There are a number of consultants today who recommend conductive a “Parent Satisfaction Survey” to help your school gain some metrics about the most important things happening in your school, how satisfied those parents are, and what other elements need to be improved.<\/p>\n
But in the world of sales, there’s marketing, sales, and customer service – three elements that have a parallel at your school:<\/p>\n
Marketing is education.\u00a0 You’re reaching out to parents of prospective students in order to make a connection so they visit your school and see if it’s a “good” fit for their children.<\/p>\n
Enrollment is sales. Once you have them see your school, now the process of developing and deepening the relationship takes place until they make the decision to enroll their children.<\/p>\n
The one thing that many schools miss is Retention, since Retention is customer service.<\/p>\n
Think of your own experience.\u00a0 You may have a favorite restaurant – and then you may discover that it’s under new management, and prices increase, and your favorite menu items are no longer offered.\u00a0 Are you going back there?<\/p>\n
Or you’ve used a product for a number of years, and keep buying it when you run out.\u00a0 Then, when you replenish your supply, you find that something has changed.\u00a0 A recent example is paint.<\/p>\n
Remember when you used to go to a paint or hardware store and buy a gallon of paint?\u00a0 Today, the packaging is the same, but it doesn’t contain 128 ounces.\u00a0 It’s now anywhere from 116 to 128, depending upon the color, finish, and brand you buy.<\/p>\n
Bottom line – customers are usually satisfied – until they’re not.\u00a0 I have a relative who purchased a Jaguar because of their performance, comfort and reliability…until the engine blew with under 50,000 miles.\u00a0 Think they’re buying another Jaguar?<\/p>\n