Enrollment Conference
By the time your prospective student is ready for an enrollment conference, most possible objections will have been handled during the trial course.
They should already know your class schedule, all the decision-makers have attended at least one lesson, and you know what their training goals are and how you can help them achieve them. If you used the post-intro questions from a recent lesson, then there’s not much left to do but complete paperwork.
During your enrollment conferences, do your best to make sure that all decision-makers are present. In the case of a child, if only one decision-maker has been present and you know that there is another, you may offer a third lesson so they can see the child in action. This is a judgment call.
Either way, if the enrollment is for a child, make sure they are not in the conference area as they can be a negative distraction.
Where to Have an Enrollment Conference
If you have an intro room or special area where the lessons are taught and can have a small round table with all your necessary paperwork in that same area, it will make for a more relaxed enrollment environment.
There’s nothing like the feeling of being herded off to an isolated office behind closed doors to make you feel like you’re about to “get sold.”
If an office is the only choice that allows enough privacy, then go for it, but make sure it’s well organized so you’re only in there for about five-to-ten minutes.
Running an Enrollment Conference
To kick off your enrollment conference, build rapport by chatting a bit about how the trial program went and then make a simple presentation.
Review the schedule and then ask them to confirm which two classes they’ll choose to attend regularly. (In an earlier lesson on attendance tracking we discussed the importance of getting your students to choose two primary classes.)
Next, go over your program benefits sheet and briefly explain the life skills that you teach. Build value in your presentation with concise but exciting descriptions of these benefits.
Depending on your school, you may choose to have a separate list for adult students and a separate list for the children.
Here’s an example of a basic benefits list:
Our students tell us that through their training they’ve:
- Increased their confidence by accomplishing goals they set
- Improved their self-discipline and stick-to-it-ness
- Become more patient with themselves and others
- Developed a “never-give-up attitude”
- Gotten into the best shape of their lives
- Learned to be more assertive, and to communicate tactfully
- Become more focused and better at following directions the first time
- Learned to be both a leader and a team player
- Improved their self-defense skills and are confident that they’d take
life-saving action in a personal emergency
If you haven’t already pinpointed what benefits they’re most interested in or feel you need to clarify them one more time, after you go down the benefits list, ask “Which benefits from this list interest you most?” Be sure to record it in their records and share it with the instructors. All the benefits that you claim your training instills should be evident in your classroom curriculum and drills on a regular basis.
Now you can go over the features of your program. Again here’s an example:
Your New Student Membership Program includes:
- Two 45-minute classes each week
- Monthly evaluations during class time
- Make-ups at no extra charge (with excused absence)
- One monthly 20-minute private lesson by appointment
- Our weekly Saturday morning fitness class
- Rank tests approx. every three months
Once you’ve read through these and briefly explained them, go right into presenting your tuition program. Turn your presentation sheet around to face them so they can read it while you explain.
Everyone starts in our school on a New Student Membership which is about 100 classes or a year of training.
To get started its $199.00 and then 99.00 a month for 11 months. If you’d like to save money, we have two other options:
You can save $100.00 with our second option by making a higher payment for less time, or save $258.00 if you’d like to make one payment. Which would you prefer?
New Student Membership
This course gives students 100 classes over 12 months of training.
Down Payment $199.00
$199.00 _________
Monthly Tuition $99.00 X 11 Months
$197.80 X 5 Months $1030.00 X 1 Month
Total $1288
$1188 (Save $100.00) Save $258.00
At this point, they’ll either choose a program, ask a question or voice an objection that you’ll need to address before you can move on and complete the enrollment paperwork.
If you’re not already using a planned enrollment presentation, by becoming more organized and concise, there’s no doubt you’ll enroll more students and grow your school.
Action Steps: What to do now
1. Evaluate where you’re holding your enrollment conferences. Is there anywhere else that would be better to host them?
2. If you’re using a desk for your conferences, is it possible to use a round table instead? If so, take action to make the change.
3. Evaluate your current enrollment conference. Is the format concise and easy-to-understand for the new student? Make updates that you think will improve it.
