5 Ways to Increase Retention while Attracting New Families Into Your Daycare
It's a tricky business to run a child care center, and it's even harder to keep the families you have.
Daycare centers have been around for decades, but they're not getting any easier to manage. On the contrary, running a child care business is more complicated than ever before because of all the different regulations that come with being in this industry.
But no matter how hard things get, you can't give up! So if your retention rate is low and you need some ideas on fixing it, then read on! We found five unique ways that helped our daycare business increase its retention rate by 30%. And we think any child care business can use these ideas right away.
Before we get started on my tips to get your life back, If you're new here, My name is Dena, and I have been a center director for 20 years and love what I do, but it is WORK! My goal is to help other providers with their child care programs and help relieve the stress that the daycare world brings. Don't forget to snag my FREE Interview Guide to hire the right staff for your daycare or child care center! You can reduce turnover with my 5-page editable interview guide with questions designed specifically for daycare hiring!
Now, read on to discover the 5 ways we increased our retention rate by 30%.
We Invested in Quality Child Care Supplies. When running a child care business, you have to provide so many different things for the kids. You need high-quality toys, snacks, and furniture, just to name a few.
There are hundreds of other items your center needs too, but it's important not to get overwhelmed! The best way to start is by investing in high-quality child care supplies. Buying cheaper products will only hurt your center's overall appearance, and it can even lower the value of your business. So we slowly started replacing cheap, low-quality toys and furniture with nice-looking, well-designed equipment and furnishings.
We created a Facebook Page. We created a Facebook page to share announcements, upcoming events, field trips, crafts the kiddos made, and photos and videos of what goes on at our daycare. Parents are on social media all day, and you should be using it to market your center. Facebook is one of the most popular websites globally, which means there are thousands of parents that could end up seeing info about your daycare. Remember to get parental permission before posting child pictures or videos.
We started using a parent communication app. Parents love communication! They like knowing what is going on, and they enjoy the opportunity to engage in their children's education. We started communicating with parents much more regularly, sharing plans and goals for our students. Teachers and parents were able to message each other through the Procare app daily. Teachers could send pictures and daily updates to each parent. Parents could sign their child in and out through the app eliminating all sign-in and out sheets. The administration could also message parents and view all messages and interactions between parents and teachers. The app was a win-win!
We asked for referrals and parent testimonials. When we knew a parent was happy with our center, we asked them to write their comments on a testimonial card. We then used the testimonials on our website, brochures, and social media. You can get my NEW Parent Testimonial Card FREEBIE here! It's super cute!
We hired quality teachers who gave excellent care. It's easy to go into desperation mode and hire anyone with a pulse; however, this only hurts you in the long run. We started choosing employees carefully so that our children would get the best care possible. We raised our starting wages and invested in staff training so that teachers would feel supported and love their job. If you can't afford to pay well, consider raising your tuition rates. You can get my rate increase letter here. If you need a guide on hiring new teachers, click here.
You may not implement everything at once, but start slowly making changes little by little to improve your program. You can do it!
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