About the Client: The Goddard School
The Goddard School is a nationally respected early childhood education franchise with over 640 locations across the U.S. Each school is locally owned, giving franchisees the freedom to tailor their programs while benefiting from a proven curriculum and brand reputation.
Franchisees invest in more than a business. They join a mission to positively impact children, families, and communities through high-quality early learning. That’s why building strong relationships with prospective owners from the first interaction is so important.
The Challenge: Prospect Leads Were Coming In But Not Converting
When Valerie Eichorn, Franchise Development Marketing Manager at The Goddard School, stepped into her role, she immediately noticed a disconnect.
"I looked at our overall customer experience, and we weren't necessarily engaging with the customer and asking questions to help ensure that we were passing on quality leads over to the sales team," said Valerie.
While many high-value leads reach out to The Goddard School Franchise, some aren’t ready to open a school just yet. That’s why it’s essential to engage every prospect — guiding the best into the sales funnel and nurturing the rest for future opportunities.
“I would hear often when I first started from the sales team, ‘I’m not getting quality leads,’” Valerie recalled.
She needed someone who could personalize the front end of their sales funnel and give leads the thoughtful engagement they deserved, but without the overhead of a full-time hire.
"It's a job that doesn't necessarily need a full-time, on-staff position. It's a position that is anywhere between 20 hours a week. And sometimes that can ramp up or ramp down. So [BELAY] is the perfect solution for us in this season," she explained.
The Solution: Sydney, A Professional Extension of the Team
Valerie turned to BELAY and was matched with Sydney — one of BELAY’s flexible, remote Assistants who was more than just qualified. She was the perfect fit.
"Sydney is a great fit for the team because she is super analytical, very logical, very friendly, and professional in interacting with the leads," said Valerie. "These are individuals who are looking to make a million-plus investment into our brand. And so we needed someone who could be responsive, could be patient."
Sydney took on the critical role of coordinating and qualifying leads. She started working directly with those prospective franchisees to guide them through their early-stage discovery journey.
"I wanted a lead coordinator who could help me in having a conversation with the leads — helping to have phone calls, send emails — just to learn a little bit more about their story and how we can best help them through their discovery process," Valerie shared.
What Sydney Did: Strategic Support with Tangible Impact
Sydney’s role quickly expanded to cover a wide range of marketing, CRM, and operational tasks. Here’s what she has accomplished with her part-time role:
Lead Engagement & Qualification
- Personally connecting with prospective franchisees through emails and phone calls.
- Ensuring daily follow-up and same-day responses to new inquiries.
CRM Optimization
- Managing The Goddard School’s CRM daily to organize and track lead flow.
- Pulling segmented lists for franchise development events based on target markets.
- Identifying proactive solutions — like the need for a new lead category for real estate referrals.
"She actually submitted the help desk ticket and worked with our CRM team to make the new category,” said Valerie. “It was great when it came out in the release notes that this was due to her efforts, I forwarded it to her and said, ‘Way to go, Sydney!’”
Marketing Content & Process Improvement
- Reviewed outbound marketing emails and offered refinements.
- Audited and optimized Calendly workflows for efficiency.
- Evaluated testimonial footage to identify the most impactful moments for marketing content.
"I'll ask her for feedback because she has great ideas, and she's the one interacting with the clients on a daily basis," Valerie added.
The Results: A Sales Funnel That Converts
With Sydney at the helm of lead qualification, the process became more timely, personal, and effective.
“We’re spending money on these leads, and we want to get back to people in a timely manner,” said Valerie. “We want them to be seen and heard and know that they’re valued.”
"I know that every day emails will be taken care of that come in from prospective clients — that they will be responded to within the same business day," she added.
The improved experience not only helped prospective franchisees feel supported, but it also gave Valerie the breathing room to focus on strategy and growth.
"It’s provided a lot of space for me to focus again on those strategic items that we need in order to continue to grow," she said.
Most importantly, the numbers confirmed the impact:
"Our conversion rate has gone up 10 points since the beginning of the year, and I attribute that to a couple of different factors — one of which being Sydney having conversations with these prospective clients,” said Valerie. “She develops a rapport with them, and that helps our conversion rate."
"It’s very freeing to know that you have an extension of your team, that you’re able to build your team without necessarily bringing on additional headcount," said Valerie.
Sydney didn’t just fill a role. She filled a critical gap in the Goddard franchise development process and became a part of the team in the process.
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