I’ve been going to the same haircut place for six years.
Why?
It’s close. It’s cheap. I rarely have to wait. I get a decent haircut.
But next time, I’m going somewhere else.
Why?
That’s the question I asked myself. The answer was slippery.
Part of it’s me: I don’t always know what to ask for. I say “fine” when they ask how it looks, and I leave.
But part of it’s them:
- Never acted like they cared about “fine.”
- They’ve never suggested something better.
- Never told me what might work for my face.
And so, without drama, without anger, I’m gone.
Schools live in this space too. Every year, in the spring, the biggest questions are:
- How many newly enrolled students do we have?
- How many left?
Attrition is a beast with fuzzy edges. Some of it you can’t control: families move, jobs change, life happens. Some of it you can and should see coming: The Smith family planned to head to “that” high school after eighth grade.
But the dangerous attrition is the kind you don’t see. The families on the fuzzy edge. The ones who slip away quietly.
If you ask them why, you’ll rarely get the real story. You’ll hear the polite answers. The easy answers. Tuition. Logistics. “It’s fine.”
But the truth? They left because fine isn’t enough.
Fine is fragile. Fine walks out the door without raising its hand. Fine doesn’t complain; it just disappears.
And the scary part is: fine looks a lot like satisfied.
The opportunity, then, is simple but not easy:
- Stop aiming for fine.
- Stop assuming silence equals satisfaction.
- Create conversations. Show you see them. Suggest something better.
Because the families who stay aren’t the ones who say “fine.”
They’re the ones who feel seen, get excited, and enthusiastically enroll for another year.
And if you don’t give them that?
Well, they’ll find someone else who will.
Trevor Waddington is the founder and CEO of Truth Tree. He leads a blended team of digital marketing experts and former school admissions and marketing personnel to support schools all over the world on their marketing efforts. After years educating a marketing firm on the nuances of his school, Trevor decided schools deserved a marketing agency that understood them AND their audience. And thus, Truth Tree was born.
Be Better than “fine”.
Did you know Truth Tree launches strategic marketing campaigns tailored to your school and your right-fit families?
Let us handle getting your seen by mission-aligned families while you enroll and retain them.