We all know the cycle of child care centres highs and
lows. Currently your Centre will be experiencing a peak
in occupancy with the warmer weather and it will be
climbing steadily, this will be experienced up until mid
November. By mid December families begin to exit your
Centre with preparation of their children commencing big
school and for Christmas holidays. A decline in
occupancy commences in December and continues throughout
January up until school commences.
Before you know it and have time to recover from
Christmas parties, end of year celebrations and your
annual Centre clean, you will find yourself in the
middle of January 2010. As all the end of year and New
Year celebrations conclude; you take a breath and wham
bam thankyou mam your occupancy is now 20% lower then it
was in the middle of December. Family enquiries are low
or still non existent at this time of the year; the
worry and panic starts to set in…
The worry and panic starts to set in… we are over
staffed, I need to cut staff hours or let some staff go,
who can I force to take more holidays, what about the
bills that are piling up and all the parent fees that
are not being paid as families are on holidays, I need
to chase the families who have done runners at the end
of the year… The list goes on…
So how do you stay ahead and have a clear focus on
next year’s enrolments...
You need to be organised! If you haven’t started
re-enrolments as yet for 2010, stop everything and start
now. It is simple as developing a short version of your
enrolment form and getting it out to parents. The
information you want to know is:
-
Is the child
returning in 2010?
-
What days
will the child be returning?
-
Are they
increasing or reducing days?
-
What dates,
if any will they be absent over the Christmas and
January period?
The above three crucial points assists you knowing which
children are leaving, gives you clarity to where your
occupancy will be at, what place you have available and
need to fill and also just as important your attendance
during the Christmas and January period to assist you in
planing staff’s holidays and leave requests.
I hear you say; it’s so hard to get parents to return
anything and how do I track this.
Make it fun and get the whole team involved through
-
Have a prize
for the first room who collects all families
re-enrolments
-
Set a due
date.
-
Attach a
lolly or tea bag to the re-enrolment form, with a
little note “have a break on us”.
-
Have a
family fun night or information night, with before
you go we would like you to complete your
re-enrolment.
-
Every family
who returns their re-enrolment by a due date can go
into a draw for a free gift; be it a days free care,
an educational pack, Christmas hamper etc
-
Set a table
or stall with a staff member each evening for a week
and get parents when they come in to collect their
child to complete the form.
-
Send a self
addresses return envelope to the child with the
re-enrolment form in the post
-
Print of a
child or family list and mark it off as families
return their re-enrolment.
-
Have
tracking sheets for each room and complete your
confirmed enrolments as they come in.
Did you know that only 10% of Centres track family
enquiries?
Our staff at Succeed Consultancy ring Centres
continually for market research; our independent
research within the industry states that only 10% of
Centres actually ask phone and drop in enquiries for
family’s crucial details such as name, address, phone
numbers, email address, child’s name and age and how
they heard about the Centre.
Are you one of the 90% of Centres that don’t collect
this information? If you don’t take anything else away
from this article, please take this away and do
something to start collecting family enquiries. This is
the most important and crucial factor in maintaining and
increasing your occupancy.
Without this information you are unable to stay in
contact with families who are interested in moving from
their existing Centre or who are preparing to start
their journey in childcare.
We all know the majority of movement occurs at the end
of the year; families are 10 times more likely to leave
their child care centre at the end of the year if they
are unhappy compared to the middle of the year. It is
also likely that families who are unhappy will ring
Centres through out the year to compare prices and
services, imagine if you kept in constant contact with
these families, who do you think they will contact
first; a Centre that they have previously enquired about
and had no further contact with or a Centre that
continually maintains contact with them via phone calls,
emails, newsletters and invites to the Centre. I know
where I would go first; the Centre that I already have a
relationship with…
Just imagine if you collected every single enquiry that
contacted you via phone or dropped in. Imagine sending
them a letter to invite them to enrol for 2010, you have
at least 200 leads from your enquiry book you wouldn’t
have had if you didn’t keep this information. I
guarantee you if you did this you will convert past
enquiries. A simple strategy that just makes sense…
Imagine if you continue to not keep an enquiry book;
that’s 200 new families you have to try even harder to
get in your doors to fill your vacancies from exiting
children in 2009. Not only is it hard work; it is
costing you more money in time and marketing your
Centre. Don’t be another typical Centre that leaves
everything to the last minute and ends up competing with
all the other Centres in your community whilst you all
scramble for enrolments in the same panic and in the
same way.
You work hard now, I want to make 2010 that little bit
easier for you with a few simple strategies to assist
you to have more time with more money with less stress.
We hope you enjoyed a few simple tips to maximise your
occupancy in 2010. For more information on Succeed
Consultancy and our 100% money back guarantee on all of
our services please contact us on:
P: 1300 077 248
We also encourage you read our first article; “Do you
pay thousands in advertising?” A great article about
marketing in your local community.
We often get a lot of emails on how our articles have
assisted many owner’s and Centres like yours, please
feel free to share your successes with us at
enquiries@succeedconsultancy.com.au
Proudly brought to you by industry expert; Erin Allen
from Succeed Consultancy.
Email:
enquiries@succeedconsultancy.com.au
www.succeedconsultancy.com.au
Phone: 1300 077 248
Fax: (02) 4233 1568
Historical Independent
Consultant Articles
Article Title Article Provider Date
Preparing your centre
for 2010
Expect a Star Sep 09
Negotiating finance: The smart way
Guild Financial Group Sep 09
Tax depreciation for the child
care centre owner BMT Tax Depreciation May 09
Utilising your local community to
market your centre Succeed Consultancy May 09
Equipping your new childcare
centre Judius Educational Resources Sep 08
Finding the right staff for your
team Expect a Star Sep 08
The benefits of using consultants
Maximise Childcare Consultants Aug 08
Doing it right for
the children
Childcare NSW Jul 08
Buying a childcare centre
Childcare Sales Australia Jul 08
The challenges of recruitment
Succeed Consultancy Jun 08
A peek into business
in the future
Care Central Solutions Apr 08
Are you surfing the CCMS net?
Care Central Solutions Mar 08
Building
a strong team Succeed Consultancy Mar
08
Are you new to
business? Here are some handy hints
business.gov.au Feb 08
Preparing for the
Child Care Management System
Succeed Consultancy Jan 08
The Childcare Industry - A Valuers
Opinion Egan National Valuers Jan 08
The Benefits of a Professional
Employment Strategy
Expect a Star Nov 07
CCB Acquittals: What
are they? Am I losing money?
Succeed Consultancy Oct 07
Traineeships
- the future of childcare
Expect a Star
Oct 07
CCB: The Importance of a strong
system
Succeed Consultancy Sep 07
Are you ready to expand your
business?
Maximise Consultancy
Sep 07
Take your
centre to the next level
Maximise Consultancy
Aug 07
In the lead
up to the first day
Maximise Consultancy
Aug 07
What to look
for when buying...
Maximise Consultancy
Jul 07
10 Marketing
Tips
Marketing Angels
Jul 07
Special
Audio Interview Pt 1
Maximise Consultancy
Oct 06
Special
Audio Interview Pt 2
Maximise Consultancy
Oct 06
Aged Care
Sales Launch
ACMA
Aug 06
Who's
Minding the Kids
National
Apr 06
