Pre-school Principals go back to class to learn “selling”

Besides managing the childcare centre, and overseeing the planning and organisation of quality learning activities for children, principals also have many other responsibilities, including being good role models for their teachers and able to relate to and communicate well with parents. Often, they also find themselves in the role of a salesperson, attending to parents’ enquiries and providing them with important information on centre services.

This was why some 20 principals from the four preschool brands under the Crestar Education Group attended a half-day virtual course on “selling” on 21 January 2021 to learn more about selling as part of their Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

The course, “To sell is Human”,  was organised by KLC International Institute for the principals from Elfa, Kinderland, Nurturestars and Skool4Kidz. It was designed to further equip the principals with the skills to improve their centre recruitment.

Based on the book “To sell is human” by Daniel Pink, it gives a fresh look into the art and science of selling.

The course emphasises the inevitable nature of human behaviour and motivation – that everyone sells, including parents who have to cajole their children to study or take up a course.  It offers new, counterintuitive insights into selling by firstly getting everyone to shift their mindset from the traditional “Always Be Closing” to the BBC of “Balance, Bounce Back and Clarity”.

Participants learned about the personality traits of introverts, extroverts and ambiverts, know how to Balance the qualities of the latter two and know when and how to push or pull, to achieve better results.  They have to accept rejection, stay strong to Bounce Back.  And thirdly, find Clarity on how to think about the problems they face, and what actions to take including how to speak the language of the parents.

Breakout sessions were organised for role plays on the three elements of BBC, for the participants to better understand their strengths and weaknesses and areas where they have to improvise and improve.