I love a good sale! Recently, I just missed getting an item on sale due to my schedule keeping me from getting to the store on sale days. So I called the store and explained my situation to the department manager, and asked if there were any way she could honor the sale price. She first asked if I were a store card holder. I am. Then to my amazement, she said, “Yes, she could!” I hung up repeating one of my favorite mantras, “ask, Ask Always Ask!”

Can always asking help you build enrollment? Absolutely! Here are three times when asking more than you tell will yield more enrollment conversions.

While assessing prospect needs. Ask good open questions to elicit details about more than basic needs for hours and program. Ask questions such as, “What are your primary concerns in finding the best education and care for Brianna?” “What are Tyler’s favorite activities?” “What kinds of communication are you looking for us?” Ask early and often during an enrollment interview, both on the phone and during the center visit. When you do, your prospects will tell you exactly which benefits are most important to them, thus making your job easier in knowing how to direct the enrollment interview.

While presenting key benefits of your school. Stop that lengthy explanation of your program and staff and special features, and periodically ASK your prospect short questions to gain their agreement on the benefits you are presenting. Besides involving the parents, it will help you make sure you are going in the right direction and will help the parents recognize that you can meet their needs better than anyone else they might be considering. Use good trial closing questions, such as, “Does this look like the kind of environment where Renoir would get the kindergarten readiness he needs?” “Having both print and email communications is helpful to most of our parents; would it be to you?”

When you need to convert the visit or enrollment. You MUST ask, or you are not closing. The technique of skilled asking will convert more calls to visits and visits to enrollments than any amount of telling and hoping the parent gets back to you. Even if they say, “No,” to  your closing question, asking it gives you the opportunity to retain the prospect by handling whatever objection they might have, or to ask (There it is again) for permission to initiate some follow up to check on their decision. Easiest closing questions to ask are called Alternative Choice questions. Try these. “Would you like to come in for a visit on Wednesday at 10:00 or is Thursday better for your schedule?” “Would you like for Zara to start tomorrow or would you prefer to wait until Monday?” “Would you like me to help you complete these registration papers or would you like some privacy here in my office to complete them on your own?”

Though asking can be scary, because you risk the prospect saying, “No,” or seeing you as pushy, the reality is that most prospects really like it when you ask. It positions you as the knowledgeable professional helping them make a good buying decision. And that’s a good feeling. Ask, ask, Always Ask, and you will be amazed how often they say, “Yes!”.

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