If you’ve been a visitor to the SchoolAdvancement.com site over the past 18 years or so, you’ll recall that one of its key tenets is to correlate business practices to the world of education in addition to encouraging systems thinking to help solve the problems that linear thinking and process thinking have created.

As for the “business” aspect, I’m sure you’re very familiar with the arguments which coax administrators and board members to one side or the other when the question, “Is your school a business or a ministry,” is put on the table.

The problem with that question is the question itself.

Your school is not a business or a ministry.  In fact, it is a business, and a ministry…and a SCHOOL!  All three – in one.  Inseparable.

And, if your school is centered on Christian values, you should have absolute no problem with something being three in one.

The relation between business practices and the functions of education is demonstrated in this statement:

If Marketing is Education, then Enrollment is Sales.

Too many educational leaders think that an excellent and rigorous curriculum will bring students to the school.  Unfortunately, while it’s necessary, there are other elements that need to be “excellent.”

Those involved in assisting schools in their mission (like board members and volunteers) think that great marketing will increase enrollment in a school.  If enrollment doesn’t increase, then something’s wrong with the marketing tools, plan or methods.

That would make sense if marketing’s goal was indeed to increase enrollment – but it’s not.

Marketing’s goal is to increase inquiries to the school.  Converting those inquiries to students in the seats is the goal of effective enrollment processes.

Here’s the issue – if you’re looking for assistance in your school, you usually look for an expert.

If wiring needs to be done for your computer lab, your IT person may request the services of a parent who’s an electrician to help them pull wires through the walls. If financial analysis needs to be done, you may seek out an accountant to audit your school’s financial books.

But if you need someone to help with your enrollment process, who do you contact?

Many schools might seek out an admissions person at a college, but the university/college student is the one who’s ultimately responsible for making the decision to attend and paying the bill.  Is that what happens on the PK-12 level?  No.  The parents are the ones who make the decision with input from the student, and the parents are the ones who get the bill.  In PK-12, impress the parent, get the enrollment; in Higher Education, impress the student, get the enrollment.

Therefore, it may be beneficial to seek out a successful professional salesperson.

By salesperson, I don’t mean someone who’s at the local hardware store, or someone working in retail.

While these are important roles in today’s economy, even though they’re being replaced by scanners, computer screens and the AI that run them, those types of retail practices are known as “transactional” sales.

One of the reasons that businesses are moving in this direction is they can’t necessarily find people for these positions.

Why?

One reason could be that high school students, college students and young graduates who normally fill these positions have been told at their graduation experiences that they are, “The leaders of tomorrow.”

If that message rings true with you, please know that students today don’t think of “tomorrow” as 10 or 15 years into the future.

To them, tomorrow is quite literally, tomorrow.

College students have corporate internships that turn into job offers.  With work from home opportunities as well as learn from home opportunities, going to work in a retail store or restaurant isn’t in their realm of potential revenue sources on a professional career path.

They’re more apt to think of developing an app or opening an online business.  They might even take on rideshare and food delivery for some extra revenue.

They are so comfortable with technology that they’ve gone beyond “WFH” (work from home) to “WFA” (work from anywhere).

If they are expected to learn online, then they’re certainly able to work and earn money online.

The type of sales professional who can help you with your enrollment processes will usually be an insurance representative, a car sales professional, or a business-to-business sales executive.

What do these people know about educational theory, pedagogy, scaffolding and metacognition

Probably nothing…but neither does the electrician or accountant.

These people know that there is a process to follow for successful sales, and the great ones are cognizant of the systems thinking that must be considered to get all the constituents around the table to establish their position as a “trusted advisor” and not just a “vendor.”

Tenacity, product knowledge, competitive awareness, overcoming objections and supreme confidence are just five of the many qualities required of the successful salesperson, and these are qualities that someone at your school must have today when they’re dealing with parents who are looking at enrolling their children in your educational environment, and will be expected to pay four or five-figure sums for the privilege.

And teachers don’t usually have this expertise – although they do have marketing expertise!  Send an email to [email protected] if you’d like more details about that.  Put the words, “Marketing Is Education” in the subject line.  I’ll let you know the experience that a teacher has which qualifies them to create a marketing plan, and the realization that happened at a school meeting over a decade ago.

As with any system, there are five components that are necessary for enrollment success:

• The specified qualities mentioned above;
• A tool to track prospects and progress;
• A follow-up process;
• A way to determine goals; and
• Someone to coordinate (read, “own,”) the enrollment process.

The next three Enrollment articles will focus on these elements – one in September, one in October, and then the remaining three in November.  If you’d like to receive notification when these articles are published, then consider joining the SchoolAdvancement Group on Facebook to receive a link to each article the day after site publication.  These will help you develop the systems thinking (ST) necessary to fortify your faith-based school’s financial foundation!