Latest Occupancy Trends Impacting Your Centre

Occupancy Challenges

When engaging with childcare providers, we've been hearing about the growing difficulties in achieving occupancy growth, owing to a multitude of factors, including:

1. Time Constraints: Overburdened team members struggle to handle incoming enquiry calls and provide exceptional tours, often due to competing priorities within the centre. On average, centres miss out on up to 30% of potential new enquiries.

2. Changing Demands: Nursery demand has surged by approximately 23% year on year (YOY), while demand in other age groups has declined by up to 15% YOY.

3. Cost of Living Impact: The ongoing cost of living crisis has resulted in a decrease in the average number of days families attend childcare centres. Across multiple providers, the average attendance has dropped from 3.3 days per child to 3.1 days, and sometimes as low as 2.9 days. This poses additional challenges when a family leaves, as finding more than one child to replace them becomes necessary, given that new family attendance is now below 3 days per week.

The Solution

Addressing these challenges entails a strategic focus on three key occupancy drivers: new enrolments, average attendance duration, and reducing churn. We understand that implementation can be challenging, considering the obstacles outlined above. At Enroll'd, our sole mission is to enhance your occupancy, allowing you to dedicate more time to your children, team, and community. Discover how our industry expertise can revolutionise your occupancy without any upfront costs by visiting https://www.enrolld.com.au/childcare-providers.

Case Study

Enroll'd recently partnered with a childcare provider to re-engage with families who had enquired but not enrolled in the last six months (which were marked as closed leads), with the aim of boosting occupancy. The provider enlisted our no upfront cost service to proactively reach out to these families and assist with enrolment. Initially, the provider had modest enrolment expectations as they assumed these leads were lost opportunities. Leveraging our industry knowledge and experience, we projected 80 enrolments over six weeks. To the client's delight, we surpassed expectations by delivering 110 enrolments, achieving a 2% increase in occupancy during this period. These enrolments were sourced from closed enquiries previously idle inquiries sitting in their CRM of which their internal team didn't have capacity to re-engage. If you're interested in learning how Enroll'd can re-engage your closed/lost enquiries to drive increased enrolments, please complete our enquiry form or engage in a live chat with us.

Additionally, we have initiated a proactive outbound phone campaign targeting existing families to help them maximise their childcare subsidy and increase their bookings by adding more days for their child/ren. Our expert consultants emphasise the proven benefits of regular early learning during the first five years and how consecutive days of learning can significantly enhance a child's development. Families have provided positive feedback, appreciating the personalised discussions conducted over the phone, as opposed to at the front desk, allowing us to address their unique personal and work situations effectively.

Key Takeaways

1. Re-engage your closed/lost enquiries sitting in your database

2. Proactively reach out to current families attending less than 5 days per week to help them maximise their CCS and their child/ren access to quality early learning