In the early childhood world, we all know that word-of-mouth is the best marketing tool. But the question is, how do we get that ball rolling? One great way to encourage this is through a referral program. Word-of-mouth referrals remain the most important influencer for parents of young children. Parents trust recommendations from their family and friends, over any other type of advertising. For early childhood programs, developing and promoting your parent referral program is one way for your early childhood program to gain enrollment. A child care referral program is when you encourage your current families to share your program with their friends and family. When they share your program and someone signs up, you then reward them with a discount as a ‘thank you’. Now, how do you get started? When developing your referral program, you will want to think about a few things. First, the discount percentage you’d like to offer. To really get parents talking, you should make it worth their while. Offer a free week of tuition for the person who referred their friend and a $100.00 off of the first week's tuition or a free registration fee for the person that was referred. Next, you will want to think about how the families can apply for the referral program and how you will track the referrals. There is nothing worse than a parent who’s referred someone saying they didn’t get their referral credit. Using your website as a place where referring parents can submit their referral forms keeps you organized and provides a record of who referred who and when the referral occurred. Creating a referral form on your website saves paper, time and is an easy systematic way for parents to be able to make referrals without a lot of effort on their part. Lastly, think about whether or not you want to offer it per child or per family. Most schools offer the discount per family sign-up, however, it’s completely up to you! Let your Families Know Once you have developed your referral program, you’ll want to let your families know all about it. Notify families of the new referral program through all communication avenues: Parent communication app Mass email Mass text message Social media posts Website Banner/sign at the front desk Referral flyer Add to your brochure and enrollment forms A mix of these options works the best. Also, letting families know that you are a referral-based program on a tour is a great way to promote it as well. Families love hearing about ways they can save on tuition!

We are here to save you time! Our rule of thumb is that your IKS portal should be checked 2-3 times a day (in the Morning, during Nap Time and during Closing). It only takes an average of 10-15 minutes at each check-in, but, in turn, saves you hours in lead follow-up! We have created a daily user guide to help you navigate the system: feel free to check it out, print it and keep it as a handy enrollment tool!

"What if I was to tell you that a game of peek-a-boo could change the world?" asks seven-year-old Molly Wright, one of the youngest-ever TED speakers. Breaking down the research-backed ways parents and caregivers can support children's healthy brain development. Wright highlights the benefits of play on lifelong learning, behavior and well-being, sharing effective strategies to help all kids thrive by the age of five. She's joined onstage by one-year-old Ari and his dad, Amarjot, who help illustrate her big ideas about brain science. (This TED Talk was produced in collaboration with Minderoo Foundation as an educational tool for parents and caregivers around the world and is supported by UNICEF.)

Knowing who your competitors are, and what they are offering, can help you to make your school and marketing stand out. It will enable you to set your prices competitively and help you to respond to rival marketing campaigns with your own initiatives. Growing your business requires you to be constantly learning about it and making necessary adjustments. However, you can only grow and improve so much when you are learning in relation to yourself. You only know what you know. This is why it's important to get to know your competition. Knowing about your business in relation to the competition will broaden your knowledge about your target audience, so you can refine your business strategy. Staying up to date on current trends in curriculum offered, extracurricular services, how childcare is using technology etc. will help you stay competitive. Knowing about your competitors will help you stay current. You will be able to determine what parents are looking for and navigate challenges in your market. Here are five things to know about your competitors that will help your business in these areas. What Kind of Competitor Are They? Your competitors include any business that might deter a potential customer from choosing you, but this can take different forms. Direct Competitors Direct competitors are other childcare centers or businesses that offer the same things that you do. Indirect Competitors Indirect competitors are those who don’t offer the same service but meet the same need in an alternative way. These could include after-school safekey programs, tutoring services etc. Information about your indirect competitors will help you to find effective ways of getting in front of your target audience. Knowing what kinds of competitors you have, and why they are competitors, can help you to identify which marketing activities and messaging are the most effective for your business. Know your Competition Many childcare centers offer the same kind of services or cater to the same age group of children. That’s ok. There is room for everyone. If you have similar positioning to your competitors, pay attention to the details. If you both serve lunch, knowing that you offer lunch developed by a certified nutritionist whereas your competition does not, can give you a talking point. Knowing that the children in the competitors' program leave their classroom and go to a cafeteria can help you talk about the benefits of eating in their own classroom. Knowing how your competitors are operating within this context can help you develop talking and selling points for your program. Knowing more about your competition will give you a better understanding of their program and how yours compares. This will help you to compare and contrast those differences. Both schools offer an after-school program, but you offer the use of technology for your students to complete their homework online. The more you know about your competition, the more you can differentiate your program from the competition. Talk about what makes your school unique and different from the competition. What do you do better than your competition? What things do they do better? Being able to contrast the similarities is also important. You may want to create a comparison checklist, which will help your parents choose between two centers. Making it easier for customers to quickly compare businesses and understand how those differences apply to them will help them to make a decision about enrollment. Understand Your Competitors’ Pricing You should know about your competitors’ pricing for many reasons. The first is so that you can keep your pricing in line with what people in your target market are willing to pay. In addition, you might learn about new pricing models that are more appealing to customers. Knowing your competitors’ pricing isn’t always so that your pricing can match or beat theirs. The point is to understand where your pricing falls in relation to your competitors in the greater market. If your pricing is lower than theirs, this is an advantage. However, you may need to convince prospective buyers that the value of your product or service is as good as those with higher prices. On the other hand, if your pricing is higher than that of your competitors, you will need to be able to convey the added value that comes at this price. Even loyal customers may turn to a competitor if the price is low enough, so you need to give people a reason to pay more. Knowing about your competitors’ pricing will help you determine the pricing that is right for your business, and also to obtain and retain customers with those prices. What Are Your Competitors’ Strengths? Yes, you want to beat your competition, but ultimately you want to best serve your customers. Therefore you should know what your competitors' strengths are. What do their customers like about them? For some things that customers really like, you may want to offer those too, or something similar or better. You have your own offerings, but the addition of something else that customers really like may be enough to win them over. However, there may be some things that your competitors offer that you won’t be able to match or exceed. In this case, it won’t be worth your time or effort to try and win customers over in this area. Your business can’t meet every need, and that’s perfectly okay. Now you know where your time and energy will be best spent. What Are Your Competitors’ Weaknesses? In addition to knowing where your own business can improve, you should also know the weaknesses of your competitors. First, because many of your own strengths come naturally to you, so you don’t always realize you have them. Knowing your competitors’ weaknesses may help you identify your strengths. At other times, your competitors will have weaknesses that are strengths you know you have. Knowing the weaknesses that stick out to people can help you determine which strengths to highlight in your marketing and messaging. Sometimes, your competitors’ weaknesses will reveal an area of importance that you hadn’t thought of, which you can incorporate as a new strength into your business. Knowing the gaps in your industry created by your competitors provides opportunities for you to fill them. Yet in other cases, your competitors will have a weakness because of a significant or common problem in your industry, community, or target market. In this case, seeing how your competitors face those challenges can help you learn how to handle them better or know what to avoid. It is extremely important for you to know about the positioning, pricing, strengths, and weaknesses of your competitors. The insights you gather will help you to improve your marketing strategies and truly stand out to your target audience.

The safety culture at a childcare center can be described as administrators, teachers, parents and children working together to provide a safe environment for all. A safety culture is a group attitude that inspires individual action. It is the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behavior. In a strong safety culture, teachers take action and observe children’s behavior to prevent injury. Training Helps Prevent Injuries Where do you start when developing training and education? Start by identifying what hazards are currently in your environment. Slips, Trips And Falls The most common types of injuries are slips, trips and falls. Identify places or incidents where slips, trips and falls might happen. Determine Risk Of Injury Is it unlikely, likely or highly likely? If someone is mopping the floor, what is the risk of someone slipping on the floor? Control Systems Control systems either: Eliminate the hazard. Take it away completely so it is no longer a hazard. Reduce the exposure to the hazard. If it is not possible to fully eliminate the hazard, then exposure should be reduced to limit the risk as far as reasonably practicable. Change the working habits of employees. Train employees in new behaviors. Apply Control Systems To Mopping The Floor Eliminate the hazard completely by never mopping? This is not a practical or sanitary solution. Reduce the exposure to the hazard by only mopping when no one is around. This can be done in ECE environments but children's messes are unpredictable. Change the working habits of the employees, prompting them to take action by training and educating. For example, while mopping: Secure the area with wet floor signs. Teach children about a wet floor sign. What does this symbol mean? How does the behavior of the child need to change around a wet floor sign? Take action and verbally warn others that the floor is wet and to wait until it is dry before walking on it. Get Buy-In Get buy-in to continuously improve safety procedures. Communication and transparency are an important part of the safety culture. Share your safety concerns and procedures so that they become a natural part of behavior. A path to continuous improvement involves developing a safety culture, getting everyone’s buy-in, and taking action to prevent injury.

One of the biggest issues owners and managers face is lead generation - actually getting parents to inquire at your service. While some companies may have big marketing budgets and paid staff to manage ad campaigns, the truth is that most centers don’t have this luxury! So how can you generate leads organically, or with a small budget? Add your business to Google My Business. It’s free and it’s a great way to get your business noticed on Google when people search for childcare in your area. Keep your Facebook Business Page up-to-date and make sure all your contact info is correct (phone number, website, address). Remember that many parents will search your service and Facebook may be their first point of contact. So it’s important to have a cover photo, profile picture, all the contact info, and relevant posts. Consistently post on social media. Choose a platform and post consistently. Post to both Facebook and Instagram simultaneously using the latest integration. When parents check out your social media, it’s important for them to see that you have been active. Share photos of your center, your play equipment, and fun activities with the children. Post in local groups and become an active part of the community. Participating in community events and posting in local social media groups can help your center be noticed! The more people see your face and your brand, the more likely they will be to think of you first when it comes to early education for their children! Once you have inquiries coming in, it’s really important that you know what to do with them. What is the best way to help a lead become an enrolled family? Ask questions and take the time to listen. Parents are usually happy to share their criteria and concerns if you ask the right questions. Get them to book a tour as soon as possible. Make it easy for families to book a tour on your website, or ask them on the first phone call to come in for a tour. When a face-to-face tour is not possible, help them book a virtual tour. Parents need to see your center to get a feel for what makes you different and they are more likely to make a decision on the spot based on their impressions from the tour. Communicate. Keep the lines of communication open and allow parents to communicate with you using a channel that best suits them: phone, SMS, email and FB Messenger are the most effective. Automate emails and text messages when you can to save time. Follow-up. Have a detailed follow-up process and encourage your staff to play an active role in communicating with families. Picking up the phone is an effective way to build relationships and trust with potential families. Of course, having a Lead Management Tool (such as IntelliKid Systems!) can help with capturing all of your inquiries to ensure that no lead is left behind and that staff follows up properly. Having more inquiries leads to more enrolled families when you have all of the tools in place!

In the beginning of 2021, enrollment and recovering from the pandemic’s effects were the biggest issues in childcare. As the year progressed, the staffing shortage became the overwhelming issue in 2021. The biggest surprise was how the staffing shortage would affect hiring and enrollment. Without teachers, many schools had to either turn children away or have directors and managers work in the classrooms. The “Catch-2022” regarding staffing today is finding the time to hire quality staff when you are struggling to keep classrooms open and, perhaps even, are in the classrooms yourselves? The answer lies in finding ways to do things easier and faster while creating a better experience for the people involved. How can you simplify your applicant process? Are there any steps that you can eliminate in the process? What would make it easier for the applicant? What would make it easier for you? Evaluate your current process to find ways to simplify and make the process more efficient. Embrace Technologies. We, of course, have been talking about embracing technologies in childcare for some time now. How can you make it easier for an applicant to find you? What technologies do you need? What technologies are you currently using? How can you do things easier and faster while creating a better experience for the candidate and yourself? If you’ve been putting off doing virtual interviews, would doing them make it an easier, more efficient process for you or the candidate? Make sure you have a Careers page on your website. Use social media and embrace technologies. Use automation to save time. Do you have automatic replies set up to go out immediately after an applicant contacts you? What automation is sent out to continue engaging the applicant? And how are you notified when an applicant contacts you? Getting back to someone at least within 24 hours increases your likelihood of hiring the applicant. And in this case, the sooner the better. You want to be one of the first to respond back to applicants. What are applicants looking for in employment? Flexibility in days and hours worked. What can you do to provide more flexibility for the applicant? Is there any part of the job that can be done remotely? Would that make things easier and more efficient? Would that appeal to more applicants in your area if you advertised a flexible working environment? Diversity is also important. Diversity, inclusion and belonging should be core values of your organization and can impact your ability to attract and retain an entire generation of talent. What can you do to improve diversity within your staff? Communication through SMS is the preferred method for most applicants. The ability to communicate quickly and effectively increases your ability to hire an applicant. Once an applicant is hired, you must have a clear onboarding process. It all starts with onboarding. So think about technology here again. How can I make it easier and more efficient for the newly hired employee and myself? Can you do virtual onboarding? If not, how can you have employment documentation filled out electronically? Your Mentor program is an important part of your onboarding process. Make sure your team reaches out to new employees to make them feel welcome. Starting on a positive note will keep your new employee’s expectations and work habits at their highest. In-person communication from the mentor to the newly hired employee is about: “How can I help you? Just checking in on you. Are you ok? Is there anything I can do for you right now?” And most importantly: Don't rush the onboarding process. Make sure the new employee feels they are ready to go into a classroom or take on the responsibilities before you throw them into the job too soon. Continuous Training is so important to retaining your employees. Provide continuous feedback, mentorship, and training. Employees want to know where they stand. What are they doing well in? What can they improve upon? Help them polish their skills with continuous training. Be sure to communicate clear expectations with consistent communication and constructive feedback and praise. Organizational culture is one of the most talked-about topics among new employees. And constantly improving upon organizational culture can do wonders for maintaining work satisfaction. Find out what values your team members share. How do these values match with your organization’s short-term and long-term goals? Organizational culture should be visible and practiced in your everyday life, on your social media, and even in stressful situations. Communicate roles in the context of a team while establishing workplace values. Evaluate your culture for improvements. A culture is formed by the people involved in it and how they interact with each other. Building respect for shared ideas and improvements helps employees know that they are valued and they can make a difference. Ask the employee: “How was your onboarding and training process? What would make it easier and more efficient? What would you change? What went well?” Feeling happy at work matters. Celebrate successes. Everyone likes to be told they are doing something right. Celebrate the small success. Find creative ways to acknowledge and celebrate the things that have gone well and the things that you want to have repeated. Develop a formal time to reward, such as at a staff meeting, but don't forget about motivating everyday by being thankful for a job well done.

People are quitting their jobs in record numbers. Since April 2021, 15 million people have left their jobs. Experts are forecasting that the quit rate will continue or accelerate in 2022. The Great Resignation is not a pay problem. It takes a 20% pay increase to move an engaged employee from one organization to another. An employee who is not feeling engaged with their work will move for little or no pay increase. So how do we start to solve this problem? Creating a culture of promotion is a critical retention strategy. You may be asking yourself: "Not everyone wants a promotion, and even when you do ask teachers to level up or become the director, they have a flat out NO." Here's why: No one wants more responsibility! No one wants more jobs, or more tasks, or more decisions to make. Do you? Even for more money - would you accept more responsibility than what is currently on your plate? We are fighting for survival and anything "extra” may be the thing that breaks us. (If we don't already feel at the breaking point). You have gold sitting right in front of you. That gold is your current team. Why do most school leaders miss out on the opportunities that their team can contribute and bring forward? They keep telling themselves the same lies: “One day when it gets quiet, I’ll figure this all out.” “Real soon, when this happens…. I’ll make time to do this.” However, it’s always a busy time, so you need to intentionally make time for this. How you present the project and work to your team really matters! Many people are ready to level up, but are waiting for the invitation. Many people know they can contribute, but they are terrified of failing. Many people know they have more to give, but their self-esteem and their confidence needs some coaching. Building a culture of promotion and a career lattice is about creating opportunities for everyone on the team to bring their best foot forward and contribute. There isn’t only one way to grow. You can create growth horizontally, vertically and diagonally. People stay in a workplace where they are contributing and feel connected to the mission and vision. Not every promotion is about growth: Some people are looking for a reinvention. Some people are seeking better lifestyles due to season of life changes. Some people are seeking growth and are ready to do the work and time it takes to get there! This type of culture is intentionally designed and refined. Here are some questions you can reflect on as you start this journey: Who are my staff, both teachers and admin, that have been with me for 6 months or more? What are the short and long term goals of the business in each department? Have I met with each team member 1-1 and asked them what their personal goals and dreams are, what their talents and skills are, what they are passionate about? If you know this about your team, then you can sit down and start matching, eg. what this teacher loves to do aligns with this goal we have for the company. This is a starting point. It starts to get your mind focused on where you want to go instead of staying stuck in a never-ending loop of survival. So what is your next step, if you want to go deeper and really build this career lattice with opportunities and learn the skills and scripts to actually have these conversations with your team? And HOW do you learn to coach and guide them to level up? Then I’d love to invite you to join me and other school leaders at the Summit of Excellence in Florida on March 1-2. This is a premium experience for 100 owners and directors who want to learn the skills and create their strategy to build a culture of contribution, promotion and kindness. This is NOT a place for quick tips, ideas and hacks. Those are for free on Google. This is for school leaders who believe that the power of transformation comes from being in the room with the right people. For leaders who understand that learning new strategies and skills like Conflict resolution Retention Boundaries Discernment Emotional regulation And much more These are the foundations for what you, your team and your staff need to succeed in this era. Join Chanie Wilschanski for the Summit of Excellence in Florida on March 1st and 2nd, 2022. This is an event for leaders who want a break from the day-to-day grind and want someone else to take care of them. Pour into their mind and soul and walk away rejuvenated and inspired. If you are interested in finding out more, then email: cw@chanie.me OR If you would like to reserve your spot and learn more, along with all the details, click here: www.schoolsofexcellence.com/summit.

In today’s world, it’s just a fact - you HAVE to be on social media to run a successful early learning service. It’s where your parents are hanging out, it’s where your staff (and potential staff) are spending time, and it’s important for you to have a strong presence to show parents what makes your center different (and better!) than the competition in your area. Here are 4 simple steps you can implement today to start showing up in more parents’ news feeds: Make sure your Facebook Business Page has updated contact information. The “About” Section is particularly important, as this is where parents will look for your contact information. Make sure your email address, phone number, location address, and website are up-to-date. This will help you show up in more searches when parents search for childcare near them. The more complete your information is, the higher the chances are that you will be found and searchable! Use recent photos of your center, including your facilities and your friendly staff. Be sure that you have a Facebook cover photo as well as a profile picture- your logo or branding will look great here! Your Facebook page is the first point of contact for many families, so you want it looking nice and full of life, with beautiful photos. If you are using photos of staff, children, or families, ensure that you have their permission to post on social media. Post regularly on your Facebook page. 2-3 times per week is enough to keep active on your page. Showcase fun activities, new equipment, or share a fun parenting tip. The more engagement you get on your page, the more it will show up in parents’ (and potential parents’) Facebook news feeds! Get more likes!! Invite your families to like your Facebook page to help them keep up with what’s happening in your center. Invite friends and family to like your page, and share your Facebook page to local community Facebook groups! Have links to your social media on your website and email signatures. The more likes and engagement, the better for your exposure. It’s easy to implement these Facebook marketing tips and it will help you to enroll more families and bring more awareness for your business!

A family contacts your center. They tour, they love it, and they sign up. Don’t you wish that it was that easy all the time? While some parents are ready to enroll now, others may need a little more convincing before ultimately making their decision. Reasons behind parents' decisions can vary when choosing care for their children, but there is one thing that will help you stand out and build trust quickly: FOLLOW UP Here are 3 ways to simplify follow-up within your early learning service: Use marketing automation. To save time, use a software platform that automatically sends follow-up emails and text messages. (IntelliKid Systems is great for this!) Emails and texts should be personalized to fit each family’s needs through every step of the enrollment journey. By using automation, it saves you and your staff time in taking these steps manually. Pick up the phone. While emails, texts, and social media are helpful in connecting with parents, a phone call is a personal touch point that opens the door for conversation, resolving concerns, and sharing information about the benefits of your center. Schedule reminders. We are all human and there is no way we can remember every person that needs to be followed up with, so schedule follow-up reminders in your calendar (Google, Outlook). You can, also, use a tool that sends reminders automatically when a family needs to be followed up with. The better your follow-up process, the more families will fill your center!

These days, many parents are looking for more than the convenience of the nearest childcare service or the one with the lowest price. Parents are informed about their childcare choices and are able to get immediate answers to parenting questions or information about childcare centers, through the internet. The curriculum, activities and philosophies of what their child will be learning in childcare are important to them. But for many parents nowadays, their main priority is teaching their child to be a better human being rather than just a smarter human. They are looking for programs that emphasize diversity and inclusion, kindness and compassion. They are looking for childcare centers that emphasize character development and how to get along with others. For today's parents It's more than just social interaction. They tend to have closer relationships to their children than their parents had with them and they prioritize developing lifelong friendships for their children. At the same time they are also looking for services that have something special to offer that will enhance their child's life. Dance programs, yoga, music or soccer that highlight skills that will help their child develop confidence while energizing their minds and bodies. Social events where children can observe others, listen, explore, talk and ask questions while having fun are important to parents for their children. For good reason, children’s health has become a top priority for parents, especially during the pandemic. Parents are looking for a center which will foster a healthy body and mind through a mix of exercise, play-based learning, and healthy nutritional options. This is why there is a big push towards “organic”, “outdoor preschools” and “creative movement” within early childhood education. Competition is greater than ever before. Childcare organizations need to find a way to make themselves stand out from the competition by thinking about what the parents in their community are looking for and how they can meet those needs. Ask yourself, “What are the parents in this community looking for?” Then ask yourself, “What is my competition not offering that parents in the community want?”. Overcoming the competition comes down to understanding what's important to today's parents and finding ways your childcare can meet those needs. #standout #childcare

Developing a sense of community and a place where parents and children feel that they are a part of something is an important way for childcare centers to increase enrollment. If you can get people talking about your center, then you will have people actively seeking you out and enrolling. One way to do that is to host In-House events. These events can be big events involving the whole school or small events involving just a class or group. Events must be fun or exciting for the participant. They should get them talking. “We had such a great time. We had so much fun painting a butterfly!” Consider where you want to host the event: in a common area, a classroom, or the lobby? Consider how to make both the child and parent feel comfortable. You want the child to be having fun and the parent to feel comfortable to join in, play or talk with other parents. How can you facilitate that? Consider when the event will be. When are the most people available to attend? When is a convenient time? Events must be doable and easy for the presenter. If the event is so difficult to put together, you will never repeat it. The simpler and easier, the better. Some events to try: 1. Host a curriculum night at your school. Have an activity set up that parents and children can do together at pick-up time. You could focus on different domains of the curriculum. Art Set up an easel for parents and children to paint Have playdough set up Do 3D pipe cleaner art Make a seasonal object. Pumpkin, flower etc. Collage with leftover materials Science What happens when you mix vinegar and baking soda? Mix cornstarch and water. Math Counting Sorting Graphing Literacy Set up a reading library that can be used by students during the day and parents at pick-up time. Set up a sight word section. Have children pick out sight words. Blocks Have the unit blocks set out for the parents with a basic explanation of the blocks in mathematical terms. Unit, ½, ¼ rectangle. Dramatic Play Set out dramatic play materials. Parents will take photos of themselves and their children wearing the clothes and post on their Facebook or Instagram accounts. Music Set out musical instruments. Have children make loud, soft, slow, fast sounds. Manipulatives Set out some of the manipulatives and have children and parents create. Who can make the biggest, longest etc. Sand And Water Let children explore with the sand and water table. Be sure to include materials that pour, scoop, mix, sift etc. 2. Host a lunch or picnic for families to attend. Invite parents to eat lunch with the children. Have a picnic outside. 3. Host a parenting class and provide childcare for the event. Your event was successful if you had people attend and they left having fun or learning something. You want parents talking, taking pictures and sharing them. Make it fun for children and parents, show your school spirit and parents will want to be a part of your amazing school.