"It's on our website"

Why we hate the phrase “It’s on our website”
As we conduct more and more mystery shops this seems to be the answer we are hearing time and time again when we ask for specific information. The website now holds the answer to almost all questions you have as a prospective parent, however is that enough?

When you go to buy a luxury product, such as a car, you are given the key details that matter to you when you ask. They are all available in a brochure and additionally the person you speak to during the sales process will answer these questions directly, they won’t say “it’s all in the brochure”.  With schools it is a rather more complicated matter. Each and every parent is different, not to mention the wealth of information that is, indeed, “available on our website”. Registrars are busy enough and usually have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the school, however even the best Registrar cannot be expected to know the exact details of everything on the school website.

To illustrate the point I recently counted the number of pages on three schools we have mystery shopped last term. One  prep school had 81 different pages, the all through day school had 142 and the all through day and boarding school had 186.  I am sure there are schools with much larger sites, and it has to be said, in each of these cases, the information and layout of the website was excellent. It is not the web design that is a problem, it is the sheer volume of information that modern day parents want to know plus a testament to the sheer range of activity taking place in our independent schools that gives rise to such large websites.   

The breadth and depth of information on a school website is fantastic, and as a parent, I love the fact I can go on to the website and find out whatever it is I need to know about the school, whether it’s the bus routes, email for a teacher or term dates. To me, it is like referring to the instruction manual, which is great once you’ve made a purchase and are using something, however not that relevant before you buy it.  As a prospective parent it can be difficult to find what you want to know.

Every prospective parent has different needs – your google analytics will show you your most popular pages (term dates and fees usually) which helps to some extent with website structure – however beyond the obvious it is a minefield. Each prospective parent will be looking for something different – and where to find this can be tricky.  One of the tests we sometimes carry out for schools is to see how easily we can find certain information, modelling ourselves on a specific parent profile.

A good example would be:

Mother of two sporty boys living in X village. She wants to know:

• Where and when does the bus come to X village
• What are the main sports for boys 
• Who the fixtures are against 

Parents of a highly academic boy living in village Y want to know:

• Where and when does the bus come to Y village
• Are children in sets for lessons
• How many GCSEs can you take
• What provision is there for academic scholars

Before the internet, this information would have been hand picked by the Registrar or Heads PA and sent to them – personalised and specific for their needs. They would not have had to sift through information they weren’t interested in. They would have been sent information about what they wanted to know.

Whilst I’m not suggesting we revert back to this method I do think we can go beyond saying “It’s on the website”.  Parents are looking at buying a luxury product which is going to cost them thousands of pounds; it is also a highly emotional decision.  The more RELEVANT information you can give them, and the more that you can show you treat every child as an individual the more likely they will join your school.  

So, how do you solve this issue? A couple of  ideas:

• Follow up with an email asking if they have any further questions, acknowledging that whilst the information is no doubt on the website, you are more than happy to help them if they can’t find it
• Send links to specific web pages you think might be useful to them based on how the tour went
• Consider using a product such as Kampus24 which takes the legwork out of personalised follow up by enabling schools to create microsites with specific information.  

You are selling a premium product in a tough economic climate and this personal follow up is an excellent opportunity to show that your school offers an individual experience for each and every pupil no matter where their strengths and weaknesses lie.  The follow up process is as key as the marketing effort to get parents into the school. If a family has given up the time to visit your school do not be afraid of continuing the conversation – many schools seem to put the ball back fully into the court of the prospective family. The more proactive and helpful you can be the better – and what better way than by sending through interesting information tailored to the needs and interests of their child?  

If you would like to book a demo with Kampus24 (well worth your time), you can do so here. All those who do so through this form will receive a £25 Amazon voucher on completion of the demo as a thank you for reading this blog and supporting the Independent Schools Portal.