“You’ve Got Mail”
From
The following pages, compiled by Michelle Wilson, Palm Bay, FL, contain tips and techniques that have been shared via email for the past two years (2002-2004). Many thanks to Michelle for this valuable tool! Many thanks, also, to all of you who contributed your ideas!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page 1
MARKETING
Pages 2 - 10
Enrollment Tips
Low Enrollment Schools
Church School Enrollment
Starting the Business
Growing the Business
Marketing For School-Paid
Fall Marketing
After-School Classes
Overcoming Objections
Direct Mailers
Teacher/Director Gifts
Christmas Gifts for Kids
Halloween Gifts
Space for Summer Classes
Chamber of Commerce
Competition with KinderDance
Tutor Time Fitness Fridays
SPECIAL PROGRAMS Pages 40-45
Birthday Parties
Mommy & Me Classes
Special Needs Classes
Girl Scouts
Renting Studios
Health Club Nurseries
ADMINISTRATION
Pages 10-19
Scheduling
Vacations/Missed Classes
Price Increases
Multiple Child/Family Discount
Pricing Multiple Classes Per Week
Renting YMCA Space
Payment Boxes
Accepting Credit Cards
Late Payments on Credit Cards
Coaches
Decision To Hire
Non-Compete Clauses for Coaches
Health Disclosures for School Paid
Shortening Classes to 30 Minutes
Workshops for Teachers/Parents
Worker’s Comp
Health Insurance
Liability Insurance-Certificate Holders
Reporting a Mean Teacher
Children’s World
CLASS IDEAS
Pages 19-40
Activities & Props
Bean Bags
Scarves
Streamers
Parachute
Exercise Bands
Hurdles
Obstacle Courses
Cartoon Routines
Junk Food Pete
Easter
Mother’s Day
Cool Downs
Yoga for Kids
Music
Christian Music
Summer Programs
School-Age Kids
PE Classes
2-Year Old Classes
Kids Dealing With Losing
Pregnant Coaches
Remembering Names
Behavior
Walking in Line to SNG
Birthdays Falling on SNG Class Day
Curriculum at New Schools
Page 1
MARKETING
ENROLLMENT TIPS
Here are a few thoughts you may have already but I wanted to encourage you to persevere. I do believe small towns may be a bit more challenging but not impossible.
1. Start with however small numbers you have from a demo and build with the guest enrollment system.
2. Make it real fun, write notes home...individually on their handouts with lots of positive feedback, even better, ask the directors if you can put up (permanently or temporarily on days you have class) a small white board. Jot a note on what you did with the class(es). Tell the parents of Stretch-n-Grow Stars how well their kids are doing and you will catch the eye of other parents. Make sure your brochures and business card holders are in a highly visible place, perhaps next to your little white board.
3. Personally get to know each teacher by name. Ask how they are each week. Ask their input on which kids might want to be a guest and encourage to them to watch for recommendations to the parent.Or, let them know you would like to give them a break with SNG and would like to get every child enrolled so they can take a break!Take in some treats if you have not already.
4. Take the Director to lunch and ask her suggestions on how to promote the program.Give her some information she can share with her staff on fitness in children and about SNG’s mission and an overview of the program. Directors are leaders and need to provide continuing ed. to their staff. Offer to do an in-service on the state of fitness in children and the mission of SNG.
5. I have found any type of marketing is about a 3 month cycle before you see the full effect. So keep marketing, marketing, marketing. Diversify your efforts so you don’t get too frustrated with any one client. Hugs and Happy Holidays to you all!
Linda Kubly in SLC, UT
In addition to regular demos and meet and greets, I have been very successful with meet and greets in the mornings! Closer to the classes starting, I send out a flyer letting parents know when SNG starts. I show up the morning of the actual class and pass out cereal bars as parents are dropping off their kids. I post a flyer and other SNG paraphernalia saying that SNG starts TODAY/NOW ENROLLING! This way, I give the parents that get busy and forget an opportunity to sign up. I have increased my enrollments by doing this. I know several other SNG affiliates (Beth Cannon & Margaret Powell) have had success with morning meet and greets.
Becky Darlington, South Dallas/HEB/Grapevine
I find Meet & Greets helpful, but not the ultimate answer to increasing enrollment (that’s the Guest Star program!). But about M&G’s – I finally learned from the all the wonderful affiliates out here that you must have something to make the parents want to come talk to you. Some kind of give away. Toys for the kids, games for the kids… If the kids come to you, the parents will have to follow. The best giveaway I’ve found is photos. I take photos of each kid individually at the end of the demo class (in front of a background I’ve made with lots of stars and our logo). Get them developed at a one-hour place and then bring the photos back that evening. Lay them all out somewhere – the parents will immediately start looking for a picture of their little darling. Sometimes I staple an enrollment form to the pictures. While the parents are looking at the pictures I start talking. Talk about the program, ask the kids how much fun they had. Also this gives you a record of which parents you didn’t get to talk to. Staple a “Sorry I missed you – don’t forget to sign up” note to the pictures you’re left with at the end and leave them with the director or a teacher.
The parents want to get home ASAP and will try to avoid anyone who’ll slow them down. You’ve got to make them want to stop. Oh – and I do them at new schools AND existing schools in the fall. I’ve heard great things about morning M&G’s but just can’t fit that in with my own family’s morning schedule. I’m satisfied with my afternoon plan.Lisa Berry, Akron-Canton, Ohio
If they were doing center paid during the summer, ask them to set up a parent paid program for the fall and do this from now on. Do center paid for the summer and parent paid for the fall. The money they spend during the summer will be refunded to them throughout the school year with you 10% of enrollment you’ll pay them. That way everyone can get used to doing SNG throughout the summer and sign up for the fall because they love it.
Bonnie Grant (former owner)
LOW ENROLLMENT SCHOOLS
One month I made a coupon and attached it to the registration form that I put in the cubby of the guest stars. It was a $5.00 off if you register during the month of ______. I asked that they attach the coupon to their child’s registration form. That was successful. I’ve also done a coupon for a free t-shirt just the same way. That was equally as successful. It will also help if you are able to attend the schools Spring Open Houses or Parent’s Information Night or something like that. Try adding some helium balloons to your poster and pictures this week to draw attention if the school will allow it. Reesa Duffin
I also had a difficult time increasing enrollment in my parent paid classes. I approached a local beauty salon and put together a promotion that I gave to the teachers and directors:
Enroll 2 new students and receive a manicure
Enroll 3 new students and receive a pedicure or haircut with style
Enroll an entire class and get a day at the spa (manicure, pedicure, haircut, massage)
This worked GREAT!! I now have three classes with 10 kids each! I was totally blown away at how quickly my enrollment doubled then tripled. I think it was about a month. The salon also provides little girl birthday parties and will offer stretch-n-grow at these events. I said something like “Before we make our faces beautiful, we need to make our bodies healthy”. Hope this helps, Deena George (SNG of NE Cleveland)
I get teachers involved by offering an initial incentive of $25 cash if their entire class signs up. At larger schools I offer it to the teacher that signs up the most students. I have a standing offer of a $25 dollar bonus if at any time during thesemester their entire class is enrolled. When I’m telling them about it I point out that, “wouldn’t it be nice if your whole class participated so I could just come to your room and do the whole class? Then no one would feel left out!” Then I ask them after the demo to write a note to the parents on the enrollment information letting the parents know how much they enjoy the class. I have three schools where I have 90-100% participation due mostly in part to the help of the teachers and the directors. The teachers really enjoy the semi break of me coming into their room to teach. Also, I don’t just do the entire class during the initial enrollment. Especially with the younger guys that need a lot of repetition, I may do their whole class a couple of weeks in a row. Then the parents really start hearing their child talk about it. It sounds like a lot of extra work, but if you already have several kids from that class it’s not much more to just do them all if the teacher is there to help you. Then in a few weeks I pick another class and do the same. That’s what I think really boosted the enrollment in my schools where the teachers weren’t really pushing it. The kids did it for me!Ruthi Elliott, Stretch-n-Grow of Denton
What I have done with my small numbered schools is offer specials to the parents. I send a handout to all parents in the facilitystating “sign your child up for the rest of March and get April for free” or “buy one month get one month free” or “$15.00 special for the first month of spring- April”. I used some ideas like these and increased my numbers at most schools. I also have one school with tons of title twenty kids and I offer SNG for $5.00 less than all of my other schools. So if it is a money situation for parents those kiddos can get involved too. Hope this helps!! Megan Majerus, SNG Omaha
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I stuck it out in schools like this for at least six months. A couple suggestions: Do another enrollment where you are at the school and can meet the parents again. If the school is low income, do it on a weekly cash basis. Put up a sign the night before that says SNG will be here tomorrow. Have a place where parents can pay $5.00 for their kids to do the class with sign up envelopes and then take the kids that day that have signed up and no others.
One affiliate went as far as to hand an envelope out the night before to each child. Make sure that, if you do this, your poster is on the door! Just a note: Sometimes when you take a lot of guest stars, the kids aren’t crying to go. They know that there’s a chance they will get to go. Maybe stop taking guests for a while and only take kids who are new to the school. I’ve had schools like this turn around. What you’ll find, the longer you do the biz, better schools come along and you can walk away from the ones that aren’t working. Roxanne Hll Hill
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If there is a child who always wants to come and the parents don’t sign them up I have written a personal note to the parent letting them know that the child always asks to come to class and I took them to be a guest once more but if they would like him to attend to please fill out an enrollment form. This has helped get a kid or two.
Michelle Fisher
I have the best luck when I have them get ½ off the first month when they sign up for the quarter.Teresa Brenke
There are those schools where you do have to cut your losses! I have some schools where I have to work it and others where the teachers sell the program for me. Teachers are your best form of communication to the parents. Give them at least 3 months. Do frequent cubby stuffs and get the teachers involved. The more the parents see, the more likely they are to enroll in the program. Sell, Sell, Sell. Take guest stars and have a teacher take photos of the class in action. Have the photos developed and send home with an enrollment form for the parents. I also have a digital that I use to make up flyers with several action shots and post on the class room doors or bulletin boards. All parents like to see their child participating.
Don't give up too early, but don't stick around if all your efforts are not boosting enrollments.
Becky Darlington, HEB/Grapevine Texas
I agree that with work you can build these schools up. But it is a lot of work and energy, and you MUST have the support and assistance of the teachers. I have one school that went from 2 to 15, but would not have happened without teachers talking it up with parents.
Regarding pictures - I bought a polaroid and use that bcz I felt a little funny having negatives of other people's kids. Plus, you must check with the director before taking pictures as some schools have policies on photos and some parents do not allow photos of their children taken (custody situations for example). I bought sticky back magnetic tape and put that on the back of the polaroid with a SNG sticker that read "Your SNG Star in Action!" with the date. I thought the parents might put it on their fridge as a magnet. Good luck! -Beth Lam
CHURCH SCHOOL ENROLLMENT
I have been in 4 schools for 3 years and soon to be 5 with exactly the same problem (all kids leave at noon – no guest stars). I have tried it all. I had no luck with inviting parents to watch a class. In Sept. enrollment always starts out slow but does build. It takes a lot of paperwork and incentives.
1. Try it for a month a ½ price.
2. Receive a free T-shirt and a free week
3. 2 weeks free to an already enrolled child if they get a friend to enroll.
4. $5 per kid for the teacher who gets kids signed up.
5. I have not done this but have considered handing out info and/or saving coupons when they are picking up the kids.
My best sales people have been the parents. Word of mouth is what has made my program grow through the years. I swear, I don’t know how these other programs make it without parental contact. One more thing, something newI just tried but don’t know if it is working yet. I sent out postcards offering a free class. They need to fill out the card (Child’s name, parent name and phone number) if they are interested and we will call them to set up a time for the free class. Just sent those out today. Good Luck! Let me know if you come up with anything. Michelle Flauto
STARTING THE BUSINESSParents don’t usually sign up right away. Once the classes are started, however, the guest star program really boosts enrollment. One thing I did that helped me the most to boost enrollment was to take pictures of the kids that were enrolled and stick them on big stars and hang them on the door to their classroom with a note: “Look who’s getting fit and having fun in Stretch-N-Grow”. Another thing is to get big stickers to put on their backs that say “I was a guest today at Stretch-N-Grow, ask me how I liked it”. This way, the note went home.
Three months is a good ramp up time. Don’t be too hard on yourself, though, every area is different. My biggest dilemma was getting into the schools. Businesses take a little while to get running but this was has a pretty quick turn time comparatively. If you want to, make up coupons to hand out to every child in the center offering three months for $60 with a free T-shirt or something like that. That will give you money right away. Be sure to run it only two weeks so you can get the enrollments and order the T-shirts and get them in and to the customer right away.
Start talking “school paid” to your schools in the spring for summer programs. Let them know you are interested in being on their calendar and that you have some fun activities planned for school age kiddos. Most schools start planning summer in February and you don’t want this earning opportunity to get away from you. Are you going to do cheerleading this summer? I recommend it!