A website families trust
Mission, outcomes, tuition and affordability, a virtual tour and a tour-booking button on every page, built mobile-first for parents researching at night.
Website Wizardry Explore our service: Web Design
Private Schools
Private School Marketing That Fills Tours and Grows Enrollment
Families decide faster than your admissions inbox. The Buttered System answers inquiries the moment they arrive, books tours automatically and keeps following up, even at 10 p.m., so more inquiries become enrolled students.
- Parent-directed marketing
- Media releases for every student photo
- Consent-based texting
- Inquiries by source
- Inquiry-to-tour rate
- Application-to-acceptance rate
Quick answer
How does Buttered Business help private schools?
Buttered Business helps private schools turn more inquiries into enrolled students. We build school websites and local SEO that reach families while they research, run admissions-season ads aimed at parents, and automate the inquiry-to-tour-to-application journey with instant replies, tour reminders and personalized video from your head of school. We also print viewbooks, open-house flyers and EDDM postcards.
Who we butter up
Built for Private Schools
Heads of school and directors of admission, enrollment or marketing at independent, faith-based, Montessori, classical and microschools. At smaller schools, one person often handles admissions and marketing together. Your board watches enrollment and re-enrollment, your team works in an admissions system such as Ravenna, Finalsite, Blackbaud or Veracross, and open-house season sets the pace for your year.
Made for: Private and independent K-12 schools
We Know How Admissions Season Really Feels
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Parents research schools at night and on weekends, after the kids are in bed.
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Open-house season and re-enrollment both land on the same small team.
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Families ask about tuition, aid and choice programs before they ask about anything else.
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Entry grades fill first, while middle-grade seats wait for the right family.
Where Enrollment Melts Away
Most families aren’t lost at the tour. They’re lost before it.
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Inquiries come in at night, and by Monday families have toured elsewhere.
Parents research after bedtime. The school that answers first gets the first tour.
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We have open seats in the middle grades.
Entry grades fill, then grades 5 through 8 wait for families nobody is marketing to.
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Families ask about ESA and voucher money, and our website doesn’t answer.
If affordability isn’t explained clearly, families assume they can’t afford you and never inquire.
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Our website looks dated next to newer schools.
Parents judge the school by the website long before they see the campus.
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Open-house RSVPs don’t show up.
Without reminders and a reason to come, sign-ups don’t turn into families in the room.
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We lose re-enrollments and don’t know why until it’s too late.
Attrition shows up in spring, but the warning signs appeared in the fall.
Good news: every one of these leaks has a fix.
See what we build for Private SchoolsWhat We Build for Schools
Websites, search, admissions automation, video and print that move families from inquiry to enrollment.
Local SEO for school searches
Pages and Google Business Profile work for searches like “private school near me” and “[faith] school in [city],” plus structured data that helps AI assistants describe your school accurately.
Inquiry-to-tour automation
An instant reply with a tour-booking link, reminders before the visit, a thank-you and application link after it, and nudges until the application is complete.
Head-of-school welcome videos
Personalized AI videos from your head of school, made with their written consent and labeled AI-generated, that greet each family by name and grade of interest.
Admissions-season ads aimed at parents
Search and social campaigns timed to your admissions calendar, aimed at parents and never at children, and measured by tours and applications.
A 24/7 admissions chat assistant
Answers common questions about tuition, aid and choice programs from the information you approve, and books tours after hours.
Viewbooks, open-house flyers and EDDM
Printed pieces and Every Door Direct Mail to family neighborhoods, each with a QR code to a tracked tour page.
Every-Door Spread Explore our service: EDDM Mailers
Take one slice or the whole loaf. Every service works on its own.
See every serviceThe Buttered System for Admissions
Five steps from first search to re-enrollment, aimed at parents and run on your admissions calendar.
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Step 1
Attract
Reach families while they research: local and AI search visibility, admissions-season ads aimed at parents, EDDM to family neighborhoods and “Now Enrolling” signs.
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Step 2
Capture
Make the first step easy: tour booking on every page, an inquiry form with separate, optional consent boxes and a 24/7 chat assistant for tuition and aid questions.
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Step 3
Follow up
Answer every family fast: an instant reply with a tour link, a personal call from admissions, a head-of-school video and a “day in grade X” story.
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Step 4
Convert
Turn visits into applications: tour reminders, same-day thank-yous with the application link, application nudges and reminders of real aid and program deadlines.
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Step 5
Retain
Keep the families you earned: welcome and onboarding messages, 30- and 90-day parent check-ins and early re-enrollment surveys.
The Numbers That Matter to Private Schools
Clicks and likes don’t pay the bills. Once you’re a client, reports focus on calls, leads, appointments and sales, and these are the KPIs your scoreboard is built around.
- Your numbers, not vanity metrics
- Results broken out by lead source
- Plain-English reports you can act on
- Inquiries by source
- Inquiry-to-tour rate
- Tour-to-application rate
- Application-to-acceptance rate
- Yield: accepted families who enroll
- Cost per inquiry
- Cost per new enrollment
- Re-enrollment and attrition rates
- Time to first response on inquiries
- Open-house show rate
- Enrollments supported by ESA, voucher or scholarship programs
Illustrative layout. Your scoreboard shows your own numbers, never anyone else’s.
Enrollment, by the Numbers
Every number links to its source.
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$3,677
median cost per new enrollment in the NAIS, EMA and NBOA cost-per-enrollment study
Source: NAIS Cost per Enrollment Study, 2022 (opens in a new tab)
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385
inquiries per NAIS member school in 2024–25, which led to 79 new enrollments
Source: NAIS Facts at a Glance, 2024–25 (opens in a new tab)
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7×
as likely to qualify a web lead when companies responded within an hour instead of an hour later (nearly 7×; cross-industry study)
Independent industry research, not Buttered Business client results. Tap a source to read it.
Check Your Follow-Up Speed
See what slow replies may cost in enrollments and compare channels by return. Your result shows right away, no email required.
The Cold Butter Calculator
Speed-to-Lead & Follow-Up Calculator
Tell us how fast you respond and how many times you follow up. You'll see your speed grade and the yearly follow-up gap.
+50 Butter Points
Your leads
What an enrollment is worth
Your speed grade
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That's fast. Make sure it stays that way after hours and on weekends.
Good, but the first 5 minutes are where the odds are best. Automation can close the gap.
Leads are cooling while they wait. An instant text and email reply keeps them warm.
By the time you call, many leads have already talked to someone else.
Among companies in the HBR study that did respond, the average response time was 42 hours. A free audit is the fastest way to start fixing it.
Most businesses don't know their real response time. A test inquiry is the only way to find out.
Left between attempt 2 and attempt 6, each year
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Each lead is worth about — to you. Your attempts reach about — of the leads who eventually buy; six attempts reach about 93%.
Six or more attempts cover the window where about 93% of eventual buyers are reached. Each lead is worth about — to you, so keep it up.
The attempt ladder
- 48% Try 1
- 70% Try 2
- 76% Try 3
- 82% Try 4
- 87% Try 5
- 93% Try 6
Share of eventual buyers reached by each attempt (Velocify vendor data, about 2013). Attempts 3 to 5 are straight-line estimates. Filled rungs are the attempts you make now.
Your full breakdown
You're Leaving Money Between Attempt 2 and Attempt 6. Want the Sequence That Covers It?
Your free Butter Report includes a 14-day follow-up sequence built from the channels you use, plus a simple speed-to-lead checklist for your team.
- 14-day, six-attempt follow-up sequence
- Speed-to-lead checklist
- The research behind your grade
+200 Butter Points when you unlock
Your full breakdown opens right here. No spam, and we never sell your information. We ask for your mobile so we can follow up about your report. We’ll only text you if you check the text-message box.
Unlocked
Your full breakdown
Your 14-day follow-up sequence
Six or more attempts over two weeks, mixing channels so it never feels like the same call twice. Channels you already use are marked; the others are worth adding.
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Minutes 0 to 5
- Phone calls
- Texts
Call right away. If you miss them, send a short text (only if they agreed to texts) and an email with your booking link.
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Day 1
- Phone calls
- Voicemail
Call again at a different time of day. Leave a short, friendly voicemail with one clear next step.
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Day 2
- Video
Email a 60-second personal video that answers their question and puts a face to your name.
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Day 4
- Phone calls
- Texts
Call once more. If it goes to voicemail, follow up with a short text, again only with consent.
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Day 7
Send something useful: a quick tip, a real example of your work or the answer to a question people often ask.
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Day 10
- Phone calls
- Texts
Make your sixth attempt. Keep it short and offer two specific times to talk.
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Day 14
Send a polite "Should I close your file?" email. It's honest, and it often gets a reply.
Stop the moment someone replies, books or asks you to stop. Only text, or use automated or AI calls, when the person has agreed to it, and keep to reasonable hours in their time zone. This isn't legal advice.
Speed-to-lead checklist
- Send every web lead to a phone in real time, not just to an inbox.
- Reply instantly by email, and by text when the person agreed to texts, so they know you are on it.
- Call within 5 minutes during business hours.
- Cover nights and weekends with an answering service or an AI voice agent that says it is an AI.
- Log every attempt in one CRM so nobody follows up twice or not at all.
- Plan six attempts over 14 days before you mark a lead cold.
- Once a month, submit a test inquiry to your own website and time the reply.
The research behind your grade
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In an audit of 2,241 U.S. companies, only 37% responded to a web lead within an hour, and 23% never responded. Companies that responded within an hour were nearly 7 times as likely to qualify the lead as those that waited an hour longer.
Harvard Business Review, 2011 -
Calling within 5 minutes instead of 30 came with 21 times higher odds of qualifying a lead and 100 times higher odds of reaching them. These are odds ratios.
MIT and InsideSales.com, Lead Response Management Study, 2007 -
About 48% of converted leads were reached on the first call, 70% by the second and 93% by the sixth. This is vendor data from about 2013, so treat it as a model.
Velocify, The Ultimate Contact Strategy
Your numbers
- Enrollments now, per month
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- More enrollments at six attempts
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- Follow-up gap per month
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- Follow-up gap per year
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Follow-up gap = customers now × (93% ÷ the share your attempts reach − 1) × deal value. It assumes your leads behave like the leads in Velocify's data.
Put your follow-up on autopilot
The Buttered System follows up with every lead by text, email, AI voice and personalized video, then nurtures until they book or buy.
How we calculated this: see the formula, a worked example and every source
Estimates for planning only; based on cited industry benchmarks. This model assumes your leads behave like the leads in Velocify's dataset. Your results will differ. It's an estimate, not a guarantee.
More free tools for private schools
Browse every free toolThe Return on Butter Calculator
Marketing ROI Calculator
Compare cost per lead, cost per customer, ROAS and ROI for every channel you pay for, side by side, from your real numbers.
The Butter Value Calculator
Lead Value & Customer Lifetime Value Calculator
Find what each lead and each customer is really worth, and the most you can afford to pay to win one. Formulas shown.
Student Privacy, Respected
Families trust schools with more than tuition. We build with that in mind.
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FERPA
Applies to schools that receive U.S. Department of Education program funds. Most private and parochial K-12 schools don’t receive that funding and so generally aren’t subject to FERPA, though exceptions exist. We treat student information as confidential either way.
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COPPA
The FTC’s amended COPPA Rule (effective June 23, 2025, with full compliance due April 22, 2026) applies to sites and services directed to children under 13 and requires separate parental consent before sharing children’s data for targeted advertising. Marketing pages and inquiry forms speak to parents, and ad pixels stay off any child-directed pages.
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IRS nondiscrimination notice
501(c)(3) private schools must state their racially nondiscriminatory policy in admissions materials and reference it in other written advertising (Rev. Proc. 75-50). Rev. Proc. 2019-22 lets schools meet the publicity requirement by posting the notice prominently on the homepage at all times.
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Student photos and video
Images of students are used only with signed parent or guardian media releases on file.
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Choice programs
Content about ESA, voucher and scholarship programs describes eligibility accurately, links to the official program and never promises awards.
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Texts and calls
Automated texts and calls to families need consent. Forms use separate, unchecked, optional consent boxes, and opt-outs are honored right away.
This is general information, not legal advice. Your school’s counsel and leadership approve policies and notices.
Read the full playbook Hide the full playbook
Private School Marketing, in Plain Terms
Private school marketing helps families discover your school, visit and apply, then keeps them enrolled year after year. It’s a long funnel. At NAIS member schools in 2024–25, 385 inquiries per school led to 79 new enrollments (NAIS). Every step between inquiry and enrollment is a chance to win a family or lose one.
Buttered Business helps you win more of those steps. We build school websites and local search visibility that reach families while they research, run admissions-season ads aimed at parents and automate the journey from inquiry to tour to application. We also print the viewbooks, open-house flyers and EDDM postcards that bring families to campus.
| What it is | Enrollment marketing, admissions automation and print for private schools |
|---|---|
| Built for | Independent, faith-based, Montessori, classical and microschools |
| What’s included | School website, local SEO, admissions ads, inquiry-to-tour automation, head-of-school video, a chat assistant and print |
| Follow-up | The Buttered System: an instant reply, tour reminders, application nudges and re-enrollment check-ins |
| Pricing | A custom quote in writing after your free audit |
| First step | A free audit of your website and inquiry form |
Why Families Slip Away Between Inquiry and Tour
Parents research schools at night and on weekends. If the reply arrives Monday afternoon, many families have already booked a tour somewhere else. Speed matters across industries: in research published in Harvard Business Review, companies that contacted a web lead within an hour were nearly 7 times as likely to qualify it as companies that waited even one hour longer. That study wasn’t about schools, but the lesson travels well.
Each lost inquiry is expensive to replace. The 2022 NAIS, EMA and NBOA study put the median cost per new enrollment at $3,677 (NAIS). Following up well with the families who already raised their hand is the least expensive enrollment growth there is.
How The Buttered System Works for Admissions
The Buttered System is our five-step growth engine: attract, capture, follow up, convert and retain. For schools, every step speaks to parents and runs on your admissions calendar.
Answer every inquiry right away
A new inquiry gets an instant email, plus a text if the parent opted in, with a tour-booking link, followed by a personal call from your admissions team. A 24/7 chat assistant answers tuition and aid questions from the information you approve and books tours after hours.
Turn tours into applications
Families get reminders before the visit, a thank-you and application link the same day and a short, personalized video from your head of school, made with their written consent and labeled AI-generated. Application nudges and true deadline reminders follow until the application is complete.
Explain affordability clearly
Many families ask about cost before anything else. Clear pages on tuition, financial aid and any ESA, voucher or scholarship programs your families use, with links to the official program sites, answer that question honestly. We never promise awards, because eligibility belongs to the program.
Make open houses count
RSVPs get a confirmation, a reminder two days out and another the morning of, with parking and schedule details. Families who attend get a same-day thank-you and application link. Families who RSVP and miss it get a friendly note offering a private tour, so a missed event doesn’t become a lost family.
Fill the middle grades
Entry grades often fill on their own. Middle-grade seats need their own pages, ads aimed at parents of children that age and a story about what a day in that grade looks like. Current families can help too, with a simple referral invitation for parents whose friends are weighing a switch.
Protect re-enrollment
Attrition shows up in spring, but warning signs appear in the fall. Onboarding messages, 30- and 90-day parent check-ins and early re-enrollment surveys surface concerns while there’s still time to act.
Bring families to campus
Viewbooks, open-house flyers, “Now Enrolling” signs and EDDM postcards to family neighborhoods carry a QR code to a tracked tour page, so print responses join the same follow-up.
Student Privacy and School Rules
Most private K-12 schools aren’t subject to FERPA, according to the U.S. Department of Education, but we treat student information as confidential anyway. The FTC’s amended COPPA Rule applies to anything directed to children under 13, so marketing speaks to parents and ad pixels stay off child-directed pages. Tax-exempt schools must publish their racially nondiscriminatory policy under IRS Rev. Proc. 75-50, and student photos appear only with signed media releases. This is general information, not legal advice.
Who This Is For, and Who It Isn’t
It’s a strong fit if inquiries arrive faster than your team can answer them, open-house turnout is slipping or middle-grade seats sit empty. It isn’t for schools that want marketing aimed at children or promises about scholarship awards. We don’t do either.
Where to Start
Request your free website audit to see how your site scores on SEO, speed, mobile experience, lead capture and AI search readiness, with a prioritized fix list. Then submit an inquiry on your own website tonight and time the reply. The Follow-Up Calculator shows what that response time may cost in enrollments, and the Marketing ROI Calculator compares which channels bring families who actually enroll. Use the results with us or without us.
Keep reading: A 7-Touch Follow-Up Sequence That Turns Cold Leads Into Booked Calls, on our Marketing Wisdom blog.
Sources
Every statistic and rule on this page links to where it came from.
- NAIS, Facts at a Glance 2024–25 (NAIS members) (opens in a new tab)
- NAIS, 2022 Independent School Cost per Enrollment Study (opens in a new tab)
- Harvard Business Review, “The Short Life of Online Sales Leads” (2011) (opens in a new tab)
- U.S. Department of Education, which institutions FERPA applies to (opens in a new tab)
- Davis Polk, amended COPPA Rule obligations (2025) (opens in a new tab)
- IRS Revenue Procedure 75-50 (opens in a new tab)
- Nonprofit Law Blog, private school nondiscriminatory policy and Rev. Proc. 2019-22 (opens in a new tab)
Don’t Take Our Word for It. Take Theirs.
Business owners from different industries describe working with Ken Henderson, in their own words.
For all your marketing needs, Sublime Digital Marketing and Ken Henderson to the rescue!
Everyone quoted here worked with founder Ken Henderson when his agency was called Sublime Digital Marketing Group. Same founder, new name. Quotes are excerpts, exactly as given. Results vary by business.
The Numbers Behind the Butter
Running totals from founder Ken Henderson’s client work, as reported by Ken.
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6.5K+
Leads generated
Source: Owner-reported
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99+
Businesses served
Source: Owner-reported
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$5.5M+
Revenue generated for clients
Source: Owner-reported
Owner-reported totals, not independent research. Your results will depend on your market, your offer and how fast you follow up.
Questions Admissions Teams Ask Us
Still chewing on something?
Ask a real person. You’ll get a straight answer about your situation, with no pressure.
How many inquiries does a private school need to enroll one new student?
Roughly five, based on recent NAIS data. At NAIS member schools in 2024–25, 385 inquiries per school led to 79 new enrollments. Faster follow-up and better tour conversion lower that ratio, which makes every marketing dollar go further.
How much does it cost to enroll a new student?
The 2022 NAIS, EMA and NBOA cost-per-enrollment study found a median cost per new enrollment of $3,677. Your number depends on your market and the grades you serve, so track it yourself and compare it with what each enrolled family is worth in tuition over the years they stay.
How fast should admissions respond to an inquiry?
Within the hour whenever you can, including evenings. Research published in Harvard Business Review found companies that contacted a web lead within an hour were nearly 7 times as likely to qualify it as those that waited even an hour longer. That study covered many industries, not schools specifically, but a fast, helpful reply is the easiest way to earn the first tour.
Does FERPA apply to private schools?
Usually not. The U.S. Department of Education says private and parochial K-12 schools generally don’t receive its program funding, so they aren’t subject to FERPA. There are exceptions, and families still expect confidentiality, so protect student records anyway.
Does COPPA affect our school website?
It can if any part of your site or app is directed to children under 13. The FTC’s amended COPPA Rule, with full compliance due April 22, 2026, adds separate parental consent for sharing children’s data for targeted advertising. Keep marketing and forms parent-directed and ad pixels off child-directed pages.
How should we market to families using ESAs or vouchers?
Explain affordability plainly: tuition, aid, the program amount where one applies and the family’s estimated net cost. Link to the official program site for eligibility and deadlines, and never promise an award. A clear affordability page answers the first question many families have.
What nondiscrimination statement must appear in our marketing?
Tax-exempt private schools must state their racially nondiscriminatory policy in admissions materials and reference it in other written advertising. Since 2019, the IRS has let schools meet the publicity requirement by posting the statement prominently on the homepage at all times.
What does it cost?
It depends on your enrollment goals, the grades you serve and which steps of The Buttered System you need. You’ll get exact pricing in writing after your free audit, before you commit to anything.
More Industries We Serve
Same system, different rules and numbers. See how it adapts.
Built & Buttered
Home Builders
Turn online browsers into booked model-home tours with builder SEO, community pages and follow-up that lasts your whole sales cycle.
The Butter Wrench
Home Services
Answer every call, follow up on every estimate and earn more reviews, with local SEO, AI call answering and neighbor print for home service pros.
Law Firms
Answer every inquiry, follow up with prospects who reached out and get found in search and AI answers, built with attorney advertising rules in mind.
Nonprofits
Keep more first-time donors with mobile-friendly giving, Google Ad Grants help, automated thank-yous and print that does more with less staff time.
Political Campaigns
Reach voters with campaign websites, digital ads, consent-based texting, yard signs and EDDM mailers, with disclaimer boxes built into every piece.
Turn More Inquiries Into Enrolled Families
Request your free enrollment marketing audit. You’ll see how families find you today, where your website loses them and the first fixes to make before open-house season.
Free. No obligation. You keep the report.
P.S. Submit an inquiry on your own website tonight. Note how long it takes to hear back and what the message says. That’s the first impression every family gets.