What makes a kids' program different
A daycare sells a full-time spot. A kids' program sells a class, a session or a season, and it competes for a family's attention with every other activity in town. Parents hear about you at pickup, on Instagram, from a flyer at the library. The first problem is being remembered. The second is keeping track of everyone who asked.
- Inquiries arrive from many places and live in nobody's list.
- A family interested in the spring session is forgotten by spring.
- Intro visits and trial classes get booked by text thread.
- Reminders depend on the owner remembering to send them.
- A new program has no brand yet, so nothing on the flyer sticks.
How we'd set it up for a kids' program
We'd usually start with the brand, because the website, the flyer and the reminder text all carry it. Then we build the system behind it.
- A brand families can repeat. A name, a logo, and when it fits, a character children recognize. Print pieces, like a one-pager and cards, use the same look as the site.
- A waitlist on the website. A parent joins in one form. A family record is created in the CRM in the same step, so the inquiry isn't stuck in an inbox.
- A pipeline from inquiry to enrolled. Every family sits at a stage you can see, so you know who asked, who visited and who signed up.
- A booking page for visits. Text-message consent is part of the form. A booking writes the appointment, emails the owners and can post to your team's Slack.
- Reminders. Families who opt in get a text confirmation and reminders before the visit. Families who don't still hear from you by email.
What we built for Rooted Kids
Rooted Kids is a new early-childhood program in Irvington, NY. It needed a brand families would remember and a system that kept track of every family who reached out. We created both. See the build →
- Brand identity: logo, the Sprout mascot characters who walk families through the method, a print one-pager and cards.
- Website and waitlist. When a parent joins the waitlist, a family record is created in the CRM automatically.
- A family CRM with a pipeline from inquiry to enrolled.
- A booking page with text-message consent built in. A booking writes the appointment, emails the owners and posts to their Slack.
- Text confirmations, then reminders 24 hours and 1 hour before.
- A Slack email assistant and a branded content studio.
What we don't do
- We don't text families without their consent. Texting is a separate opt-in on the form.
- We don't set your class sizes, prices or enrollment rules. You decide them and we build around them.
- We don't send outreach on our own. Drafts wait for a person to approve them.
Related
Where do your family inquiries live right now?
Bring one family's path from first message to first class to a free 30-minute review.
Book a free 30-minute review →Kids' program questions
Can you create the brand for a new kids' program, not just the website?
Yes. For Rooted Kids we created the brand identity, including the logo, the Sprout mascot characters, a print one-pager and cards, then built the website and the system behind it.
What happens when a parent joins our waitlist?
On the Rooted Kids build, a family record is created in the CRM automatically when a parent joins the waitlist. The family then moves through a pipeline from inquiry to enrolled.
How do reminder texts work for a kids' program?
Text consent is built into the booking form. Families who agree get a text confirmation, then reminders 24 hours and 1 hour before. Families who don't opt in get email instead.
Will we know when a family books?
Yes. At Rooted Kids, a booking writes the appointment, emails the owners and posts to their Slack. Slack is optional and only for your team.
Is this different from what you'd build for a daycare?
Usually. A daycare often needs its enrollment form to feed a platform it already runs. A newer kids' program often needs the brand, the waitlist and the family CRM built from the start.