flexible with their needs for care and other services? Do you have a referral program? These are just some of the ways you can make it easier for your prospects and customers to enroll and remain with you versus elsewhere.

Easy To Communicate With You:
Communication is key to a prospect’s feeling of ease and comfort with you, your center, and your early care and education services. Think about just exactly how you greet inquiry callers on the phone. Is it friendly, knowledgeable, professional, helpful? When prospects visit your center, do you and your staff communicate the same message? Remember the messages delivered non-verbally, as well as those that are spoken. A dead plant on your counter can say more than anything you might verbalize about how well you care for the children. Do you have a parent hotline for questions and answers? Do you have a regular newsletter? Does every classroom have a parent communications board? Do you send home “What we did today” notes? Do you have a resource library where parents can check out books and magazines on parenting and early childhood issues? Do you greet every parent and visitor with a smile and a warm handshake? Do you respond promptly to messages left for you by parents and prospects? Do you make it easy to talk with you on-line? Do you welcome parent involvement? Do you have regular parent conferences on the children’s progress? Think about how you are communicating – both verbally and otherwise – and make it easy for your parents and prospects to talk to you.

Easy to Complain:
“Easy to what?” you say. Yes, complain. Experts say most unhappy customers never even tell you their complaints or dissatisfaction. They just stop being your customer. And, if they are really unhappy, they will tell 8 to 16 people about it! Give prospects and customers an easy way to express those concerns and unmet desires BEFORE you lose them. Do you have regular parent surveys? When you make prospect follow up calls, do you ask them what they liked most and least during their visit to your center?  Do you have a parent suggestion box? Don’t be afraid to ask what customers and prospects expect, or wish they had from your services. Doing so will make it easy for them to want to be a part of your center’s family.

In so many settings, today’s busy parents find it hard to do business, difficult to communicate, and heaven forbid if they complain. If you make it easy to do all three, you will be a breath of fresh air in their lives AND the most likely choice for their enrollment decision.

Best wishes and happy marketing!

Julie Wassom
“The Speaker Whose Message Means Business”
Marketing and Sales Speaker/Consultant/Author
Call me: 303-693-2306
Fax me: 303-617-6422
E-me: julie@juliewassom.com
See me: www.juliewassom.com