How do private schools get more enrolments?

Private schools get more enrolments by fixing what happens between a parent's first enquiry and the visit. Not by advertising more. Most schools with empty places already get enough interest. They lose it in the gap.

Where do schools lose families?

In four places, in this order.

The parent can't find a straight answer online and gives up. The parent enquires and waits three days for a reply. The parent visits and never hears from the school again. Or the parent is ready and the forms are a pain.

Each one is a leak. Advertising pours more parents into the top and they run out of the same holes.

How fast should a school reply to an enquiry?

The same day. Within the hour if you can.

A parent who enquires has usually enquired at three schools. The first one to reply properly, with a name and an offer of a visit, sets the standard the other two are judged against.

I learned this winning maintenance contracts, not in a school. Whoever answers first, and sounds like they know what they're doing, gets the work. Parents are no different from property managers on this. They read speed as care.

What should the reply say?

Not a brochure. A person.

Thank them by name. Answer the question they asked. Offer two times for a visit this week. Give a direct number.

That's it. The prospectus can go as an attachment. The reply itself should read like it came from someone who will remember them.

What makes the visit work?

The visit is where the decision is made, so treat it as the main event.

Know the child's name and age before they arrive. Let them meet the teacher they'd actually have. Show a normal classroom on a normal day, not a tidy empty one.

And ask the question most schools skip: what matters most to you in choosing? Then show them that.

What happens after the visit?

At most schools, nothing. That's the biggest leak of all.

Send a message the next day. Thank them, answer anything that came up, and say clearly what the next step is and by when. If you hear nothing in a week, ring.

It's one call. It is the difference between a family who was impressed and a family who enrolled.

How do current parents help?

They are your best marketing and almost no school asks them.

Ask happy parents for a Google review, by name, with a direct link. Tell them when you have places in a year group, because they know other parents. A recommendation from a mother at the gate beats any advert you can buy.

When should a school pay for advertising?

When the four leaks are closed. Then every pound brings in a family who gets a fast reply, a proper visit and a follow-up.

Before that, you're paying for enquiries you'll lose.

What should you do this week?

1. 01Send your own school an enquiry from a private email. Time the reply and read it as a parent would.
2. 02Check your website on a phone. Can you find fees or admissions, and book a visit, inside a minute?
3. 03Write the follow-up message for after a visit, once, and use it every time.
4. 04Ask ten parents for a review.

Most of this can run by itself with a simple system: the enquiry comes in, the reply goes out, the visit gets booked, the follow-up gets sent. That's what we build. The website side is in what a school website must have. If you want an honest look at where your school is losing families, tell me about it.