You've spent hours marketing your center and building a waitlist.
Don’t let waitlisted families fall through the cracks. Managing your waitlist is just as important as building it - ensure all your families make it to their start date.
Keep families in your enrollment pipeline by improving your waitlist process. Here are 3 tips to help you grow and organize your childcare or daycare waiting list.
Don't have time to read? No worries - watch the summary recap on tips to increase daycare waiting list conversions!
Check out this free guide to get expert tips & tricks that help engage your childcare waitlist,
Best Practices: Increase Daycare Waiting List Conversions with Ease
1) Capture Everything You Can
Capturing family information goes beyond just the child's name and age. You should learn about families to build a personal connection with them. Start by collecting details about their past experiences in other pre-k programs. Ask questions like:
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Have you been enrolled at a center in the past?
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Have you toured other centers in this area?
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What did you like or not like about those?
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What learning goals do you have for your child?
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How did you find out about our center?
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Are you on a waiting list at any other centers?
Once your childcare workers establish a relationship - your center remains top of mind. Each family will likely enroll faster because you made the extra effort to get to know them. Easily build connections with your waitlisted families through consistent communication. Use marketing automation to send personalized emails and texts to families, with less work.
Learn more about how to grow and manage your waitlist in the video below.
2) Create Tasks to Easily Follow Up
Families will often request a start date that is months or even a year ahead. During this period, keep your daycare waiting list up to date. Regularly follow up with families to update their enrollment status. It's tough to play the waiting game. Maintain communication to ensure you don't lose them to the center across the street.
Plus, following up helps you prioritize families who want to start earlier. This will also allow you to remove families who may have decided not to enroll. In turn, you'll free up space on your waiting list and provide educators with a better classroom capacity estimate. Support your staff and give educators the information they need.
For more tips on how to communicate with your waitlist - listen to the podcast below.
3) Keep Your Daycare Waiting List Families in the Loop
You want your families to feel included.
Make them feel a part of your center and community. Invite parents to events, like:
- Open house
- Community breakfast
- Karaoke night
...and more. Get them excited about joining your center - even before their start date. Also, share relevant, age-appropriate information. For example, send 'Toddler Tips, 'How to Strengthen Cognitive Development through Play,' or 'Fostering Creativity at Home.'
That way, you show you're taking the time to establish a relationship with them. And - especially important for waitlisted families - sending consistent emails and texts ensures they don't feel forgotten. While families are on your child care waitlist, it's crucial they still feel involved. Let them get to know your educators better, so their children become familiar with your center - faster.
See below for examples of content you can share with families on your daycare waiting list.
Share Daycare Waiting List Content to Engage Families
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Family Success Stories and Testimonials: Get quotes or happy stories from families in your center using an online survey. Then, share the positive results with your waitlisted families. Also check sources like Google, Yelp, and Facebook for the positive feedback you’ve received in the past that you can share with your audience.
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Unique Programs and Classes. For example, explain the significance of your center’s multisensory toys, why your classrooms are arranged in a certain way (to promote positive interactions and teamwork, etc.), or highlight the programs you offer that other centers don’t (such as going outside and showing toddlers the basics of gardening). This helps set you apart from the competition and positions you as the number one place for their child to be.
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Captivating Video Content: Parents love getting a glimpse into what a day looks like at your center. Give a ‘day in the life’ tour – show off a classroom, explain where drop off and pick up happens, highlight age-appropriate food options for lunch, and even introduce them to some of your teachers or staff. Engage your child care waitlist with interactive content.
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Parenting and Daycare Waitlist Resources: Show your childcare business’s personality by sending an email roundup of helpful social media accounts or blogs with parenting tips for families to follow. Including a bit of a ‘why I like them’ will allow people to get to know you more.
Example content to nurture waitlisted families
For More Information - Download the Ultimate Waitlist Management Guide
Building and organizing your waitlist takes a lot of time. Implement these simple tips into your day-to-day routine to increase childcare waitlist conversions. Remember to collect important family information, build a task list, and consistently engage with families on your waitlist.
To learn more about how to manage and engage your childcare waitlist, check out this free guide.
