Does My Business Need a Parent Handbook?
The answer is yes. Here’s why (and how).
One of the most valuable traits of Millennial parents is their hunger for information. It makes sense—after all, they’re the most well-educated generation, the first generation to grow up with smartphones in their pockets, the internet at their fingertips.
And I know. The constant stream of texts from parents can be overwhelming:
When’s pick-up?
Does he need a swimsuit?
Is PBJ okay for snacktime? It’s all she’ll eat!
I sent a text half an hour ago and haven’t heard anything are you closed?!
But trust me: this intense pursuit of information is a valuable thing once you know how to harness it.
You’re on the same team.
Today’s parents voice their fears to Google and pore over the search engine’s results. They make highly informed choices, which means that when they register for your program, it’s more likely to be a good fit for their child and for their whole family. Once their student is enrolled, they continue seeking information throughout their child’s experience, so their kids are more likely to succeed in your program.
And the whole purpose of your summer camp, daycare, school, or after-school business is to grow healthy, well-rounded humans, right?
So to reduce the pressure on you and to exceed communication expectations, you need to provide parents with the resources to find their own answers.
Millennials would rather look for answers online than interact with a human (shudder), so once you’ve created your answer guide, you’re likely to diminish the mountain of inquiries you’re getting from the families of your students, not only saving you time—but emotional energy, too.
So yes, you need a parent handbook.
Does my preschool need a parent handbook?
Yes.
Does my soccer program need a parent handbook?
Yes.
Does my dance studio need a parent handbook?
Yes.
Does my summer camp need a parent handbook?
Yes.
Does my school, gymnastics center, music program, daycare—
(You get it.)
If you run a business that works with kids, you will benefit from creating a detailed and well-designed parent handbook.
What’s included in a parent handbook?
In short, a lot.
Depending on the details of your organization and the camps, classes, or activities you offer, the content will vary. A daycare or a dance studio, for example, might need to include policies on potty training, while a summer camp for teens can safely leave that information out.
Your parent handbook could be anywhere from 20-50 pages long when it’s all finished.
When I was first writing this article, I included a list of must-haves and suggestions in this section. Once I wrote them all out and took a look at this whole post, I realized that the list of must-haves probably belonged on its own separate post!
Why do guardians need all of this information?
In comparison to their Boomer and Gen Z counterparts, Millennials are more anxious about, well, everything. It’s possibly because of this overarching anxiety that they are more actively engaged in their kids’ activities than previous generations. They’re highly invested in the emotional and physical well-being of their kids, which means that once they’ve selected your program, they want to stay in-the-know. They’re used to sending texts (and, less so, emails) which can be submitted as soon as a question pops up and answered in the same moment.
Parent handbooks increase client satisfaction and reduce your stress
Without a parent handbook, that situation might look something like this:
You get a text with a question about a program.
You either a) put it on your list to deal with later, or b) set aside your current work right then and there to think about their inquiry.
If you decide to work on their question right away, then you consider the question, look up ways you’ve responded to similar questions in the past, craft an answer, type it up . . . or maybe you think, man, this is a lot to type, so you pick up the phone instead. Maybe you get the parent on the phone, or maybe you leave a message and wait for them to call you back.
Phew.
But if you’ve got a parent handbook, when you receive that text, you’ll write back something like:
“Thanks for sending your note, Alicia! Great question. I think you can find what you’re looking for in our parent handbook (section 6). If that doesn’t do the trick, let me know! Handbook is here: [enter link].”
You continue on with your day.
Done and done.
When a question arises, a parent handbook improves client and team experience in three ways:
Parents get the fastest answer possible because they already have a document to refer to. They don’t even need to check in with you. The handbook allows them to answer their own question. Bing, bang, boom. Everyone’s happy.
If they do reach out to you, you have accessible and pre-written information to send right back to them, so they feel great about your response time. Not everyone is a self-service person, but everyone loves fast service.
And:If they reach out to you, you feel awesome, because:
You were able to respond superfast, so you know they’re taken care of, and
You get to check that item off of your to-do list basically as soon as it appeared.
Win-win-win.
A ready and share-able parent handbook saves you time, energy, and stress and allows the parent to help themselves. Just be sure to keep the lines of communication open by inviting them to reach out if they have further questions.
How to make your parent handbook happen
A parent handbook takes effort to build, but the benefits of having a handbook are worth it.
Not sure you’re up to the challenge? That’s okay. Good writing takes energy and creativity, and with your ever-growing to-do list, you might feel like your creative well is constantly running dry. But as a copywriter for education and childcare businesses, that kind of creativity is literally my one job. I have the know-how and the tools to build you an informative, clear, conversational, and skimmable parent handbook that will leave you free to focus on what’s most important—your students’ health, growth, and success.
