For decades, Edward Jones focussed on its customers. To no avail.

EJ corporate comms sent glossy newsletters, updates, and brand campaigns directly from headquarters out to policyholders.

It was an enduring failure.

Open rates hovered in the low teens, and customer sentiment barely budged.

The “aha” moment for Edward Jones was when they realized through consultation that clients didn’t care about their organization, its mission, its 5-year plan, or its annual achievement outcomes.

Clients cared about Maya and Marcus, their brokers down the block.

To their credit, a whole lot shifted for Edward Jones after this, and customer engagement followed. In droves.

What was the big change in practice?

Their central office pivoted from being a broadcaster to being an empowerer.

They realized that for their central office, the primary audience was not actually their clients. In fact, their primary audience was their own brokers.

Huge difference.

So they set about equipping them.

They shifted their efforts and resources to focus on their own team. They provided toolkits and ongoing training so that their brokers – not their headquarters – could successfully engage their customers.

In other words, they put their energy and effort into their own people. And it paid off handsomely.

You can do the same.

Like Edward Jones, your board office doesn’t hold the keys to the relationship with your primary stakeholders (parents and caregivers). Your branch offices do, meaning PVP and school secretaries in each of your schools. 

That is where your district-to-family relationship is lived out. Repeated consultations reinforce this to us.

Ok, fine. Brilliant. What’s next?

Start by having a conversation with your director/superintendent, and after that with your senior admin. They have to create space for this – if it is to happen. They have to embrace the shift.

Tell them a story about pivoting from broadcaster to empowerer. It could even be about Edward Jones. Ask them if they think it is relevant to your district/division.

Then ask them: what would it take for us to rechannel our efforts into equipping our school offices to be really effective communicators with parents and caregivers?

Caveat: the answer can’t be “just do more”. In baseball, one cannot run to second base without letting go of first base. Nobody’s arms are that long, even though it may be a prevailing myth about communications departments. 

You must therefore ask additional questions like: What might we need to let go of to accommodate this new priority? Are there additional resources that would be worth investing in?

And – this is the enticing payoff question – what might we gain as a result?

There are many practical, tactical ways to approach this in execution, which is where we focus our efforts and support for districts/divisions. But that’s for another day.

Just light a spark on the process by having this conversation with your leadership. See where it takes you.

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Sure, Schoolkit may provide some of Canada’s leading web, mobile and digital messaging tools for schools and school boards. But tools and tech don’t engage people. That’s why our focus is on equipping and empowering the people in your organization who communicate. It’s a whole different story. We’ve been education communicators and digital developers for 30 years. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d like to talk through some of your challenges and hopes for your organization and schools. That’s why we get up in the morning. Well, that and the siren smell of coffee. (schoolkit.ca)