Vacancy.care's customer user guide
With multiple ways of accessing many of the Vacancy.care features, we’ve put together an overview of the key features, plus simple guidance and a brief overview. Let's get you started!
Dashboard
The dashboard is the first thing you see when you log into Vacancy.care It’s where you gain access to key features.
Main menu
Accessed via the horizontal lines in the top left corner of the dashboard. The full menu includes all features that appear on the dashboard, along with extras options, eg/ Campaigns, Parent Reviews, etc.
Horizontal menu
Running along the top of the dashboard.
The horizontal menu incorporates -
Tasks - Create tasks and book service tours, assign dates and times, add notes to track important information.
Leads - Assign a lead to a family. Follow through from initial inquiry to enrolment.
Waitlist - Manage both your internal and external waitlist.
Families - Store all information related to families, including engagement, activity and opportunities.
Enrolled - Gain access to a comprehensive list of all enrolled families within the service.
Centre - Top right corner. For multiple centres. Toggle between individual centres from one central place.
Notifications - Bell icon - top right corner. Current notifications can be viewed here.
Account - Person icon - top right corner. Edit profile details, and different users. Logout here.
Quick access
Accessed directly below the horizontal menu on the dashboard.
+ New Family
Shortcut to add a new family.
+ Tour
Shortcut to manually book a service tour for an interested family.
Leads status
Capture leads in all stages of the sales process, from New Enquiry, to Waitlist, to Enrolled. Select any category to view further details.
My open tasks
See current tasks in the My Open Tasks panel. You can also Add Task + directly from the panel. Tasks options include: call, email, book a tour, review, general.
Basic information is required to create a task. Once created, select the task easily from the My Open Tasks panel to edit, add details, or change the status.
Task status - Changing the status helps track the progress of your task. Know what is underway, and what has been completed. Colour coded for easy recognition -
Not Started (blue)
In Progress (yellow)
Completed (green)
**Updating the status to Completed will resolve task. It will no longer appear in the My Open Tasks panel.
Add / create task
Tasks can be created directly from the My Open Tasks panel by selecting the Add Task + tab. Complete details (a red asterisk * denotes required details) then choose Add a Task.
Sales pipeline report
To the immediate right of My Open Tasks is the Sales Pipeline Report, which allows a snapshot of projected financials for the day, week, or the upcoming month.
Sales + tasks funnel
Toggle between the Sales Funnel & Tasks Funnel with the pink tabs in the top right corner of the panel.
Sales Funnel
See the progression of leads and track through the various stages:
Enquiry, Engaged, Tour Booked, Tour Completed, Waitlist, Offered, Enrolled.
Select an individual lead to view further details, or edit.
Tasks Funnel
See all tasks, organised into categories. Select an individual task to view further details or edit.
My tasks calendar
The My tasks calendar is concerned with internal tasks and meetings. Specific to an individual user’s calendar - but tasks can also be assigned to another user's calendar (applicable if service has more than more centre or user).
*Accessed from the dashboard, only when the Tasks Funnel tab is selected.
See a weekly view of your calendar. Add tasks directly by clicking anywhere on the calendar. Hover over calendar items to view essential task information. Select the eye icon to edit, or view, details. Learn more here.
Tasks and tours
Accessed via the horizontal menu on the Vacancy.care dashboard - Tasks.
View a complete list of all tasks and service tours, filtered into categories: Future - Overdue - Completed - All.
Task status - changing the status helps track the progress of your task. Know what is underway, and what has been completed. Colour coded for easy recognition -
Not Started (blue)
In Progress (yellow)
Completed (green)
Change task status - from the right side of Tasks & Tours screen by selecting the task status, or within an individual task.
Updating the status to Completed will resolve a task. It can still be viewed when filtered under Completed tasks.
Select an individual task, or tour booking, to view or edit details - click through to linked family members. Email or phone directly. Reschedule meetings. Add notes. See a record of previous activity.
Worth noting - General tasks don't require a family or child assigned.
*TIP - look out for three vertical dots - to the right-hand-side of an individual task or tour. Quick access to edit or delete.
Service tours
Booking a tour
Directly
A family can book an appointment via the Vacancy.care appointments calendar - an embedded link on your service website (*we can assist with this), or by copying the tour booking link to send to the family.
Manually
Book on behalf of a family you’ve been in contact with and pre-organised a tour date and time.
Appointments Calendar
The appointments calendar records centre-wide, external, appointments like service tours, parent meetings or orientations. With the opportunity to block-out unavailable periods set by you.
Calendar - accessed via Main menu > Appointments calendar > Appointments calendar
Tour booking link - accessed via Main menu > Appointments calendar > Website links.
Manually tour bookings in Vacancy.care
Booking a service tour can be done on behalf of a family via the Tasks & Tours View screen (select Create Task or Tour + tab in the top right), or via the + Tour shortcut on the CRM dashboard.
Worth noting/ if a family is not already stored within Vacancy.care they’ll need to be added before a tour can be booked. Families can be added with the + New Family shortcut via the CRM dashboard.
Adding information about the enrolling child or notes on the family, will make the tour experience more personalised eg/ if you know the family are new to the area, add this into the booking description. 
*TIP - when booking a tour manually an email address and phone number are essential for automated follow-ups. Examples of automated follow-ups include -
- Confirmation of the tour booking.
- Reminder SMS prior to tour commencement.
- Request for feedback once the tour has been marked as completed.
Appointments Calendar
Main menu > appointments calendar > appointments calendar
The Appointments Calendar is concerned with external appointments, therefore providing an overview of all booked service tours, orientation appointments and parent meetings. Updated in real-time, the calendar schedule can be viewed daily, weekly, or monthly.
Unlike the My Tasks Calendar, the Appointments Calendar is service-wide, not specific to individual users’ calendars. Due to this, any meeting booked into the Appointments Calendar will appear greyed-out for all CRM users, ensuring no other meetings are accidentally booked simultaneously.
*TIP - worth noting... other meetings can also be booked into the appointments calendar by CRM users, within the same or an overlapping timeslot. A warning message will alert the user and they can choose to book another timeslot, or alternatively override the warning. We trust you know your business best and can schedule meetings that may overlap, perhaps requiring different team members to be present.
Families booking a service tour will only have access to book a free timeslot. They won’t see your other appointments, just “unavailable” periods on the calendar.
From within the calendar - add new appointments via the + Appointments tab in the top-right or block-out unavailable periods, like public holidays, via the + Unavailable tab in the top-right.
Calendar Availability
Set your service’s availability so families booking a tour have some limitations. Access in two ways -
Set calendar availability - from the top left corner within the Appointments Calendar, or, via Main menu > Appointments calendar > Availability settings.
Setting hours and unavailable periods
For days that your service accepts tour bookings, set the hours that work best, eg/ 2pm-6pm Mon-Wed, 10am-5pm Thur.
During this time you can also allocate a break - perhaps during rest time - when tour bookings won’t be accepted.
Tour bookings link
Website links are available from within acancy.care that can be emailed to families. Code can also be accessed to embed a tour link onto service website. Both accessed via Main menu > Appointments calendar > Website Links.
Appointments Calendar Link
The link allowing families to access the Appointments Calendar, and therefore book a tour online, can be copy-pasted and sent via your service email.
Tour booking button
The code to embed a Tour Booking button into your service website is also accessible within website links. Ask your developer to add to your website, or we can assist you.
Once a tour is booked
Once a tour is booked online via the Appointments Calendar (or manually through Vacancy.care) reminders and follow-up emails will be sent automatically from Vacancy.care. Service tour bookings, orientation appointments and the entire offer-and-acceptance process can be followed through from within the CRM. Read more about this in Vacancy.care automation flows.
Leads
Accessed via the horizontal menu on the Vacancy.care dashboard - Leads (New Leads)
Leads are classified into stages (Sales Funnel) that include -
Enquiry > Engaged > Tour Booked > Tour Completed > Waitlist > Offered > Enrolled > Graduated
With multiple columns, the leads page contains details on each family. From the date they were created in Vacancy.care to contact details, and whether the family has siblings, etc. Scrolling right allows you to access this information.
Follow a family from initial contact (Enquiry), through the stages leading to enrolment. Archive accordingly (Graduated) when a child leaves care.
The Leads page focuses on the pre-enrolment stages
Filter under the following pre-enrolment stages - Enquiry, Engaged, Tour Booked, Tour Completed to help manage the pre-enrolment process.
The advanced option (filter on/off) allows an in-depth search, specifying dates, days of the week, sales stages, etc.
Updating Stages
Update each stage as it progresses through the funnel to assist with the management of enquiries and enrolments.
Manually updating Stage from the Leads page -
Under the “Stage” column, select the family you wish to update > hover over the stage > a pink “pencil” icon will appear > select pencil to open a pop-up editing window.
In the editing pop-up window, select the dropdown box (set to Tour Booked in below example) > choose the new stage from the list > hit the pink “Update” button to update the stage.
Automation
Certain stages update automatically, like when a family accepts an offer of care online their stage updates from Offered to Enrolled within Vacancy.care.
The top right-side of the horizontal menu allows access to a “Search” field (enter a parent or child’s name and hit enter to search). There’s also the option to Create Family + directly from the top right-hand-side of the Leads page.
Families
Accessed via the horizontal menu on the Vacancy.care dashboard - Families.
An overview of all families stored within Vacancy.care.
Families can be accessed from here, irrelevant of whether they have an enrolled child in the service or not.
Icons used throughout Vacancy.care provide information. Examples are include -
Person icon - indicates a parent. Pink or blue offers their gender.
Child icon - indicates a child. Pink or blue indicates their gender.
Pink “e” icon - indicates whether a family is currently enrolled. An “e” next to a child identifies which child a family is currently enrolled. If not enrolled, they're possibly an opportunity for the service.
To locate a specific family, use the search bar in the top right. Search the parent or child’s name and hit enter.
Families consist of parents, children and opportunities
All related information is stored together, in one place, including specific notes. Track all engagement and activity with the family.
Add a family
To add a new family, select the pink Create Family + in the top right.
- Enter details of one or both parents. Store phone numbers, emails, home address and notes.
- Add a child to the family - store name and date of birth.
- Mark whether the child qualifies for priority access.
- Give conversations and sales a personal touch by adding details/notes to both family and child eg- “mother is pregnant with third child, due in September”.
- Flag whether the child has a sibling which may be a future opportunity for your service.
- Multiple children can be added to each family.
Add an opportunity
Opportunities are added to a child (*not a family or parent).
Within the Families page, select a child then choose from the different options to add an opportunity.
Opportunities include information such as -
Start date; room or age group the child intends to enrol in; the number of days the family has requested; whether the family requires specific days or is flexible regarding those days.
An example -
A child has been added to an after-school-care waitlist. Parent has emailed the specific details of this request. The child is added directly to the waitlist by you, the CRM user. A confirmation email is sent to the parent via Vacancy.care. When a vacancy becomes available, refer to waitlist, and offer a place to the family from within the CRM.
Assign a stage to the opportunity
- To easily track opportunities through the sales funnel, each opportunity is assigned a specific stage. Follow a family from initial contact Enquiry, through the stages leading to Enrolled.
- Archive accordingly when a child leaves care.
- Using the example above, which is the Waitlist stage. When a vacancy becomes available the stage will progress. It would therefore be updated to Offered and eventually Enrolled.
Updating Stages from within the Families page
Manually update each stage as it moves through the sales funnel to manage enquiries and enrolments.
Select the Child then edit the Opportunity to update the stage, along with any other details within the opportunity.
Automation
Certain stages update automatically. An example of this is when a family accepts an offer of care online, their stage updates
from Offered to Enrolled within Vacancy.care.
QUICK GUIDE -
Create family > add parent / parents > add child / children > add opportunity > select a stage in the sales funnel.
Waitlist
Accessed via Horizontal menu > Waitlist
An at-a-glance view of all opportunities saved on your waitlist. Relevant information including - the date a family joined the waitlist, child’s name & age; days required, etc.
Use the simple search option in the top-right to search for a parent or child, or the filter options along the top to help sort between who is at Waitlist stage, and who has been Offered a place, but not accepted yet.
*Worth noting - adding a child directly via the Waitlist page is dependent on the situation
- New families - select the pink Create Family + option in the top-right of the Waitlist page, add the family, then add a child (or Opportunity) to the family, selecting the stage as Waitlist.
- Existing families - Go to the Families page, accessible from the main menu within the CRM. Search for the family, and update the stage on an existing child/opportunity to Waitlist. If the child (*perhaps a sibling) is not already stored in the CRM, add a new child
- and choose Waitlist as the stage.
From the Waitlist page, access, view and edit information within the Parent's profile and the Child's profile by selecting them directly.
Parent Child
Edit the Stage in the sales pipeline directly from the Waitlist page by selecting it, choosing the new stage and saving.
Auto management
The auto management option along the top of the waitlist page allows Vacancy.care users to set regular email prompts for families on your service waitlist - at intervals of your choosing. Ensuring the families on your waitlist still require care.
Smart wizard
Accessed from within the Waitlist page, Smart Wizard is located along the top.
Smart Wizard guides you through select questions, with the aim being to match the best opportunities with the vacancy on offer.
Whether this means a priority family; a sibling; an enrolled child needing extra days; or is a business decision based on days requested, Smart Wizard will assist by narrowing the possibilities.
Chat to us
Access the Vacancy.care chat in the bottom right corner of your screen. Look for the blue icon to gain access to the knowledge base - offering a wealth of information about all areas of Vacancy.care - or to chat directly to a staff member who can answer questions and offer assistance.