The problem
After an open morning the registrar means to follow up every family, but a busy fortnight passes and some never hear from the school again. If one more family a year chose the school because the follow-up arrived on time, at $7,182£5,400€6,426A$10,368C$10,152 a term, that's $21,546£16,200€19,278A$31,104C$30,456 a year of fees, about $1,796£1,350€1,607A$2,592C$2,538 a month.
What the AI does
Brevo is an email marketing platform. Its pricing page lists marketing automation (multi-step workflows) from the Standard plan, and the tool's price is $17£13€15A$25C$24 a month. Families who attend an open morning or tour and tick a box to hear more are added to a list, which starts a short series: a thank-you the next day with the prospectus, a week later a day-in-the-life email, then a reminder of the registration deadline and how to book a taster day. Replies go to the registrar.
A worked example
A small independent school in Kent gets about 120 admissions inquiries a year and holds termly open mornings, with follow-up done by hand when the registrar has time.
Before
About 120 inquiries a year, with follow-up emails sent late or not at all after busy weeks
After
Every family who opted in gets 3 timed emails, and the registrar handles replies; if 1 more family a year registers, about $1,796£1,350€1,607A$2,592C$2,538 a month in fees
What it's worth
About $359£270€321A$518C$508 a month, at an assumed 20% surplus on $1,796£1,350€1,607A$2,592C$2,538 a month of fees from 1 extra pupil a year ($7,182£5,400€6,426A$10,368C$10,152 x 3 terms ÷ 12), against $17£13€15A$25C$24 for Brevo Standard. The extra pupil is an assumption; track where each new family came from.
How to set it up
- Add an opt-in tick box to your open morning and tour sign-up: 'Email me more about the school'.
- Import only families who ticked it into Brevo, into an 'Admissions' list.
- Write 3 short emails in the head's voice: thank-you, a day in the school, next steps and deadlines.
- Set up the workflow so joining the list starts the series, with sensible gaps.
- Check replies daily and stop the series for families who register or ask to stop.
What goes wrong
- Promotional emails need consent under PECR; without the tick box, the series is unlawful marketing.
- Don't put children's names, ages or needs in the marketing list; record the parent and the year of entry.
- Deadlines in the emails must match your admissions policy; check them each year.
- Automation needs Standard; the free plan can't run multi-step workflows.