When you become a Center Director, the learning curve can be steep. Your responsibilities around enrollment building can seem like rock climbing – steep, hard, and likely unfamiliar. If you are a new director, soon to become one, or in any position where enrollment generation and conversion falls within your job description, here are five need-to-know actions it will take to master this part of your role.
1. You must respond to enrollment inquiries within the business day. Yup, no matter how busy you are, every inquiring prospect expects a response ASAP in order to keep your center on their short list for potential schools to consider. So it’s worth it to allocate time every day to personalized prospect response beyond your auto-responder.
2. You must ASK for the enrollment. It isn’t enough to merely tell center visitors about your school and expect them to tell you they want to enroll. Guiding them toward a good buying decision means asking every qualified prospect to make the commitment before they leave the center visit.
3. You have to know what to say to retain the prospect if they initially say, “No”. When prospects will not commit in response to your closing question, they usually either need time or further information before making a decision. How you handle an objection can mean the difference between retaining the prospect or losing them to your competition. For techniques that work, https://juliewassom.com/2019/10/31/effective-ways-to-turn-no-into-yes/.
4. Following up is a necessity, not an option. I like to say, “The fortune is in the follow up.” Those directors who follow up with prospects with a mix of emails, texts, and calls that are loaded with personalized information of value to each prospect are the ones who win over far more undecided prospects. Good follow up makes your enrollment building job easier, not harder.
5. Tracking your enrollment data is vital to success. Web-based customer relationship management systems allow you to automate communication with parents and manage your business in efficient ways hard to match with paper tracking systems. A CRM system saves time, flags your next actions, and collects data, such as inquiry sources, follow up activity, and conversion ratios. Chuck Gibbs, CEO of ChildCareCRM, says, “You cannot manage what you cannot measure.” To learn more about this one, visit https://startthejourney.childcarecrm.com/julie-wassom
Julie Wassom
The Child Care Marketing Expert and Coach
Marketing and Sales Speaker/Consultant/Author
303-910-3083
julie@juliewassom.com
www.juliewassom.com
