What do you know about your target market of families? Everyone has a confirmation bias that clouds objectivity and the ability to genuinely listen. Cognitive bias isn't new, but it can be a huge barrier to your ability to innovate and grow enrollment in this emerging economy. 

(See Special Offer Enrollment Growth Plan PowerPack 2020 to advance your target market genius and admissions results)

Every school that is required to recruit students for enrollment is asking the same question right now:

"How will this disruption to our society and economy impact our enrollment?"

And the truth is, no one knows for sure!

But an Enrollment Growth Plan is a big advantage that will deepen your understanding of the families in your target market and help you adjust to the current realities with discipline and data.

Congratulations! You have the unique privilege of leading your school(s) through an unprecedented time in the history of the world.

Each day brings new data and information that heightens the level of concern. Meanwhile, you have to maintain engagement with your board, faculty, parents, students, donors, and community in order to sustain some level of mindshare and momentum. 

This week Tammy and I had the privilege of leading workshops in Nice, France, for admissions professionals from international schools across Europe, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East.

We learned about the challenges that are limiting their growth and shared strategies for building stronger engagement with faculty and families.

You may be interested in learning what they identified as their challenges to grow this year. 

Enrollment leadership and management provides the primary source of revenue for most schools, and yet it's too often the most misunderstood role.

Admissions is influenced by a multitude of key factors, yet so often board members and administrators oversimplify the issues when facing enrollment challenges. Blaming the enrollment office seldom produces real gains because most of the contributing causes can be found elsewhere in the school.

Certain decisions made during the summer can destroy a school's culture and potential for growth. Of course they are made with the best of intentions, but the damage can last for years.

How can you protect yourself from these disastrous risks? Let's explore a few of these decisions and some steps you can take to wisely grow over the summer.

Growing enrollment is as much science as it is art, and those administrators who develop and hone the Discipline of Engagement have a distinct advantage.

They don't just wish for it--they work for it by building deeper relationships, leveraging the strengths of their people, and making adjustments in response to new opportunities to grow.

The new SchoolGrowth.com was launched last month. Using an intentional storytelling and branding approach, we designed these pages to reflect who we are as a company and why we do what we do.  Our core values aren't just published on the site--they serve as the framework for every page. 

Our team used specific guidelines to shape the design, and you may find these helpful as you consider the next iteration of your website and/or marketing strategy.

As long as enrollment is the primary source of revenue for the school, the school board will be very interested in how to improve and grow it. When the board and the administration work as a cohesive team, growth is more likely to happen. So, how can board members appropriately contribute to the enrollment goals?

We've received such enthusiastic feedback from the webinar series: Maximize Summer Enrollment. 

- "It was easy to follow and clear. The on-boarding piece resonated with me as well as the importance of customer service." 

- "Loved the 'Energize the Base' tasks! putting that into motion now!" 

- "The ideas for Energizing Your Base were very practical, and I plan to begin implementing some of these as the school year comes to a close."