Always Be Telling

Every sales training manual preaches a simply mantra – “ABC” – which stands for “Always Be Closing.” It’s a reminder to those in the profession that you never know when a prospect is ready to buy, so you should give him or her ample opportunity to say yes, by seeking to close the sale at various points in the conversation.

For school communications professionals, the mantra would be ABT – or “Always Be Telling.” In other words, those in the field know that you can’t miss an opportunity to build your school district’s brand.

I recently attended a Board of Education meeting where I saw what, for me, was a first under the banner of ABT.

As those attending the meeting were gathering (and there were a lot of students and staff members getting awards and recognitions that evening, so the room was pretty full), a PowerPoint presentation was showing on a screen at the front of the room, detailing accomplishments for the district, its students and its staff members for the month.

It was only about 10 slides – all with the heading “Did you know?” – and it was timed so that the whole program took about two minutes, and then repeated. None of the slides had exhaustive details about anything; just highlights.

What a great way to remind people about how great their school district is. (Kudos to the Blue Valley USD 229 team!)

Keep the budget story on a low flame

Cooks who work with natural gas understand the concept of keeping something on a “low flame.” It’s the basic concept of keeping your kitchen creation just warm enough to be interesting, but not so hot that you risk ruining what you’ve worked on with so much care and attention.

With school now underway for many districts – with the rest to follow between now and the day after Labor Day – the temptation might be to say “Can’t we take a break from talking about the budget for a few months? Our patrons must be sick of hearing about our troubles.”

Yes and no.

Yes, you would wear out your patrons – and ruin their goodwill toward the district – if you kept the same breakneck pace you probably followed as you were making the hard decisions this spring. But, no, you shouldn’t stop talking about budget completely.

Keeping budget information on the aforementioned low flame will help your patrons internalize the fact that your financial health and well-being is an ongoing challenge. Keeping this message strategically out in the public eye will provide your patrons with the grounding they need for the next budget cycle discussions.

So, look for those opportunities to insert into your communications the differences in programs, processes, and procedures that were a result of the budget cuts. Do so without blame or whining; just make it a matter-of-fact statement on those issues where it has relevance.

A good example? Highlighting your sports teams’ schedules, and noting familiar games that won’t be able to be played this year, in an effort to keep travel costs down. Position it as one disappointment in the midst of excitement for the season to come. Patrons will get the message, and you’ll keep the budget story on a low flame throughout the school year.

Does your Mission Statement mean anything, well, meaningful?

Having the pleasure of working with so many great school districts, we get the chance to see our fair share of Mission Statements. Some are excellent, most are just OK, and more than a handful are a great example of the old “a camel is a horse made by a committee” situation.

Oh, there’s a lot of lofty language that pieces together various component parts as a way of demonstrating that the district has thought of everything. But, when you put them together, it reads like a lot of navel gazing that took place after the author(s) went to a conference and sat in on a breakout session on “Writing Mission Statements.”

If you want your Mission Statement to be a checklist, have at it. But, it won’t stimulate your staff, nor will it inspire confidence within your patron community.

If, however, you want your Mission Statement to actually get people interested and, potentially, excited, stick to the overall purpose of education. Something along the lines of “Getting students ready to be a success” or “Preparing our students to take on the world” leaves out the “how” (that’s your job) and focuses on the “what.”

Compare those examples to what you have today, and then ask yourself which one is a more meaningful, approachable description of the reason your school district exists.

Here we go again

Under the category of “if I say it often enough, people might start believing it – no matter how preposterous it is,” the so-called Kansas Policy Institute recently released another missive that claims that schools are sitting on mountains of money while claiming poverty. This group’s agenda is transparent (even if its funders remain a mystery) and they aren’t even shy about the misinformation they are spreading.

The challenge for school districts is to return fire – only if asked – with a simple explanation of the facts, not a detailed lecture on how school finances work. Going into exhaustive detail about how the various accounts are set up will only give KPI ammunition to suggest that you are hiding something.

Just explain how fund balances are like a bank account that helps to cover costs while you wait for the state to pay what you are owed. Without that account, staff members and day-to-day bills might not get paid if the state is slow with its payments – which it has a history of being. Any money remaining from one fiscal year to another is already committed, not sitting in a safe somewhere.

Above all, make it simple and clear. The facts are on your side. Put them to use.

Don’t take the summer off (completely)

Isn’t it nice?

The e-mail is not as active. The phone is not ringing all that often. And, you don’t have many – if any – fires that need to be put out.

Summer is a time to reflect, recharge and re-evaluate what went right and what could have gone better in 2010-2011.

As you do so, it’s easy to put patron communications on the back burner (except for updates to parents about key dates on the back-to-school calendar), because it’s hard to imagine your community paying much attention to what the school district has to say during the summer, right?

Mostly. But, just as schools are constantly telling their students to read and do other educational things during the summer to keep their minds active between trips to the swimming pool, school districts should strategically stay in contact with patrons.

For example, you might talk about facility changes that are happening over the summer. Deferred maintenance that can only occur when students are not in the building. Coursework being taken by teachers to enhance their skills or to achieve an advanced degree. Unique summer school programming and how many students are involved.

In other words, let patrons know that while the district might “downshift” during the summer, there’s still much activity underway.

End-of-school year communications: An opportunity

Just as we always tell students to do something scholarly (reading, research on a fun topic, etc.) during the summer to keep their minds relatively sharp leading into next school year, patrons also need to have something to keep school at least on the radar screen during the warm weather.

In other words, rather than just let out a collective sigh of relief that you have reached the end of another school year, and simply wishing patrons and students a “great summer,” take advantage of their attention one more time. How?

Talk about the future, by letting them know what to expect when their children return to school next year (as positively as you can, if the budget cuts have been dramatic). Tell them what steps your school district is taking over the summer to get ready for the students’ return. Remind them of important dates. Suggest that they get their sports physicals scheduled (even if you already have done it). Tell them what the BOE is working on right now – besides budget cuts.

In other words, let them know that you’ll be thinking of them and their students during the summer, and eagerly awaiting their return in the fall. They can let out a “whew,” if they wish, but you shouldn’t (at least, not in public!)

Board Election countdown creates new challenges

With Board of Education elections coming up next month, the final days of the campaign can be a perplexing time for school districts. The scenarios are almost endless, particularly if a majority of the seats are up for grabs.

For many districts, it’s an issue of the known – whether that’s good or bad – versus the unknown.

Campaign literature and public statements may give a hint as to what a challenger may have on his or her agenda, if elected, but those are just campaign promises at this point. Once the newcomer is seated, who knows what he or she will do? Add in a contentious ballot issue (bond issue, operating tax levy increase, etc.) to Election Day, and the rhetoric can get ramped up pretty quickly.

Certainly, school districts have an idea of what their ideal Board would look like, post-election. But, it’s dangerous ground to even provide a hint of who you are rooting for. If your candidates win, you risk someone suggesting the district helped in the campaign. If they lose, you can only guess how difficult things could get.

The best approach is to handle it much like the athlete who is asked who they would prefer to play in the next round of a tournament. While they probably have a preference, the standard answer is always non-committal.

So, think in terms of “We look forward to working with the Board that is elected by the voters, and focusing our collective energies on the needs of the students and families in this school district.”

Who cares about your school district’s logo? Only you.

After 30 years in the research, communications and marketing business, I can safely say that – over that time-span – “branding” takes the prize as the most frequently misunderstood concept in our industry. And school district people are getting some of the worst advice there is on the topic.

Whether it’s an article in a journal, a conference presentation, or a discussion on a blog somewhere, many who share their thoughts point to logos, color schemes, slogans, and such and suggest how important it is that these items be ship-shape because, after all, “they are your brand.”

They couldn’t be more wrong.

The president of a company I worked for early in my professional career described it this way, “A brand is a promise.” In other words, it’s everything that comes to mind when you think about, talk about, read about, or encounter a product, a service, a company. Or, a school district.

Rather than spending time fussing over your logo, color scheme or slogan, take a close look at your Mission statement and find ways to showcase how you are achieving those goals. Take your Vision statement and demonstrate what you are doing to reach that high bar you’ve set. Show how these words mean something. That’s how you build the brand you want.

Think of it this way: If a prospective patron was evaluating school districts, do you think they’d be more interested in the scholarship money your high school students have earned, or the slogan a district committee spent months working on?

Defending your need for a “pile of money”

This week saw the publication of yet another screed from public education’s worst enemy in Kansas – who just happens to sit on the Kansas Board of Education.

His verse was new, but his song was very familiar: Public schools have a pile of money in reserves, and they should spend it down during this time of economic hardship in the state.

His tome was full of big numbers that made it seem as though school districts across the state had been stockpiling money for years, simply because they could, and that keeping such funds in reserve while asking the state not to reduce funding any further was an insult to taxpayers.

Of course, missing from this dissertation was the tiny fact that the state of Kansas has routinely been late – sometimes very late – with its payments to school districts during this time of economic downturn. Without reserves on hand, school districts would be unable to meet routine, ongoing obligations that keep the doors open and the lights on – not to mention, of course, the need to have some funds on hand for emergencies.

No matter what such funds are called where you live, it’s likely that you have someone who gets on the same soapbox and spouts the same “half of the story” that our KBOE member does.

When that happens, an unemotional presentation of the facts is your best ally. Put it in “patron-friendly” terms: “We need a savings account, because our funds from the state are often delayed, but our teachers, utilities and other routine expenses need to be paid on time. We also keep funds for emergencies, because boilers break down, roofs leak, and air conditioners fail at the worst possible times. But, we always try to keep these reserve funds at a sensible level.”

Hidden branding opportunity: Alumni

We’re written in this space before about the key role that alumni can play as ongoing volunteers and unofficial cheerleaders for the district, if you approach them while their graduation tassel is still – at least emotionally speaking, if not literally – hanging around their rearview mirror.

But, as their interest fades and their lives become busy with their own families, the branding opportunities remain – albeit at more of a physical distance. After all, while their enthusiasm may be taking hold elsewhere, chances are good that they would still speak with pride about their school and your district if part of your branding effort was directed at them. And, the right word from a proud alum can pay big dividends.

What this means for you is thinking beyond Homecoming weekend each year.

For example:

• Learn from the popularity of such websites as classmates.com (where the memories are always fond, if not completely accurate…), and dedicate space on your own website for alumni updates, segregated by graduating class year. Have part of that space be a blog, where you post district and individual school updates.
• Create a quarterly e-newsletter for parents of alumni, and ask them to feed stories of their sons’ and daughters’ accomplishments to the district for publication. (If you do this right, you’ll probably need to do it more than quarterly after a while!)
• Ask alumni to take a leadership role on committees, to be honorary captains of the football team, to write a story for the school newspaper, and any other way you can think of to link their past to your present. And, always lead their biography (or verbal introduction) with their status as an alum and the year they graduated.

If you make the opportunities for interaction meaningful, fun, and varied, you send the brand message that heritage and tradition are values that matter to your school district.

Hidden branding opportunity: School sporting events

Whether it’s a big-time high school football rivalry game or a second-team middle school volleyball match, sports present an excellent opportunity for branding in front of a captive and attentive audience. Yet, it also requires some strategic thought to make certain that the benefits are fully received.

Of course, a “break in the action” is not the time for the principal of the hosting school to stand up, grab a microphone and pontificate about the school’s excellent performance on a recent state assessment test. After all, those in attendance are there to see the game, not to hear a commercial.

Yet, there are a few subtle opportunities to brand that shouldn’t be missed. For example:

• If a game program is distributed (even if it’s just a sheet of paper with the names of the players from one team on one side, and the other team on the other side), make certain it contains the same information about each team and is organized the same way. In other words, if you list the team managers for one school, for example, list them for the other one, too. This sends a message that you care about the details, and about fairness.

• Don’t miss the chance to publicize other events – sporting and academic – that are coming up at both schools via a handout available at the door. Doing so reinforces that the district values all types of competition, and that it celebrates those in both athletics and academics.

• Provide directional signage to guide visitors to restrooms and concession stands – even if they’re just temporary signs that are created by someone with some computer flair that day. You want guests to feel welcome.

The idea is this: Make it clear that you have your act together on even the smallest detail every time you open your doors for guests, and it sends a brand message that yours is a district that takes excellence seriously in everything you do.

Hidden branding opportunity: Parent/Teacher conferences

Perhaps no venue offers a school district a more attentive audience than a parent/teacher conference.

Those who know their student is doing well show up to hear the accolades from staff members, while those with a struggling child are hoping to pick up information that will unlock a better school experience for their youngster.

Of course, time is short during conferences and the focus is on sharing information about each individual student and answering the questions of parents. Nothing should interrupt the free flow of that dialogue.

However, it’s important not to miss out on the opportunity to further your district’s brand with this captive audience through subtle messaging carried out in material that is distributed.

For example, if you provide information at conferences about web-related study resources that might be helpful to struggling students, pass out that information on a sheet of paper titled, “X SCHOOL DISTRICT has researched the options and recommends the following websites as study resources.” Or, you might go to the other end of the spectrum and present a sheet highlighting outside study opportunities for gifted students.

The branding comes when you highlight (briefly, of course) the district’s efforts in identifying and recommending these resources. It’s probably a subtle shift from what you may be doing right now – handing out a sheet with quality websites listed. But, in that shift is the brand-building opportunity.

What else could you do to further your brand when attentive parents come for a visit this Spring?