12
January
2012
Tips and Updates from Kovar Systems
Develop a Plan and Put it into Action
Develop a Plan and Put it into Action: Last week, we discussed the process of identifying areas for improvement and big ideas for your school for 2014. The next step is to take these objectives and develop a plan to accomplish them. The key is to develop a list of specific actions that you and your team can take that will generate the needed improvement.
For each action item, you'll want to identify:
A goal for the outcome, ideally quantifiable
Who is responsible to take action
A deadline
Here's an example of how to do this:
Let's say that in 2013, your school enrolled an average of eight students per month. In your initial planning, you determined a need to enroll more students next year and you've set a goal to enroll 12 students per month in 2014. So you need to develop a plan that will produce the four additional new students you'll need each month.
In your planning process, you identified that your conversion rates were very good: You found that you enroll exactly 50% of all inquiries. You just weren't generating enough inquiries.
To enroll four new students each month, you'll need eight more inquiries each month. Eight inquiries per month times 12 months means you'll need a total of 96 incremental inquiries for the year to achieve your enrollment goal for 2014.
So you need a plan to show exactly how you intend to generate those 96 incremental inquiries for the year.
From here, you can identify marketing campaigns, external events, referral initiatives and other tactics that will help you generate more inquiries. For each one, you need to identify the specific goal, who's responsible, and a deadline.
Here is an example of an action plan designed to generate 96 new inquiries in 2014:
Ask each student/parent for a referral twice in 2014. (If you have 120 students, you'll ask 20 of them each month.)
Goal is to generate two inquiries each month
Sarah will identify the 20 students for each month, and each student's instructor will ask for the referral
(Deadline is implied - Each group of 20 referral requests will be completed by the end of the month)
Should generate a total of 24 additional inquiries for the year
Do one additional birthday party each month.
Goal is to generate at least two inquiries from each party
Birthday parties will be conduced by Tom and Sarah. Parties will be scheduled by Emily
Parties should be scheduled at least six weeks in advance
Should generate a total of 24 additional inquiries for the year
Participate in six external booth events from April through October.
Goal is to generate 8 inquiries from each event
Booth team will consist of Tom, Emily and two student volunteers
(Deadline is implied - Must be done by end of October)
Should generate a total of 48 additional inquiries for the year
These three items should generate the 96 additional inquiries you need.
If you develop detailed action plans like this for all your 2014 goals, chances are very good that 2014 will be a great year for your school.
For each action item, you'll want to identify:
Let's say that in 2013, your school enrolled an average of eight students per month. In your initial planning, you determined a need to enroll more students next year and you've set a goal to enroll 12 students per month in 2014. So you need to develop a plan that will produce the four additional new students you'll need each month.
In your planning process, you identified that your conversion rates were very good: You found that you enroll exactly 50% of all inquiries. You just weren't generating enough inquiries.
To enroll four new students each month, you'll need eight more inquiries each month. Eight inquiries per month times 12 months means you'll need a total of 96 incremental inquiries for the year to achieve your enrollment goal for 2014.
So you need a plan to show exactly how you intend to generate those 96 incremental inquiries for the year.
From here, you can identify marketing campaigns, external events, referral initiatives and other tactics that will help you generate more inquiries. For each one, you need to identify the specific goal, who's responsible, and a deadline.
Here is an example of an action plan designed to generate 96 new inquiries in 2014:
If you develop detailed action plans like this for all your 2014 goals, chances are very good that 2014 will be a great year for your school.