How to avoid communication problems with parents of your students
Hope you’re having a great day today. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and I’m thrilled to say that we’ve hired a replacement nanny…so we are finally able to get back to work (during the day, that is!). It’s been really crazy around here! Juggling 2 young kids, our businesses and sometimes even, gulp, SLEEP…has been interesting 🙂
In any case, I wanted to share something with you today…I just got off the phone with a school owner who sounded totally deflated and defeated. His student count is down and his morale and passion for his school appears to have taken a serious beating. Seems that he’s been having some issues with a few of the parents of his students. He told me that he feels like teaching the students is an absolute pleasure, however, dealing with the parents is driving him nuts. SOUND FAMILIAR?
After a couple of quick questions, the problem was pretty darn clear.
COMMUNICATION…
A lack of helpful, positive communication can have devastating repercussions (both in personal relationships as well as at your school).
Many school owners ONLY communicate with the parents of their students when THEY WANT MORE MONEY FROM THEM…Folks, this will devastate the relationship you’re trying to build with them…GUARANTEED!
We discussed creating a monthly communication campaign inclusive of 6 e-mails / blog posts (you could do more, however, this felt right) that was completely BENEFIT DRIVEN so that the parents are actually looking forward to receiving it. (Earth shattering idea, right?)
WARNING: Valuable Idea Below…proceed with reckless abandon!
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One of the first pieces of positive communication we strongly urge our Powerful Words Family Members to share with their clients (and their prospective clients) is the Monthly Parents Perch letter. The reason this is such a successful tool is that each and every month, it reminds parents about the promises that were made during the initial enrollment conference…and EXACTLY how those promises are being fulfilled. In addition, it also pre-frames the parents about the next 3 months worth of character concepts to be covered…an amazing student retention technique.
Parents need to be consistently RE-SOLD on the value and benefits that your program delivers to their family…or they’ll either forget about them or simply move to the next “thing” that their child wants to try. BIG MISTAKE to let that happen.
–>In case you haven’t seen the Parents Perch, Click Here to download a Free Copy <–
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As we head into the spring and summer months, this is even more important than ever. Please – make sure that you’ve got a complete, strategic, and benefit driven communication system in place to ensure that the bonds you’re building with your students and your community, are in fact, lifelong.
Wishing you the best in success and happiness!
Jason
Jason M. Silverman
CEO Powerful Words Character Development
(877) 769-3799