Q: I have a question in regards to registration and best practices.
This is the process we currently use-
Catalog is sent out and at that time we only accept registration by mail (no phone, no walk-in) On specific date (approx. 2 week after catalog has been sent out) we process all mail in registrations in random order.
Reasons and problems: Everyone in the entire district does not receive the catalog at the same time so this gives everyone an equal chance at registering- additionally this was easier for our registration department to handle vs. being swamped with phone calls. Additionally at one time we did have many classes with large waitlist- no longer the case. The catalog typically reaches everyone with 1-3 days-it is sent bulk mail so everyone in the district is supposed to get it, however people often complain that their mail carrier did not deliver one to their home- but the catalog is on our website and deliver to many pick up locations.
Approx. 1-2 weeks later we accept all phone calls and walk in registration starting on a specific date.
However, we are proposing to our registration department to do away with this whole process and allow students to register immediately upon receiving that catalog by mail, phone or walk-in. They are hesitant to move toward this direction in fear that they may be overwhelmed with phone calls and registrations. Can you please offer your advice on best practices in regard to this process?
A: The simple answer to your question is that LERN does not recommend making customers wait to enroll in classes. In the current economy, continuing education programs need all the income they can produce and that means bringing in all the customers that they can.
Here are a few strategies that programs have employed to bring in more income:
• Allow enrollments into classes as soon as the classes are fully developed. If someone calls or emails asking about a particular type of class and you are offering such a class in the next term, allow him or her to go ahead and register. It’s good, personalized customer service and that will generate an advocate for your program.
• You want to make sure your previous customers feel valued. One way to do that is to load your brochure onto your website as soon as it has finished being designed and then send your previous customers an email telling them that the brochure is available and offering them the chance to enroll first before it even arrives in mailboxes. (As a part of your LERN membership, you have access to the digital brochure tool if you want to use it to put your brochure online. Please contact debbie@lern.org if you are interested in doing this.)
• Waiting lists for classes are a good thing. They tell you for which classes you need to offer more sections and where there might be opportunity to develop additional programming. Within a couple days of the brochure going out, if a class has enough people on the waiting list to cover the production costs of the class, consider setting up another section of it for the current term. Even though it’s not in the catalog, if it’s that popular people will appreciate the opportunity to enroll immediately and without promotion expense, you will have a class that can contribute more of its income to your operating margin. Classes with waiting lists are also the ones for which you should consider raising the price to the next price break for the next term. It will allow you to bring in more income without additional expense.