Communication is a whole lot easier, as everything can be managed centrally

January is generally a busy month in all nurseries. You are likely to be helping new children to settle and reassuring new parents that their little ones are getting the best care and development with you.

But looking back on it – did you maximise opportunities to market your nursery to potential parents for 2021? Could you effectively manage enquiries? Did you have accurate information on hand to inform parents about availability?

During the strange year of 2020 – it was in many ways harder to communicate. The five minute chat at pick-up or potential parents just showing up for a ‘look around’ was not something that could happen. All businesses needed to find new ways to keep communicating and mainly they revolved around technology.

With a nursery management system, communication is a whole lot easier, as everything can be managed centrally and available at the click of a button. You know just how much information you have as a nursery; from invoices to attendance records. And what about enquiries – where do you keep them?  If they come via your website, do they go straight into a booking system, so that any viewing can happen at a convenient and safe time?

Rob Kilsby, owner of Tynemouth Nursery Group in the North East was initially looking for just that with his new website, he wanted online viewing booking enquiries to go straight into the diary, so that they could be effectively managed and made simpler. Rob came across Nursery in a Box software management system and discovered it could do a whole lot more.

Much more than effectively managing enquiries and making the process simpler, having a nursery management software solution in place will give your parents and potential parents reassurance through its ability to clearly communicate. This in itself is priceless for marketing as parents will tell other parents. They will share that their nursery provides clear invoicing, updates and availability.

During 2020, when times were nothing but clear, those nurseries with an effective management solution in place, would have most definitely been able to communicate quickly and clearly with parents and staff around the current situation with regards to anything from furlough to children’s bubbles. This would have given a level of much needed reassurance all round.

You can take advertisements out in the local papers or sponsor ads on Facebook, but if parents don’t get clear communication and meaningful information once they get in contact, you’ve potentially lost them at the first hurdle. Nursery in a Box enables you, through its occupancy tracker application, to see if a place will be available for the potential full three years that the parents may require. Nothing worse than having to tell them after a year that there is no availability in the next room. You can tell them up front.

Like it or not, technology was the main form of parent communication during 2020. For those nurseries with a management system in place, they were armed with the ability to give parents one place to see information with just a click on their smartphone. This in itself is a powerful marketing tool.

The times of a five minute chat at pick-up will come back, but if you have an effective management solution in the background it will make things a lot easier when it comes to sharing information with parents. You can then focus on what you do best caring for children and building relationships with families.

If you want a friendly chat about the possibilities that a nursery management solution can bring to your nursery, then call Dave Elebert. He’s been a nursery owner sat where you are and understands your challenges.