How to Convert More Tours into Enrolments or Waitlist

Self-Service and Virtual Scheduling

The conversion process begins when families book a tour at your centre. Parents often only have about 5 minutes on their hands, so provide them with simple and fast scheduling options.

Allow families to schedule tours with ease by clicking a ‘Book a Tour’ button on your website and selecting their preferred tour date and time. When you use a virtual tour scheduler like ChildcareCRM’s Parent-Scheduled Tours, you’re able to establish your team’s availability in advance. It only takes a minute or two to build your custom tour schedule in ChildcareCRM with blocked off dates and times for holidays, important events, and more. Virtual scheduling removes the back-and-forth of sending emails or making phone calls to figure out a time that works for everyone.

Marketing Your Centre’s 'Book a Tour’ Webpage

Getting families to your “Book a Tour” webpage can be challenging. Use various platforms to promote your availability for appointments at your centre.

Social Media

When posting updates on Facebook or other social platforms, your calls to action (CTAs) should occasionally link to your ‘Book a Tour’ page. This creates an easy next step for families who engage with your posts. Providing a clear CTA in all of your posts increases the likelihood that parents move forward in your enrolment process.

Some examples of CTAs to generate tours include:

• ​Book a tour today!
• ​Schedule a tour.
• ​Come visit us.
• ​Visit our centre.

In-Person Events

If your centre hands out flyers at community locations, include a QR code that links to your ‘Book a Tour’ page. Parents can easily scan the QR code with their phone’s camera and be directed to that page. This is a fast, reliable, and cost-effective way to encourage families to book a tour, even on their days out. Use a QR code generator to create links for your print materials, such as business cards, flyers, posters, and mailers.

How to Prepare for Tours

Preparation for the Team

Tours can be difficult for some people, and they might find it hard to be confident and supportive during times of anxiety or stress. Inform your team members as quickly as possible about touring families who might come through the centre. Whether you inform educators each morning or on a weekly basis about potential tour appointments, this gives them time to prepare their rooms and leads to a better experience for everyone involved.

If educators are not prepared, this will decrease the chance of families enrolling at your centre. It can be obvious to families when there is a lack of communication and preparation for their arrival, which can indicate disorganization or uneasiness.

Team meetings are a great time to review expectations for every educator during a tour.

Topics for discussion should include:

• ​Ensuring children’s rooms are reasonably tidy at the start of each day and especially during designated tour times.
• ​Being attentive to the families, such as greeting them with a smile or wave.
• ​Educators being prepared to answer questions such as:
  • ​What kind of topics are children learning in this room?
  • ​How long have you been an educator?
  • ​My child loves [X interest or hobby], do you think you can accommodate their interests?
  • ​What do families love most about being in your room?
  • ​What measures do you enforce in your room to keep children safe and healthy?
• ​Allowing the touring families to engage with the other children and activities in the room.

Preparation for Centre Directors

To allow the best experience for yourself and the touring family, tours should be limited based on the centre’s routine. For example, hours from midday to 2pm may not be ideal if children are encouraged to have their rest time during this period. The centre won’t look its best, children’s routines might be disrupted, and families won’t be able to experience the whole centre.

Let parents know your tour availability dates and times on your ‘Book a Tour’ page. If a parent asks to schedule a tour during a timeframe that isn’t ideal, provide an alternative time so they can get the most out of the experience.

Example conversation:

Parent: “Hi there, would I be able to come in for a tour at 12 pm tomorrow?”

Educator: “Hi [Parent Name], we would love for you to come in for a tour. Unfortunately, we don’t have a tour opening for 12pm tomorrow. Would you like to come in at 11:30 am or 2:30 pm instead? At 11:30 am the children will be doing their meditation before nap and at 2:30 pm we will have sporting activities outside. You are more than welcome to come along and join during either time.”

Parent: “That sounds great! I’ll make time for 2:30 pm – please book me in.”

Educator: “Excellent! We will see you then – may I please have your name and phone number?”

Families' Touring Expectations

During tours, you may encounter different types of families, but they will all be looking for similar things, such as:

Safety and Health Measures

The safety of a centre is a parent’s number one priority. It needs to be evident that the centre has followed all guidelines and regulations to keep children safe. During the tour, point out specific items such as gate locks, pin code entry, sign-in sheets, or your COVID-19 regulations to show parents that you are following proper safety and health measures every day.

Educators

The educators in your centre will be the ones that care for and create a strong relationship with the parent(s) and child(ren). Parents will observe if the team of educators in their child’s room will support the family’s needs and the child’s development, foundational learning, and general care.

Enrolled Children

The child’s happiness is a key focus for many parents. It’s essential to showcase children’s engagement with centre activities during tours with prospective families. Aside from happiness and interest, children’s development and achievements are also important points for families. These milestones show that children are not just at your centre to play but also to learn and grow.

Curriculum and Programs

Childcare centres can often be misunderstood as “babysitting” or “playgroup” to some parents. However, childcare centres are important environments in a child’s early life and play a pivotal role in development.

A childcare centre can help set up foundational skills and capabilities that will influence a child’s entire life. Make sure this topic becomes a part of your tour. Present to families where their child will learn literacy and numeracy skills, experience sensory skills, further social skills, and more. These are all important milestones in a child’s life that parents should be aware of and celebrate.

Communication with Families

An effective and efficient line of communication is highly regarded with families. It builds trust, understanding, and a positive partnership during their time at your centre. In every interaction with parents, especially during a tour and early stages of enrolment, it is vital to offer correct and relevant information so that parents can enrol easily.

This desire for streamlined communication continues after a family has enrolled. During tours, highlight your engagement with enrolled families and the tools you use to keep parents informed about their child’s day-to-day at the centre.

Unique Differentiators to Set You Apart

Research your local area to understand what other centres offer. For example, maybe your competitor has upgraded their playground, changed their menu to organic, or added an enrichment program such as children’s yoga or music.

Gathering research on your competitors is essential to converting enquiring families. By knowing your competition and what they offer, you can set yourselves apart.

Differentiators can include minor modifications such as longer opening hours, lower educator turnover, unique play zones, in-depth programming, or multi-lingual educators. Any of these qualities can convince families that your centre is one of a kind.

Next Steps to Convert

At the end of a tour, follow up is critical.

Make sure you have all the parents’ contact information and ask what method of contact they prefer. This enables you to follow up with further information for the family in a format that you know they’ll read.

Your follow-up emails should include important dates, pricing, and links regarding how to enrol online. Ideally, you’re offering families convenient ways to register online through either desktop or mobile devices.

Follow-Up After a Cancellation or No-Show

By reaching out to learn why a tour appointment was missed, you and your team may begin to see trends or notice process errors that could be corrected to improve the number of kept appointments. Reach out with a quick survey via email to ask families why they couldn’t make it to your centre. This is also a great time to encourage them to reschedule another appointment.