In education, tutoring, and children’s services, you want to teach your students good habits. But it’s also worthwhile to take a look at your own habits as a business. What habits will predict success?

After years of experience and looking at dozens of franchised businesses, we compiled the list of education-specific key performance indicators (KPIs) for education franchises below.

Sales and Marketing

Cost Per Lead

Cost per lead = (Total Marketing Cost)/(Total Qualified Leads)

Cost per lead is an important metric for any small business. It is best measured both overall and by marketing method, such as pay per click (PPC), social, direct mail, and events. Start by tracking overall cost per lead, and then add narrower buckets over time.

Your home office should set cost per lead depending on the economics of the business, and franchisees can follow. This is a great way to benefit from the network effect in the franchise model. When counting leads, focus on those that are qualified, not leads with incomplete information or those that are actually vendors trying to sell you something. Only people who want to buy your services should be counted in this metric.

Leads

This simple metric reflects the overall health of the business. Year-over-year (YOY) comparisons are useful in education businesses, since leads can be seasonal depending on the school year and standardized tests.

Trials

Many education businesses focus on giving potential customers a taste of their product through a free class or a trial. Establishing a goal for your franchisees’ trials is a fantastic way to encourage them to maintain momentum within the business.

Trial Conversion

Trial Conversion = (New Students for Period)/(Trials for the Period)

Trial conversion measures a few things: 1) It looks at the experience of the trial. Did you have an appropriate coach work with the student, and did he or she get a good outcome? 2) It also measures the sales process after the trial has been completed. Trial conversion can vary widely depending on the individuals in your organization, so it is definitely worth studying. Some organizations also choose to do deeper qualitative research on former trials.

Students Created

Having a regular flow of students keeps the environment vibrant and lively. Benchmarking this metric across franchises can also create a healthy sense of competition.

Operations

Attendance Rate

Attendance % = (Total Attended)/(Total Scheduled)

Some organizations see low attendance as a good thing; students that are paying but not attending means the business is making revenue without wear and tear on facilities. However, this attitude is outdated. Regular attendance means students aren’t losing interest in the program. (And it usually also means more positive reviews from parents!)

Churn Rate

Churn % = ((Students at Beginning) – (Students at End))/(Students at Beginning)

Churn rate, also known as the rate of attrition, measures the percentage of users who stop using your services within a given period. In these competitive times when customers have a wide variety of options, it is good to watch this number closely.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

NPS = (% Promoters) – (% Detractors)

NPS is a customer loyalty metric that rates customers as promoters, detractors, or neutral depending on their answer to a single question: “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or family member?” Customers indicate their answers on a 10-point scale. A score of 9-10 indicates a promoter; 7-8 is neutral, and 0-6 is a detractor.

CSAT is also a popular way to measure customer satisfaction.

Coaches or Tutors

Hours Taught

Hours taught tracks the operational side of the business and does not depend on elements like payment plans. This is another metric that varies with the seasons and is better to be compared YOY.

NPS Per Coach

Tracking NPS per coach helps you determine which coaches are strongest. It then stands to reason that your overall NPS will get higher if you put those popular coaches on more shifts. To calculate, attribute the NPS to each individual coach. You may need to extend the period of measurement if there aren’t enough survey responses for each coach.

Continue Your Education

The best way to help your franchisees reach their goals is to measure performance along the way. Learn more about FranConnect’s leading performance tools that can help you track the KPIs that matter most and make a positive difference in your business.

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