Every school needs to keep up to date with enrolment enquiries, and the Enrolments team will have different ways of doing this. I’ve seen it all, from an excel spreadsheet tightly kept in a back office somewhere to a fully-fledged CRM working its magic. Whatever the school’s method, it’s important to have an enquiry database.
Why is an enquiry database important?
In today’s competitive school environment, Enrolment teams need to function as proactive sales teams that regularly connect with families and assist in the decision-making process. An enquiry database lets you reconnect with parents to give them College updates and invitations to Open Events and forward plans for year-level availability. Follow-up must be timely after that first enquiry, and because of this, I highly recommend systemising the process and having digital enrolment forms.
A case for going digital
As a school marketer, you’ll quickly discover that it’s a challenge to keep accurate records of enquiries made. If you are collecting paper copies of enquiry forms from various sources, such as the front reception and Enrolments team, it’s nearly impossible to accurately ensure everyone has completed the enquiry and then have that data input into a usable database.
The benefits of going online are numerous, including:
- No missing forms.
- Immediate data on how enquiries are going.
- Tracking of email opens and correspondence from the first enquiry onwards.
- Saved staff time, not having to type forms up.
- Saved printing costs.
You’ll quickly discover that the system you put in place needs to be quick and simple if parents are going to fill it out and your team will be able to complete it while on the go. I recommend only requesting essential data for the first enquiry.
What data should I be requesting?
Schools are often tempted to collect as much detail as possible from families so that they feel comfortable in answering their enquiry. I often see enquiry forms that are a page long asking about academic history and medical details. This puts people off, and you’ll have a lot of drops off at this point if that’s the case. The standard for most industries is to have no more than two fields, but I understand that this is not always possible. I’ve found a happy medium for schools and recommend asking for their full name, email, mobile number and year level/year of interest. This will provide you with base information that can always be padded out as the enquiry progresses.
OK, so are you on board with going digital? You may have the will to set it up, but you’re asking ‘how’? Don’t worry; it’s relatively pain-free to get started.
How can I set it up?
All you will need is email marketing software (I highly recommend, ActiveCampaign, see my training video here) with an easy setup custom form that will automatically add people to your enquiries list and email them a series of nurturing emails.
The key to success is having this form available to your whole team; some training time will need to be done to get the team on board. Your enquiry form should be accessible wherever an enquiry might occur, including having a form:
- On your website enquiries landing page for parents to submit their enquiry.
- At reception, on the desktop, the team can easily input inquiries into the form while they are on the phone with families.
- On a portable tablet for easy access at events or while the Enrolments team is out and about.
Once your enquiry form is set up and the team is on board, you’ll be free to throw away the bits of paper for good and enjoy the harvest of an automated enquiry process.
Questions regarding this article? Please email me at mara@robertsdigital.com.au
