Hello, this is Matsubara, CRM Evangelist.

"They came to a trial lesson, so why didn't they enroll?"

While grappling with this question, we had been focused on "creating better experiential learning lessons."
However, the problem wasn't during the trial lesson, but after it.

*This article is a fictional story based on industry realities and implementation patterns of multiple companies.

Before implementation—half of the trial lessons did not result in enrollment.

The tutoring school I run is a private tutoring center for elementary and junior high school students.
There are 8 instructors and 80 students enrolled.
We have been operating in the local community for 12 years.

My long-standing concern has been the conversion rate from trial lessons to enrollment.
On average, 12 students come for trial lessons each month, but only about 6 of them end up enrolling. The conversion rate is approximately 50%.

I used to think, "These are just average figures for the industry, so there's nothing we can do about it," but one spring, there was a week when three people came for a trial lesson, and none of them enrolled.
When I contacted all three of them, I found that two had already enrolled in other cram schools, and one was still considering it.

When we spoke to parents who were still considering their options, we received responses like these:

"The trial lesson was very good."
But since I didn't hear from them afterward, I thought maybe they weren't very interested in us."

I was speechless.

Parents who felt our program was good ended up switching to other cram schools simply because we didn't provide adequate follow-up support.
Our problem wasn't the quality of the trial lesson, but the "silence" that followed.

The structure of the problem—"48 hours" will decide the outcome.

When we examine how parents choose tutoring centers, we find the following in the industry:

More than half of parents compare trial lessons at two or more schools before deciding to enroll their child in a cram school.

When parents are comparing trial lessons, the cram school that contacts the parents first will have an advantage.
The experience of receiving a call just as you were thinking of contacting them again creates the impression that "this cram school cares about us."

The question is, "When should I contact them?"
The day after the trial lesson and the day after that—that isWithin 48 hoursIt is the most effective.
After this time, the impression of "that cram school's trial lesson" begins to fade in the parents' memories, making it difficult to differentiate your school from others.

What was happening at our cram school was that "follow-up contact the day after or two days after a trial lesson" depended on "the memory of the instructor in a tired state after the day's lesson was over."
Memories inevitably leak out somewhere.
In particular, the trial lessons on Mondays tended to be put off because classes continued on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

My encounter with EMOROCO CRM Lite—the idea of ​​"taking the initiative with a system"

I learned about EMOROCO CRM Lite from a colleague who runs a private tutoring school in the same area.
When I heard that "if you enter the date of the trial lesson, a follow-up task will automatically come 48 hours later," I thought, "That's all I need."

We didn't need a high-end CRM system.
I instinctively felt that 7% of the problems could be solved if there was a system in place to ensure that parents were contacted within 48 hours of the trial lesson.

Design – Six fields and three workflows specifically tailored for cram schools.

Field Design

Emotional Temperature Definition for Cram Schools

Workflow Design: 3 Essential Workflows

Workflow ①: Follow-up for 48 hours after the trial lesson (most important)

The moment this workflow started, the concept of "missing a follow-up" disappeared.

Workflow ②: Checking the status of the review after one week

Workflow ③: Student withdrawal risk alert

Month 1 since implementation: "Narrative has changed the telephone."

The instructor reported on the first week the workflow was up and running.

"When I called Ms. Tanaka (the parent of one of the trial participants), she said, 'Oh, I thought you would contact me.'"
Up until now, I'd been hesitant to call and kept putting it off, but when a task came up and I called, they were waiting for me."

Another change was the increased use of narrative notes.

The instructors in charge of the trial lessons have developed a habit of narratively recording information such as, "The child smiled for the first time when they solved a geometry problem during the trial lesson," and "The mother repeatedly said, 'I'm especially worried about Japanese language arts.'"

When instructors made follow-up calls, they reviewed this narrative beforehand, which improved the quality of the conversation.

"〇〇-kun, you did a good job solving the geometry problems during the trial lesson. I've also heard about your concerns regarding Japanese language studies."
With individual tutoring, we can strengthen both Japanese language and math at the same time..."

We've been hearing more and more parents say things like, "They really pay attention to my child."

Three months later—the change in the enrollment rate was reflected in the numbers.

This data is from three months after implementation.

The number of trial lessons remains virtually unchanged.
We haven't increased our advertising budget either.
Simply by creating a system to ensure we didn't lose anyone who came for a trial lesson, our monthly enrollment increased by approximately 1.6 times.

Six months later—it also showed results in preventing users from canceling their membership.

After improving the enrollment rate, the next change that appeared was "preventing student dropouts."

Six months after implementing the withdrawal risk field, the "withdrawal rate excluding 9th graders who have finished their entrance exams" has improved by 8 percentage points compared to the previous year.

The most effective measure was "following up with the parents of students who were absent for two consecutive weeks or more."

Previously, by the time I realized someone hadn't been around for a while, I would often find that their withdrawal form had already been submitted.
Since EMOROCO CRM Lite's workflow started automatically generating a "Two consecutive weeks of absence → Classroom Manager task," we've been able to proactively ask students why they can't come.

"I was just too busy with club activities to come," "I wasn't feeling well"—by listening to their reasons and offering support, we were able to retain more than half of those who would have otherwise left the club.

One year later—the enrollment rate increased 1.9 times and the number of enrolled students reached an all-time high.

These figures are from one year after implementation.

More than the 1.9-fold increase in enrollment rates, what made me happiest was that "the instructors' stress levels decreased."

"I should have made a follow-up call, but I kept putting it off," "I was unsure when to contact the trial student"—these kinds of mental burdens were eliminated by establishing a workflow that decided, "I will contact this person today."

What I learned this past year—3 lessons

Lesson 1: The reason for failing to follow up is not "negligence" but "lack of a system."

The instructor doesn't mean they "don't want to follow up."
It had been put off because it wasn't clear "when," "what," and "how" to communicate it.
The workflow determines "when," and the narrative tells us "what"—this design has changed how instructors behave.

Lesson #2: Narrative recording during trial lessons determines the enrollment rate.

Recording specific anecdotes from the trial lesson is crucial to the quality of follow-up calls.
Specific examples like, "This is what happened during the trial lesson," build trust among parents, making them feel, "This cram school is really paying attention to my child."
It took me three months to develop the habit of recording these narratives.

Lesson 3: Changed our approach to parents who are making comparisons.

Previously, when parents mentioned they were "comparing our school with other tutoring centers," I hesitated to proactively contact them because I felt that being compared would put us at a disadvantage.
Since we started using EMOROCO CRM Lite to manage the "Comparison Status with Other Cram Schools" field, we've changed our approach to "Contacting them early precisely because they're still comparing."
Parents who are comparing options are in a state of "wanting information." Tutoring centers that provide thorough information upfront are more likely to be chosen.

Summary: From "We want them to enroll" to "We deliver through a system."

Increasing the enrollment rate at cram schools isn't just about "creating better trial lessons."
The most immediately effective improvement was "creating a system to ensure that information is delivered to parents within 48 hours of the trial lesson."

EMOROCO CRM Lite achieved two things.

• Eliminate any missed follow-ups: Simply enter the date of the trial lesson, and the task will be automatically sent to you 48 hours later.
• Improve the quality of your follow-ups: The narratively recorded episodes of the experience become the "specific words" used in the phone call.

Rather than spending money on advertising to attract new trial participants, it's far more cost-effective to create a system to retain the trial participants you're currently with.
Realizing this fact changed my approach to running my cram school.

[The first step you can take starting today] First, create a field called "Trial Lesson Date" and a field called "Response during the trial lesson," and set up one workflow that "generates a follow-up task 48 hours after the trial lesson date." This single workflow will eliminate any missed follow-ups.

You can try it with a 30-day free trial.
Digitalization and AI Implementation Subsidy 2026 Compatible Tool Number: DL07-0022934
Product Info:https://www.emoroco.com/

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