If you’re looking for a silver lining from 2020 we’ve got you covered.

For better or worse, the last 12 months taught us all a lot of lessons – some good, some not so great, some hard.

With 2021 already off to a far more positive start, we’re looking back to understand what lessons we can carry forward from 2020 to ensure we’re all operating as safely and as efficiently as possible.

Here our team lay out the 6 learnings from 2020 that deserve to continue into 2021.

They may just make all the difference to your occupancy, productivity and bottom line.

1. Clear and concise communication is essential

Thanks to 2020, no one can deny the power (and need) for open, honest and consistent communication between Educators and Families.

Over the last 12 months, old communication channels were utilised, and new communication channels such as SMS messaging, Facebook and Instagram were developed out of necessity to keep Families informed as COVID-19 shifted and changed the requirements for care. Now it’s time to use those channels to their maximum potential to create a loyal community.

Continued and consistent communication doesn’t have to be complex or complicated if you have a plan and the right assets to make it work for you and your team. Our Marketing Team can help you to develop clear and consistent communication plans and assets that your team can utilise to continue to keep your Families and wider community engaged, interested and informed.

Now, more than ever before quick and effective communication is critical to the success of every Centre.

2. Contingency plans are key for your childcare centre

No one saw COVID-19 coming and as a result, we did not have contingency plans in place for forced shutdowns, mass enrolment losses or complex health protocol initiations. For many Centre’s and Providers COVID-19 exposed just how unprepared we were, and many played a harsh game of catch up for most of the year.

In 2021, we’re a little older and wiser,  safe in the knowledge that we can handle anything – and that out of the box contingency plans are essential.  

Engage your team and brainstorm all the possibilities that could occur so that contingency plans can be developed. No matter how outlandish, plot out your response so that you can feel confident that you’ll always be prepared. Don’t forget to look at your rostering system and perhaps start to create Educator pods. Should an outbreak occur, a pod system will ensure that all Educators are not affected, and your Centre can continue to operate.

Over 2020, our Enrolments Team worked with a range of different providers and have literally seen it all. They can help to develop these contingency plans with your team to make sure you’re never caught out.

 

3. Know your metrics

As they say, data is king.

Dissecting your data will help you to understand who your customer is, what they value, what communication channels they use and what they respond to – allowing you to make smarter choices when it comes to your all-important marketing and advertising activities.

Our Marketing Team have laid out the four metric areas that you should be focusing on – you may be surprised at just how much data you already have at your fingertips,

• New Family acquisition – Looking at your current marketing spend, this compares how much you spend acquiring a new Family, to the lifetime financial value of that Family’s enrolment
• Enrolment funnel metrics – This measures the results of each step in your marketing process to track each step’s effectiveness in ultimately converting new leads to enrolments. Don’t have this data on hand? Get in touch with our Enrolments Team who can help to pull this together.
• Marketing return on investment (ROI) metrics – This tracks the success of every advertisement, promotion, or action you take to market your Centre. This will allow you to see which marketing activities are performing well and which are not so that you can focus your money where the ROI is highest
• Retention rate metrics – This tracks your customer retention rates and staff retention rates, which more often than not go hand in hand. In our experience, Educator turnover rates are the number one reason why Families may choose to leave your Centre 

Need a little help understanding these figures? Our Marketing Team is here to help.

4. Outsource all unnecessary work

We all know that running a successful childcare Centre brings with it a long list of required administration work. With so much going on day to day, and so much more to now keep an eye on, it’s time to outsource what can be done (often better and quicker) by others.

Outsourcing tasks such as submitting attendance, making changes to existing enrolments and sending weekly statements will free up your precious time and allow you to better focus on your Centre, Educators and most importantly the children in your care.

If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that we can’t do it all on our own. Extremely experienced, our Administration Team can help to lighten your daily workload and work in the background to support you and your team.

5. Expand your learning programs

As a result of the pandemic, many Educators had to accommodate in-person learning, home-learning, virtual learning and hybrid combinations to address each child’s particular situation.

Whilst born out of necessity at the time, these alternate learning opportunities actually opened up several new learning and enrolment options for Families and Centre’s alike. It’s time to ask yourself whether Families would utilise these alternative learning opportunities on a more long-term basis and how this could ultimately help to lift your occupancy.

There are opportunities here if you’re willing to think creatively.

6. Continue your childcare centre’s health protocols

Throughout 2020, Centre’s developed strict health protocols. Days began with a quick health screening, additional cleaning protocols were put in place and health and hygiene took centre-stage.

With COVID-19 vaccinations on the horizon, many Centres may be keen to drop these processes and protocols to take the pressure off their team. But why not continue these established protocols to ensure the safety of your Educators and Families?

You can even use your health protocols as marketing tools to sell your Centre. Not sure how to make this work? Just chat with our in-house Marketing Team.

It’s time for action. Safety First for your Childcare Centre.

Now is the time to work smarter not harder to get ahead of the competition and even expand your market share.

Enrolment Hub – Your Partner

Enrolment Hub offers a comprehensive range of services, including childcare administration, childcare management systems, childcare centre enrolment, childcare marketing management, childcare debt management, new child care centre support, childcare software management,childcare centre marketing resources, vacation care management, childcare enquiry, and childcare consultants

Director Scott Monaghan is always happy to chat about how our team can support you. Just give him a call on 02 8123 2300 or send him an email at scottm@enrolmenthub.com.

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