5 Simple Yet Often-Overlooked Strategies
to Secure the Enrolment

Strategy #1: Make a “WOW” First Impression, Engaging all 5 Senses

You may have heard this phrase: “You only have about 7 seconds to make a good first impression”. But have you really thought about what that means in context of your child care tour? It means that in order to convey a “WOW” first impression with your prospect, you need to take all 5 senses into account, and have a strategic plan to “WOW” your prospect in each area. Here are some suggestions for how to do this:

Smell: This is one of the most important sensory experiences, especially for women. Go outside and get a fresh “nose” then come back inside your environment. What do you smell? Is it positive, negative, or neutral? How can you enhance the smell consistently, so it’s always positive – even inside the infant room at the end of the day?

Sight: What do people see as they step into your school? As they enter, are there engaging things to look at, without being too “busy”?

Sound: I recommend you have some soft music playing in the lobby of your centre (child care centre) to set the tone for a fun learning environment. You can choose classical, soft jazz, spa music, Disney soundtracks, or whatever suits you – just make sure it’s a calming influence on what can be a hectic drop-off and pick-up experience. You want your prospects and customers to feel as if they’ve come in to a “safe haven” away from the stresses of the outside world.

Taste: One great way to set yourself apart from other programs is to offer snacks and beverages to your visitors. When people are offered coffee, tea, water, and healthy snacks (for both parents and child) it reminds people of visiting a friend’s home.

Touch: Create a warm, comfortable environment for your prospect to sit and get to know you better. Provide a child-size table and chairs with books, toys, and crayons for the child. Don’t make the mistake of starting and ending the tour “standing up at the counter.” You’ll engender much more trust and make a deeper connection with your prospect if you provide a comfy place to sit.

Strategy #2: Find the hot buttons

Make an emotional connection with your prospect by asking the right questions. It enables you to really understand (and be able to respond to) what I call his or her “hot buttons”. Your goal during the tour is to really understand the fears, concerns, past experiences, desires, and objections of your prospect – so you can address them and be better prepared to ask for the enrolment at the end of the visit.

The best way to elegantly handle this relationship-building technique is by using a Prospect Questionnaire and walking through it as an interactive ‘chit-chat’ – if you leave the room and have Mom or Dad complete it on their own, you’ve missed an opportunity to build rapport, trust, and shared understanding. Plus, you’ll have a less clear understanding of his or her “hot buttons”.

Create your Prospect Questionnaire and include open-ended questions that provide insight into the parent’s fears, concerns, past experiences, desires, and objections. Good ones to ask may include “what are your goals for your child over the next 4 years”, “do you have concerns about pre-school readiness”, and “tell me about any parenting challenges you have and how we can help”.

You will find that 95% of other child care programs do not take the time to conduct this assessment. If you do, not only will you set yourself apart, you will be seen as more caring and trustworthy than others.

Strategy #3: Communicate Your Differences

Did you know that one of the main goals of your marketing message is to communicate how you’re DIFFERENT? At the end of the day, that’s what parents really want to know – how you are special, unique, and different than the other nearby child care centres.

And the irony is that most early childhood programmes sound alike, look alike, and market themselves alike, due to what I call “being bound by industry norms”. When parents seek to make the best childcare choice for them, but are given no clear differentiators, they are forced to commoditize all schools and base the decision on price and location. You can avoid this trap simply by taking the time to determine your unique selling points, and communicate them effectively.

So take some time to clarify your message. The first step is to do a competitive analysis of the other programs in town, so you can accurately determine how you are indeed different. Examples might be in program features such as hours, transportation, flexible scheduling, meals, staff tenure/experience, teaching method, playground amenities, etc.

Even if it’s not a completely unique offering in the market, talk about how it’s different from “most other programs you may be considering”. Don’t be shy about this! You work hard and you deserve to toot your horn a little bit about how you are special.

Finally, back up your differences with parent testimonials about how you’ve made their lives easier and benefited their child’s development and you’ve got a truly winning combination for your enhanced marketing message!

Strategy #4: Enable the Parent-Teacher Connection

Think about this. The child care decision is perhaps the most trust-based decision anyone can make in terms of a product or service. So whatever you can do during your center tour to enhance the sense of trust will bring you one step closer to securing the enrolment.

Now, think about how you orchestrate the greeting and bond between parent and teacher, during the visit. Do you take over the classroom briefly, so the parent and teacher can visit? Does the teacher greet each parent visitor with a smile and a firm handshake? This behaviour conveys the highest level of professionalism, and makes a fantastic impression with parents. Every teacher in your program is an important “selling tool” for your school, and they need to be trained and motivated to help secure that enrolment.

Of course, some teachers will be natural enrolment-builders more than others. It’s your job to enable the communication to flow and bonds to take place, by training teachers what to say, offering to role-play, providing encouragement and incentives, and praising teachers when they do a good job.

Strategy #5: Give a Gift or Goodie Bag

Dr. Robert Cialdini studied the psychology of influence (and selling) and wrote the book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. One of the top influencers is what Cialdini calls “the law of reciprocity”. This means that when people are given a gift or done a favor, they feel compelled (guilt plays a role) to reciprocate the good deed.

And your program can set itself apart by giving a fun and/or educational gift to each family who takes the time to visit you. Again, 90% of child care organizations do NOT use this technique – do you want to stand out among the crowd?

So what should be included in your gift package or goodie bag? First, I recommend including some items branded with your school’s logo, which find their way into the prospect’s home. These can include mugs, cups, chip clips, children’s accessories and etc. You can also include educational items such as children’s books, educational toys, or crafts. Inexpensive fillers like bubbles and crayons can be found at the dollar store, and can bring great glee from both parents and children.

Now that you have your goodie bag (or package of inexpensive Scholastic books tied in a ribbon) pulled together, you should have one at the ready for each visit. Give the gift near the end of the visit, right before you ask for the enrolment.

You can also include educational items such as children’s books, educational toys, or crafts. Inexpensive fillers like bubbles and crayons can be found at the dollar store, and can bring great glee from both parents and children.

Now that you have your goodie bag (or package of inexpensive Scholastic books tied in a ribbon) pulled together, you should have one ready for each visit. Give the gift near the end of the visit, right before you ask for the enrolment. This will ease any nervousness on your part, and engender goodwill among all parties.