See How LEAP Used Our API To Create A Custom SMS Solution
Learn how LEAP (Learning Enrichment and Assistance Program) took advantage of our API to integrate with their scheduling tool and send text reminders.
Learn how LEAP (Learning Enrichment and Assistance Program) took advantage of our API to integrate with their scheduling tool and send text reminders.
The college admissions process is daunting for even the most prepared students and parents. To have someone like Lisa Marker-Robbins in your corner, Founder/CEO of LEAP and 21-year-college-prep-veteran, is invaluable.
LEAP, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a program where college-bound students gain academic support, test prep, and targeted private college guidance. Just as the college admissions process has changed, so too has the technology at Lisa’s disposal.
Her program was facing the challenge of reducing the number of no-shows and missed tutoring appointments. Learn how she was able to combine texting with some of her existing tools to create the perfect solution.
In any given month, LEAP can be serving as many as 400+ students at any one time through tutoring and ACT/SAT prep classes. This means that Lisa and her team manage hundreds of different schedules!
To help them keep track of all their appointments, they found a scheduling platform called Bizstim. As organized as this system would make her team, Lisa knew that students and parents still managed to miss appointments costing her team valuable time.
LEAP planned to send emails 36 hours before an appointment, but she also wanted a way to reach her clients in the sweet spot a few hours before a session to ensure the best turnout. That’s when she came up with the idea to integrate SimpleTexting and Bizstim to automate all student communications.
“We choose texts to send our second reminder because everyone has their phones with them,” notes Lisa. “Texting is just the way the world is working now!”
The team at Bizstim was able to easily access the SimpleTexting API key. A few clicks later, Lisa and her team had a new system that automatically sent out reminder texts to students and parents without a second thought.
“The text reminders have significantly cut down on our no-shows and cancelations,” remarks Lisa. But that’s not all texting has done to change the way LEAP reaches its audience.
The API connection also allows Lisa to send text blasts to clients and staff in case of last-minute cancelations due to weather, or other unforeseen circumstances. Thanks to text messaging’s fast and high open rates, everyone is updated exactly when they need to be.
Appointments aren’t the only thing students and parents need reminders about. Lisa had the idea to create a keyword for test reminders as well!
“Families can text in a keyword to get timely reminders related to deadlines to register for the ACT or SATs, breaking news related to the testing, reminders of score release dates, and so much more. This kind of early and often engagement is adding value for each family, plus it’s another way for us to stay in touch!”
Staying engaged throughout the entire college admissions journey is extremely important to the entire LEAP team, and texting has given them a new way to connect.
Outside of the classroom, Lisa also spends time traveling to local high schools to give presentations about college preparedness.
If you’ve ever tried to captivate a room full of 16-year-olds before, you might have gotten the shivers reading that last sentence. But for Lisa, texting has helped crack the code when it comes to captivating the room.
Her secret? Text to Vote Surveys.
During her presentation, Lisa invites the students to take out their phones and vote on different topics and questions, and she shares the results with them in real-time.
“Some kids are going to pay attention, some tune out, but the Text to Vote Surveys feature is a way to keep teenagers engaged. What teenager doesn’t love to take out their phones during a presentation? Yet, it keeps them tied into the information at hand.”
Teachers may call her a magician, but we know she’s just a savvy and resourceful dynamo!
Are you curious about what opportunities our API could open up for your business? Reach out to one of our team members through the blue chat button in the corner of your screen. You can also sign up for a free trial and experiment with the service yourself!
If you’re anything like Lisa and the team over at LEAP, there’s no limit to what you’re capable of achieving!
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