Reaching out to families that need your services is an essential feature of life in any Children's Centre. Increasing centre attendance is a key goal in ensuring that your services reach the families that need them the most.
Don't fall into the voicemail trap!
How often do you call families on their mobile? Every day? And how often do you get a voicemail - 25%, 50%. Before you leave another message it's essential that you know the impact of your voicemail.
Most mobile networks charge pay-as-you-go customers to retrieve voicemail messages. Many families with lower incomes or poor credit ratings (along with low phone users) will have a pay-as-you-go phone. If they have no credit, then they can't get your message. Even worse, when they top up, possibly several days later they then have to pay to receive an out of date message.
- You've spent money leaving the message (around 50p usually)
- Your intended recipient hasn't received the message promptly and so the message is redundant
- It costs the recipient to receive your obsolete message - money they might not easily afford.
Whatever else you might do, think very carefully before you leave a voicemail.
A better option for everyone
With almost all families having a mobile phone capable of receiving a text message you can easily reach people in seconds - and it will never cost them a penny to receive your text. You can promote a session to as many families as you want in minutes, cutting out all the waste and effort of phoning.
Parents respond to texts
Our customers feedback a constant message. Parents respond to text messages, and those centres that use them to promote sessions achieve better attendance at the session.