Do You Actually Know What Your Team is Saying to Families?

You might think you do. But have you actually heard it?

Because if I had a pound for every time a school leader told me their team was “really warm and helpful” on calls, only for us to dig in and find their conversions are low… I’d have enough for a term’s boarding fees.

That said, well done for having calls and not just relying on email!

Let’s get brutally honest for a moment.

If you’re not regularly listening in or reviewing what’s being said during those crucial early conversations with families, agents, or enquirers…
You’re running blind.

And I get it — you trust your team. They’re kind, committed, and they care deeply about the school. But caring doesn’t automatically convert into clear, confident, commercially aware conversations.

A conversation that leads to the next steps is not just a conversation. And if you’ve not had sales coaching yourself, how do you know what to look for? 

Here’s what I hear all the time in real-life enquiry calls:

• “Yes, I think we can do that — I’ll just check and get back to you.”
  
  
• “Yes, it’s in the prospectus.”
  
  
• “Oh yes, the fees are on the website.”
  
  

These phrases seem harmless, but they’re killing your conversions. Why?

Because certainty sells. And so does service. Lead them along their journey. Definitely don’t just send them to your website. You need both. 

So let’s do a quick audit — no fluff, just facts.

5 Signs You Don’t Actually Know What’s Being Said:

1. You assume the team are “great with people” — but haven’t listened in. Warmth is important. But warmth without structure or clarity is like making a cake without a tin — it all ends up a bit messy. Did they qualify the enquiry? Direct to the next step?
   
   
2. You rely on email or CRM notes for insight. These are summaries. You’re not hearing tone, hesitation, or the exact words used.
   
   
3. You haven’t done a mystery shop in over 6 months. You’d be surprised how eye-opening this can be. Sometimes horrifying. But it’s good news! Room to grow!
   
   
4. Your offer-to-acceptance rate is lower than it should be. If families are drifting away post-offer, it often starts with how well (or not) we’ve connected with them in the early stages. These are conversion techniques tweaked for schools.
   
   
5. There’s no framework for how conversations should flow. If every team member is freestyling it, you’ve got inconsistency — which is costing you.
   
   

What You Can Do This Week

Let’s not just talk about it. Here’s what you can do:

✅ Listen to 3 recent calls or Zooms.

Pick a mix: one new enquiry, one agent call, one offer follow-up. Listen without judgement — just note what’s actually said.

✅ Use a conversation map.

Start creating a basic call structure: intro, needs discovery, school match, next steps. It doesn’t have to be robotic — just repeatable.

✅ Introduce a call review loop.

Once a fortnight, choose a call and review it as a team. What worked? What could have gone better? It’s not about pointing fingers — it’s about improving together.

✅ Mystery shop your own team.

Use a friend, colleague, or, better, experts like MTM Consulting. Know what you’re looking for.

✅ Give your team phrases that help, not hinder.

Replace “I think we can do that” with “Yes, and here’s how that works.”
Swap “You can apply online” with “Let’s go through the application together.”
These tweaks matter.

If You Don’t Know, You Can’t Improve

It’s easy to assume it’s all ticking along nicely — especially when the team are friendly and well-meaning. They work hard, but let’s make sure their hard work results in enrolments.

As friendly doesn’t close offers. Clarity, structure, and confidence do.

You don’t necessarily need scripts (though sometimes this can help kick start). You need a shared understanding of what a great call sounds like, where it should lead, and a process for making sure that happens more often.

The good news? You can start fixing this today. It’s not about being perfect — it’s about being consistent.

And if you’d like a sounding board, training or you suspect this is an area where you need some practical support, you know where to find me.