You and your team have a lot of parents to keep up with.
Sticky notes and enrollment binders can only go so far when you’re juggling different stages of the waitlist and registration processes for multiple families.
So, what can you do to improve the parent experience and effectively engage modern parents?
Today’s Registration Experience - Why it Isn't Working
The registration experience defines the journey a family takes after they raise their hand to enroll for care or join your waitlist. Unfortunately, the current process for parents is full of obstacles that can cause families to drop out of your enrollment pipeline and begin looking for other care options.
There are several key conversion points where parents can become disengaged with your center when filling out and returning paper forms, submitting pre-enrollment payments, or reviewing current parent handbooks and policies. And the current experience just isn't working for modern parents...
Millennial parents are your key demographic. Keep in mind that they grew up in the digital age and are used to having digital options for everything. From scheduling hair appointments, buying groceries, or even renting an apartment - today's parents prefer the convenience of self-service. Without digital options for registration and fee payments, you won’t be able to keep up with the needs and concerns of today’s modern parents. Here's how we know that to be true...
4 Registration Stages to Be Aware Of
1) The family is ready to enroll.
The parents are ready to enroll but first, they must fill out extensive childcare registration paperwork and provide required medical documents. This can take weeks and usually requires multiple trips to the center to pick up and drop off paperwork.
Do this instead:
Provide easier, faster ways for families to enroll. Offer digital forms in parents' preferred languages so families can complete forms anywhere, anytime while also speeding up the entire process.
Screenshot from FORM's online registration packet
2) The family hasn't filled out their forms yet.
Today's busy parents may receive your packet, start filling out the easy information first, then completely forget to go back and start tackling the rest of the forms. This can cause delays in families' start dates, leaving them with a poor impression of your center without you or your staff actually doing anything wrong.
Do this instead:
Today's parents are busy... but so are your staff. Automate reminders via email and text to families using a childcare CRM tool that makes follow-up a breeze for center staff and helps guide families through the journey to enrollment.
3) The family has to review and accept your family handbook policies.
Family handbooks, although essential for protecting your team and your business, can be tedious and cumbersome for families to review and acknowledge. Simply leaving your handbook in a binder at the front desk means that less than 25% of families will ever review your policies. Emailing your handbook to families is better but you still need them to acknowledge that they've reviewed the policies or you could be vulnerable to issues later on.
Do this instead:
Ensure every family reviews and acknowledges your center's policies by making the handbook part of your digital enrollment packet. Before parents can complete registration and e-sign, they must review your handbook. The e-signature ensures you're covered in the event of a parent violating one of your policies.
4) The family needs to pay fees.
After enrollment forms are complete, the parent needs to pay enrollment or waitlist fees. Parents have to drop off cash or a check at the center, creating a manual process for childcare staff who must deposit money at the bank.
Do this instead:
Today’s parents prefer online payment options. fIn fact, 48% of parents to children under the age of 12 have never written a check before... and many don’t carry cash. Let parents pay fees and tuition digitally, at their convenience via a parent engagement app.
Screenshot from PAY, online payments software
Digitize the Registration Experience for Greater Enrollment Success
With unified platform's online registration forms, Childcare providers can easily collect family information, emergency contact information, consent and agreements, medical information, and necessary state forms. Staff can then access completed enrollment packets as a PDF or run a report to view all completed enrollment packets.
Schedule a demo to see how a unified platform can improve your registration experience and increase parent satisfaction today.
