We have been sharing some of our best tips and tricks to help you in recruiting new students to grow your programs. This week's tip is to use the 2 option method. In your recruiting process, it can be easy to provide parents with every option. Let's take a look at a scenario.
In a hands-off approach to recruiting your new families and students, you can send them to a link to register and they see every class that you have available. This can be overwhelming to parents and with many people an obstacle is the perfect reason to avoid making a decision.
In a personalized recruiting strategy, a conversation is occuring with the family about what they like and what they need. That conversation identifies if the family wants a competition or recreational class, what night works best for their schedule and what type of class interests them (a combination class or a style specific class). For this example, we will assume that the family wants a recreational class on Monday evenings.
Your response can be, "Great! We have Monday night at 5:30 with Level 1 Baton or Monday at 6:15 Combination Baton & Dance class. Which one works best for you?"
This approach gives parents 2 options and reduces the chance of overwhelm and avoidance. Our conversations help us to give them an option that meets their need and then we can provide them with the link to register and they can feel confident that they've made a great choice with your program and class.
Try the 2 option with family members to develop your skills in this 2 option method. Here's a few ways to try:
Ask: Would you like to eat at McDonald's or Wendy's? Instead of: Where would you like to eat?
Ask: Do you want to go to the movie or park? Instead of: What do you want to do?
Ask: Do you want to practice right at 2:30 or 5:30? Instead of: Do you want to practice?
Let us know how you implement this skill in your recruitment strategy.