Presented at the NYSAIS Admissions Directors Conference at the Mohonk Mountain House in April 2014 on strategies to turnaround a declining enrollment.

1. Strategies for Turning Around a Declining Enrollment
Rick Newberry, Ph.D.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

2. } During this workshop we will discuss
successful strategies to help your school
grow during these troubled times.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

4. Starbucks
The Family Portrait
Coaching
Blog
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

6. © 2013 Enrollment Catalyst

7. Enrollment Catalyst partners with schools to
provide coaching for school leaders in their
school’s enrollment management and marketing
systems, strategies, and solutions needed to
reach their goals.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

8. © 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

10. Some school observations
from travels and consulting
across the country
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

11. School Growth
Leadership
Quality
School
Experience
Vision
Faculty and
Staff
Parent
Satisfaction
Reputation
Location
Price
Competition
Enrollment &
Marketing
Plan
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

12. } Economic uncertainty
} Enrollment instability
} Parent entitlement, consumerism and disloyalty
} Strong demand for strong schools
} Increased competition
} Increased dependence on financial aid
} Increased focus on branding and marketing
} Desire for growth
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

13. } Limited resources
} Shotgun approach
} No written plan
} Shift from outbound to inbound marketing
strategies
} Interest in word of mouth marketing
} We don’t tell our story very well
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

14. We will discuss several
strategies for successfully
growing your school.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

15. 1. Leadership matters
2. Focus on parent satisfaction and a quality experience
3. Develop and communicate your brand
4. Set goals and analyze enrollment results
5. Devote resources to staff and the team
6. Launch a parent ambassadors program
7. Consistently follow-up with inquiries
8. Re-recruit your current families
9. Implement a word of mouth campaign
10. Focus your resources on your website
11. Generate leads through online marketing strategies
12. Tell your school’s story through social media
13. Aggressive use of financial aid

17. Bennis and Nanus believe that
“leadership is the pivotal force behind
successful organizations.”
– Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge

18. Enrollment rises or falls
on leadership.

19. } The vision and drive toward school
improvement—increasing the quality of the
educational experience—will be critical to
your ability to increase enrollment.
} The confidence of the parents in the
leadership of the school will have a
significant impact on retention and word of
mouth in the community.
© 2012 Enrollment Catalyst

20. } The practice of leadership—it’s what a leader
does.
} Five leadership practices of exemplary leaders:
1. Model the Way
2. Inspire a Shared Vision
3. Challenge the Process
4. Enable Others to Act
5. Encourage the Heart
– Kouzes and Posner, The Leadership Challenge

22. © 2012 Enrollment Catalyst
} Envision the future by imagining exciting and
ennobling possibilities.
◦ What is your vision? What is your picture of the
future?
◦ “Leaders have a desire to make something happen,
to change the way things are, to create something
that no one else has ever created before.”
(Kouzes and Posner, The Leadership Challenge)
} Enlist others in a common vision by appealing
to shared aspirations.
◦ Is your vision shared?

23. © 2012 Enrollment Catalyst
} The implementation of your vision will be
critical for creating enthusiastic support for
your school. It will also empower word-of-
mouth marketing.
} It’s been said that:
◦ “Vision without implementation is hallucination.”

25. } If you want to grow your school, you have to
focus on the quality of the educational
experience first.

26. } Focus Groups and surveys can help you
measure your parent satisfaction.

27. } Survey your parents annually by conducting
an overall parent satisfaction and perception
survey.
◦ Look for areas of dissatisfaction to improve the
quality of the school.
◦ Report findings from the survey back to parents.
◦ Best time to survey parents is October/November
and January/February/March.

29. } What is branding?
“From a business point of view, branding in
the marketplace is very similar to branding
on the ranch. A branding program should
be designed to differentiate your product
[school] from all the other cattle [schools]
on the range. Even if all the other cattle on
the range look pretty much alike.”
– Al and Laura Reis, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

30. © 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

31. © 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

32. “The brand on the outside is only
as strong as the brand on the inside.”
– Karl Speak, President, Beyond Marketing Thought
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

33. } Develop a compelling visual brand for your
school that includes the following:
◦ Logomark
◦ Typography
◦ Color palette
◦ Photography
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

34. } Consistent use of your school’s brand
elements:
◦ Logo
◦ Tagline
◦ Colors
◦ Message
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

35. } Most administrators haven’t considered this
question as a key part of their marketing
strategy. We need to begin asking the
question:
What do you want them to talk about?
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

37. } Determine/Define the optimal enrollment
your school.
} Develop annual incremental goals to reach
capacity:
◦ 2014
◦ 2015
◦ 2016
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

38. } Develop specific enrollment goals for the
following areas:
◦ Total Enrollment
◦ Retention
◦ Admissions
– Inquiries
– Campus Visits
– Applications
– Deposits
– New students
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

40. } Provides a snapshot overview of the
re-enrollment of current families and
enrollment of new families.

42. Inquiries
Campus Visits
Applications
Admits
Deposits
Enrollees
Prospects

44. } Devote personnel resources to your school’s
enrollment and marketing effort.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

45. } Direct administrative responsibilities for
admissions
◦ Director of Admissions/Enrollment
◦ Head of School/Principal
} Additional involvement in admissions
◦ Secretary/Receptionist
◦ Administration
◦ Faculty and Staff
◦ Parents
◦ Students

46. } Develop, implement and manage the
recruitment plan
} Strive to reach and exceed all of the goals
} Provide an outstanding campus visit experience
and follow-up for all inquiries and applicants
} Increase awareness of the school through feeder
schools, churches and other groups
} Encourage and facilitate the involvement of
parents in the recruitment strategy
} Report weekly on the progress toward
recruitment goals

47. } Quality/excellence in their job
} Tell your school’s story
} Turn negative moments into positive
moments
} Channel concerns to the administration
} Communication with parents
} Relationships with parents
} Create memorable moments
} Positive ambassadors for the school

49. } Recruit a team of parent ambassadors to
expand the reach of the enrollment office.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

50. } Passion for your school
} Credibility among their peers
} Connections at the school and in the
community
} Opportunity to be involved

51. } Open Houses
} Prospective Parent Contacts
} Feeder Schools
} Feeder Churches/Synagogues
} Neighborhood Meetings
} Businesses and Realtors
} Community Events
} Online (Facebook and Reviews)
} Internal Marketing

52. } New parents can be the best resources for
your school to reach out to their previous
school, church, neighborhood or other group.

53. } Provide a card in
your admissions
package that
includes the names,
child grade levels,
phone numbers and
email addresses of
your parent
ambassadors.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

54. } Feeder Schools – Act as a liaison and feeder
school ambassador to profile your school to
the director/principal and prospective
parents. Seek ways to share your school with
the school leadership and parents.
Feeder Schools

55. } Feeder Churches/Synagogues – Act as a
liaison and ambassador to profile your school
to the Pastor/Priest/Rabbi and prospective
parents. Seek ways to share your school with
the synagogue leadership and membership.
Feeder Churches/Synagogues

56. } Neighborhood Meetings – Host and/or recruit
parents to hold prospective parent meetings
in homes.
Neighborhood Meetings

57. } Businesses, Realtors and Other Groups – Seek
ways to profile and share your school at area
businesses, realtors and other groups.
Other Groups/Networks

58. } Community Events – Seek ways to profile your
school in local community events.
Community Events

59. } Online – Engage actively online in Facebook
posts and write reviews for your school on
key school directory sites including
GreatSchools.org, Google+ and other sites.
Online

60. } Internal Marketing – Provide positive word of
mouth internally with current parents to
encourage continuous enrollment at your
school.
Internal Marketing

61. } Admissions Packets
} Website
} Cards for Open Houses
} Facebook
} Video
} Your own experiences
Tools

63. } Some schools take the “Wait and See”
approach when an inquiring parent calls.
Rather than following up with key information
on the school, the admissions staff member
waits to see if they will contact the office.

64. } Implement a 30-day follow-up plan for
parent inquiries. This follow-up plan should
include mailings, calls and emails that
encourage the parent to apply/enroll at
your school.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

65. } Step 1 – Make initial contact with inquiry
} Step 2 – Send information packet on school
with personal letter (within 24 hours of
inquiry).
◦ Make sure the letter is personalized and well-
written to sell your school.

66. } Step 3 – Call one week later to discuss your
school and encourage the parent to take the
next step (seven days after inquiry date).
◦ Phone call should focus on the following:
– Make sure information was received in the mail.
– Encourage the family to visit.
– Use the time to better understand the parent’s needs
and sell the parent on your school.
– Send hand-written note immediately after call is made.

67. } Step 4 – Send postcard/infographic/brochure to
remind the parent of your school (15 days after
inquiry date).
} Step 5 – Personal contact from a current parent
(25 days after inquiry).
◦ Use a parent ambassador from a similar grade level to
contact the inquiry.
} Step 6 – Send mailing to focus on affording and
applying to your school (30 days after inquiry).
◦ This is the final letter in the regular inquiry sequence.
This letter should create some urgency to enrolling at
your school.

68. } What should you do with your inquiries after
your 30 day follow-up?
◦ Monthly contact with inquiries with key branded
messages that include testimonials, stories and
stats.
◦ Send your school’s email newsletter.
© 2010 Cherry+Company

70. } The strategy and process for recruiting your
current families to continue enrollment in
your school for the next year.
} Re-recruitment is the activity that leads to
retention.
© 2012 Enrollment Catalyst

71. } Parent Satisfaction
} Vision and leadership
} Retention statistics and reports
} Responsibility of re-recruitment
} Connections to community
} Customer service
} Identify at-risk students and families
} The re-enrollment process
} Focus on the transition grades
} Parent communication
} Internal marketing
} Parent feedback

72. } When your parents are very satisfied with
their experience at your school, they will be
your greatest asset to reaching your
community. Do everything you can to market
your school internally to your parents.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

73. } Be proactive in working with current families
to keep them enrolled at your school
◦ Grade all of your families on their likelihood to
return next year.
◦ Meet with all families personally that are “on the
fence” regarding their decision to re-enroll.
◦ Host small group coffees and events for parents.
◦ Implement “Next Year and Beyond” meetings for
families to understand the next level.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

74. } Launch an internal marketing campaign that
coincides with re-enrollment (January and
ongoing).
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

76. “This is the foundation of buzz: in order to get
people talking about your product or service,
you must provide a great experience.”
• Rosen, The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst
A Great School Will Create WOM

77. Strong
Retention
Strong
Parent
Satisfaction
Positive
Word of
Mouth

78. 1. Talkers—who will tell their friends about
you?
2. Topics—what will they talk about?
3. Tools—how can you help the message travel?
4. Taking Part—how should you join the
conversation?
5. Tracking—what are people saying about you?
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

80. 520
540
560
580
600
620
640
660
680
700
Enrollment
Re-enrollment for the 2014-15 school year
is the highest ever!

83. Sent to Parents by division and all Faculty

89. } Your school’s website should be the hub of
news, activity, information and stories about
your school.
} It is the most important marketing and
communication tool for today’s school.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

90. } Brand—It is important to convey a strong
brand for your school—including your logo,
colors, and tagline.
} Photos—Large, professional photos on the
home page will draw the visitor to your
school.
} Content—Dynamic content and a compelling
message is important to keep users returning
to your school’s website.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

91. 91

92. ©Association of Independent
School Admission Professionals
Annual Summer Institute 2013

93. 93

94. ©Association of Independent
School Admission Professionals
Annual Summer Institute 2013

95. 95

101. 1. Opportunity to share dynamic content on
your website.
2. Increase traffic to your website.
3. Provide significant search engine
optimization (SEO) value for your website.
4. Provide a platform to share content.
5. It’s fun!

102. © 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

111. } SEO – Search Engine Optimization
} PPC – Pay-Per-Click ads
} Social Media
} Online Directories and Local Listings
} Reviews
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

112. } SEO is the process of adjusting websites and
pages to gain higher placement in search
engine results.
◦ Where does your school come up on a web search?
} Organic versus Paid
◦ Organic – page titles and keywords in your website
◦ Google’s AdWords – pay-per-click advertising for
keywords.
© 2010 Cherry+Company

113. } Design your website with your audience in
mind—your prospective parents.
} Publish engaging and instructional content on
your site.
} Speak human—Use rich and relevant
keywords in a natural way.
} Make sure your school shows up in the local
search results on major search engines.
} Optimize your web pages with relevant,
keyword-focused page titles, meta
descriptions, H1 headlines and content.

116. } School administrators most often focus on
website design when launching a new site but
fail to focus on the most important elements
– SEO and content development.
} It is critical to focus on developing content
that is:
◦ Relevant
◦ Keyword-rich
◦ Dynamic
◦ Compelling

117. } Pay-Per-Click Ads
◦ Google AdWords
◦ Facebook Ads
} Online Reviews and Directory Sites
◦ GreatSchools.com
◦ PrivateSchoolReview.com
◦ Yelp.com
◦ Google+

120. } Programs
◦ Academics, Athletics, Arts, Service, Technology,
Faith, Character
} People
◦ Students, Parents, Leadership, Faculty, Staff,
Coaches, Alumni
} Results

121. } Tell the story of your school through
students, alumni, parents, faculty and staff:
◦ Motivate every faculty and staff member to share
one story to the leadership
◦ Focus on linking stories to the USP’s
◦ Develop video vignettes that can be posted on
your website, Vimeo/YouTube and Facebook
◦ Lead story in every issue of your email newsletter
◦ Stories on Facebook, website and blog
◦ Create positive buzz about your school
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

122. } Grads at other schools looking back on their
experience at your school
} Faculty expressing their unique passion for
teaching at your school.
} Students conveying what they like best about
your school.
} Students answering the question, “What
makes your school special to you?”
} Parent sharing why they chose your school
for their child and the difference this decision
has made.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

133. } Facebook can be used to connect to alumni,
parents and friends of your school and to tell
your school’s story.
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst

134. } When something happens in your classroom,
on the field, or on stage that is communicates
your school, you need to capture the
moment.
© 2010 Cherry+Company

137. Photos tell the
story at Miami
Country Day

143. ©Association of Independent
School Admission Professionals
Annual Summer Institute 2013

146. } With empty seats, the schools took an
aggressive approach to discounting tuition to
maximize enrollment.

148. 1. Leadership matters
2. Focus on parent satisfaction and a quality
experience
3. Develop and communicate your brand
4. Set goals and analyze enrollment results
5. Devote resources to staff and the team
6. Launch a parent ambassadors program
7. Consistently follow-up with inquiries
8. Re-recruit your current families
9. Implement a word of mouth campaign
10. Focus your resources on your website
11. Generate leads through online marketing strategies
12. Tell your school’s story through social media
13. Aggressive use of financial aid

149. For More Information:
Enrollment Catalyst
Rick Newberry, Ph.D.
9770 Indian Key Trail
Seminole, FL 33776
727.647.0378
Rick.Newberry@EnrollmentCatalyst.com
Blog: www.EnrollmentCatalyst.com/Blog
www.EnrollmentCatalyst.com
Facebook.com/EnrollmentCatalyst
@RickNewberry
© 2014 Enrollment Catalyst