Improving Services - Using information
The information you have as part of operating a childcare organization is more valuable than you may think if you care to take a sideways look at what it may be telling you!
To improve services of any business requires knowledge on what customers want, both now, and in the future. To find out about future customer needs, it’s helpful to survey young parents and see how life is changing for them and how you can adapt to provide even better services. However, when it comes to what parents need now from childcare providers, some of the answers already lie within the information you already have or could easily get. This is a start point for improvements!
Here are some examples:
Postcodes of Parents
Why it’s helpful...
Exceptionally important to analyze where your customers are coming from to access your services as it informs your marketing and helps you understand if there are areas that you are not getting take up from but could potentially.
Are they travelling to work, or local, or choosing to travel even if not working as this shows their preference over other local providers.
Where to find it... Via your registration process / records
Sibling Statistics
Why it’s helpful...
Knowing the trends over time for take up of places by siblings is useful for future place planning having confidence in future demand
Where to find it...Via your registration process / records
Free early education statistics
Why its helpful...
Knowing the percentages of parents who take up places on average on each of the free early education entitlements, helps you plan place take up, staffing and indicates likely incomes.
30 hours gives you an insight into working parents and the likelihood they may buy additional places over the 30 hours, it also helps you plan future 3 & 4-year-old places and staffing.
Take up of the 2 year old free offer, helps you plan places and staffing and understand need in the local area and alongside the other free entitlements helps you plan to meet demand for places and what incomes this mix of offers may bring you going forward.
Where to find it...Via your place take up records
The average age when children start.
Why its helpful...
It helps you plan your occupancy for each age range.
If you compare it with feedback from parents that didn’t choose you, it could indicate that you take children too late and they have found somewhere to access a place.
Registration records
Where to find it ...Customer feedback records / enquiries.
How long a child normally stays with you.
Why its helpful...
Indicates expected “lifetime” income that one child place can bring you your organization, which helps with pricing policies.
It could show statistics on parents who choose to leave earlier than expected.
It informs your future place planning needs as they progress through age ranges.
Where to find it...Registrations and parental contract terminations
…These are but a small list for information that you can pick out and find ways to improve customer services and satisfaction….
Why not have a closer look at the information you hold? It may surprise you how useful it can be when considered alongside other knowledge, analysis of how things function now can be the catalyst for finding more improvements.
