Create a Strategic Follow-Up Process
Build connections to turn prospective families into student enrollments.Showcasing the unique aspects of your school is the right place to start with your prospective families, but you also need to provide personalized attention to help increase the likelihood of enrollment. You need to make each family feel valued, heard, and supported throughout their decision-making journey.
Here are 5 things to include in your strategic follow-up for your new student recruitment process:
1. Personalize Your Next "First" Interaction
First impressions matter, but it's the follow-up that forges lasting connections. After a family tour, send a personalized thank you note right away. In fact, write this immediately after your tour. This will help you remember exactly what happened and reference specific parts of their visit to show genuine interest and care in their experience with your school.
Then drop it in the mail the next day to ensure it arrives within the next few days while the tour is still fresh on their minds. This small gesture can set the tone for the rest of your communication, and start a meaningful relationship.
Each family comes with unique needs and aspirations. You should already have prepared information packets highlighting programs, extracurricular activities, and faith-based activities your school has to offer. Now, follow up with an email that provides additional digital resources customized to align with some of their interests they mentioned during their tour. (This could be a sample assignment for a subject in their child's grade, group project photos, school awards, etc.)
Offering additional resources after the tour shows you reflected on your meeting as well, and you have even more reason to believe their student is a good fit for your school.
About a week after the tour, reach out again. Schedule a call or meeting to address any lingering questions. Invite them to an upcoming game, school event, or propose a day for their child to shadow a current student. Inviting them to engage more before they make a decision helps them get a real feel of your school's environment and community and it show's you respect their process.
If they are engaging with you, it's a win! The more time they spend at your school, you increase the likelihood of these experiences positively influencing their decision.
The cost of private education is a legitimate reason some families decide not to enroll their children. Discussing financial assistance openly and upfront can be a game-changer for many schools. Provide clear information about scholarships, financial aid, or tuition assistance programs. This helps parents know your school understands the financial weight of this commitment, and that they can talk openly about anything that might be holding them back from enrolling their children.
Also, offer guidance through the application process. You can walk through it with them in person or over the phone. You can also send reminders about important deadlines and make sure they know you are available for any questions.
Unless someone directly asks you to stop, stay in regular contact with updates about your school. Share success stories, new programs, or testimonials from current families. Parents could still be considering, or if they have decided the timing isn't right for this year, they might still be open at a later date. This continuous engagement keeps your school at the forefront of their minds and builds a sense of belonging even before they enroll their children.
Grow My School offers a wide variety of marketing resources, from social media ads on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram to printed resources like banners and family recruitment packets. If you'd like help increasing your community's awareness of your school, click the link below to connect with our team and get a free estimate and informational board packet to take to your next team meeting.