Enrollment And Waitlist Management

---
name: enrollment-and-waitlist-management
description: "Run the childcare enrollment funnel and waitlist: inquiry -> tour -> application -> start, with a tour follow-up cadence, waitlist worked by age band, and the waitlist converted before tuition is discounted. Enrollment fills seats; retention keeps them."
---

# Enrollment & Waitlist Management

Seats are filled by a **funnel**, not by hoping the phone rings — and a waitlist is inventory you already earned, not a courtesy list.

## The loop

1. **Measure the funnel by stage.** Inquiry -> tour -> application -> enrolled start. Each stage has its own conversion rate; a "low enrollment" problem is really a leak at one named stage. Diagnose the stage before the fix — see the enrollment/waitlist tree in [`../../knowledge/childcare-decision-trees.md`](../../knowledge/childcare-decision-trees.md).
2. **Follow up on every tour with a cadence.** The tour is the highest-intent moment. A defined sequence (same-day thank-you, decision-window check-in, waitlist-or-start ask) converts far more than a single hope-they-call. A tour with no follow-up is a lead discarded.
3. **Work the waitlist by age band, not one list.** Availability opens by room and age, so a waitlist is only useful segmented by age band and desired start. Convert the waitlist before you discount tuition — a discount on a seat someone was waiting for is pure margin given away.
4. **Hand the billing route off cleanly.** Once a family commits, the private-pay / subsidy / blended route is a billing decision — see [`../tuition-and-subsidy-billing/SKILL.md`](../tuition-and-subsidy-billing/SKILL.md).
5. **Close the loop into retention.** A start is the beginning of the relationship the center must keep; the seat you retain is far cheaper than the one the funnel refills.

## Metrics

| Metric | Reads | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Tour-to-enroll conversion | enrolled starts / tours | The funnel's headline; leaks most often at follow-up |
| Inquiry-to-tour rate | tours booked / inquiries | Low -> intake responsiveness / scheduling friction |
| Waitlist depth by age band | families waiting per age | Depth here means: convert before discounting |
| Time-to-start | commit -> first day | Long -> paperwork or start-date friction |

## Anti-patterns

- Giving tours with no follow-up cadence attached.
- One undifferentiated waitlist across all ages and start dates.
- Discounting tuition while a waitlist for that age band exists.
- Treating a start as the finish line instead of the start of retention.

## See also

- [`../tuition-and-subsidy-billing/SKILL.md`](../tuition-and-subsidy-billing/SKILL.md), [`../staffing-to-ratio-scheduling/SKILL.md`](../staffing-to-ratio-scheduling/SKILL.md).
- Template: [`../../templates/enrollment-funnel-tracker.md`](../../templates/enrollment-funnel-tracker.md).
- Best practices: [`../../best-practices/enroll-the-waitlist-before-you-discount.md`](../../best-practices/enroll-the-waitlist-before-you-discount.md), [`../../best-practices/family-communication-is-the-retention-engine.md`](../../best-practices/family-communication-is-the-retention-engine.md).