Calling parents for recruitment and enrollment purposes can seem like a daunting task. Questions may be flooding your brain, wondering how to make the most out of your call. Don’t worry, we have answers! Here are 6 Frequently Asked Questions you can use as a reference to start your outreach campaign.
Best and worst time to call leads?
Excellent question! Our research shows that the best times of day to call leads are between 8:00-10:00 AM and 4:00-5:00PM on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Why? We have found that parents are much more likely to answer their phones when they are just starting or finishing their workday. At this time they are more open and available to recommendations regarding their choice of school.
We recommend that you do not call parents during lunchtime (11:00AM-2:00PM), and the worst days are Mondays and Fridays. When was the last time you were glad to receive a call first thing Monday morning or last thing Friday night? Exactly.
How soon after getting my parent connection on Schola should I call?
The best results come when schools can reach out to parents within 10 minutes of them submitting a form! However, if you can reach out within the first 24 hours your chances for a successful enrollment are still high. After 24 hours, connections gradually lose interest. If you are unable to reach out to parents due to low bandwidth amongst your staff, no problem! We offer an auto-email responder to our premium users. Also, premium users, make sure to monitor your marketing dashboard as well to see recent parent searches and use your Request to Connects as soon as you see a parent that is a good fit for your school.
I called the parent and got no answer/went to voicemail. What now?
Think about all the spam phone calls you get in a day. Parents may ignore a call from an unknown number. If they do, always remember to leave a clear, professional voicemail that states your school name and remind them they connected with you on Schola. We recommend the school calls at least 6 times before moving on, but if possible, keep calling until you get a solid yes or no answer.
Also, all parents who connect to schools on Schola opt into text communications, so feel free to send them a text as well!
The parent has no idea who we are. How did they connect to us?
This is an issue that could happen. Parents will connect to a school to learn more but forget that they submitted a form. That’s why it is crucial to contact them as soon as possible. Occasionally (but rarely), a high school student might input their parent’s information because they’re interested in switching schools. Make sure they understand this is NOT a cold call.
What is the typical conversion rate on leads?
A healthy conversion rate should be at least 20% of the connections you receive. That means that for every 5 connections you receive on Schola, you should be able to fully enroll at least 1 student. That said, Schola connections are qualified leads, so you should be trying to enroll every single one!
Many of our parents only speak Spanish. How do I reach them?
This is definitely a tricky situation. In some schools we’ve worked with, over 90% of the population is Hispanic. In these markets, we stronglyrecommend having at least one bilingual employee in the front office. This makes all the difference when it comes to recruiting in the Latino market. Studies from Nielsen and Facebook have shown that even in bilingual Hispanics and English-dominant Hispanics, reaching out in Spanish increases engagement. This also signals to the parent that they’ll be able to communicate with the school seamlessly if they enroll their child there.