Imagine investing both significant time & money in a marketing campaign that generates 30 phone calls from 30 very interested prospective students!

Consider then how it would feel, after you or your key staff take those calls, to only have 3 or 4 callers actually come into your School for an intro lesson.

What a huge waste - not only of your initial investment - but you've just lost 26 prospective students who probably won't ever call again!

Consider the effect this could have on the long term growth, results and even the cashflow of your School.  Is your School suffering from slowly losing more students than you're gaining? Do you know a School investing significantly in marketing but not seeing the bottom line increase?  Have you seen that same School then decrease their marketing budget (which means less calls and even fewer intro lessons) rather than spending time developing their phone handling skills?

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The simple, undeniable fact is that your ability to effectively handle enquiries/info calls becomes the life blood of your School's growth and sustainability.  Without an excellent conversion rate between info call to intro lesson, your marketing can be extraordinarily effective and extraordinarily wasted at the same time.

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And just like students progressing to higher ranks must still practice their basics, so too must Schools of higher grosses.  This is the first place you need to examine as your School growth slows down! No matter what size your School currently is, you must be continually reviewing the basics of handling the Info Call and revitalising your enthusiasm for this essential component of your student recruitment process.

So what is a realistic benchmark?  You should be getting about 80% of your callers in for an introductory lesson.  Set this as a standard for your School and work towards it TODAY.  If your staff aren't up to scratch then train them now - give them scripts, training opportunities & guidance and explain how you'll be measuring their performance.  Role playing is a fantastic method for improving info call skills.  Practice a variety of commonly occuring scenarios.

Finally, remember that you don't get a second chance to make a first impression!  For many callers, this will be their first interaction with your School - ensure this encounter is warm, friendly and professional.

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KEY MUSTS FOR HANDLING INFO CALLS

* You must clearly understand that the phone call has but one objective: to get the prospective student into your School for an intro lesson.  Everything you say and do should be toward that end.  Do not explain your courses or curriculum structure, do not be justifying your prices, talking about tournaments, belt levels, exams or anything else.  Concentrate on getting the caller to come and see you.

* You ABSOLUTELY MUST USE A TELEPHONE SCRIPT.  As your School grows you need to systematize your most important processes - and this task should be the very first.  Especially because Zumu Clients already have a script written for them!  If you haven't received this, or would like to review your current info call script with a member of our great Zumu team, just call us on 1300 306 856.

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