CECES accelerates member services with WhatsApp Business Platform

The Hong Kong Council of Early Childhood Education & Services (CECES) is a recognised charity established 42 years ago in Hong Kong. Its mission is to promote innovative educational experiences, helping children to develop multiple intelligences through hands-on activities beyond the traditional classroom setting.

Non-profit challenges in member engagement

Low efficiency and missed inquiries via phone communication

CECES organises various educational activities, including multiple intelligence courses, teacher training, parent-child workshops, seminars, and field trips. They serve a diverse audience, including parents, teachers, school administrators, government departments, partners, and sponsors, receiving numerous inquiries daily. 

Previously, they handled inquiries via phone and email. However, project officers have different responsibilities, and when the responsible staff member is out, they cannot respond immediately. This often requires colleagues to relay messages, making the process time-consuming and prone to missed inquiries.

Low member engagement from social media posts and email promotions

CECES has implemented a membership system for many years, offering benefits such as exclusive activities, course discounts, and shopping discounts to attract thousands of parents. They used to interact with members mainly through Facebook posts and email communications, regularly sharing the latest activities and course information. However, the one-way promotion method had low interaction, with email open rates often in single digits.

SleekFlow’s solutions and outcomes

1. Launching an official WhatsApp Business Account for easier member recruitment 

CECES successfully applied for WhatsApp green tick verification through SleekFlow and first promoted the official WhatsApp inquiry channel at the 2024 Eugene Baby Expo. They found WhatsApp very convenient for recruiting new members because the official account had high credibility, and parents could easily obtain membership forms by scanning a QR code on WhatsApp. 

As a result, during the three-day event, they successfully attracted over a thousand parents to contact them via WhatsApp. Besides physical activities, CECES also holds occasional prize games where participants can claim prizes through WhatsApp, effectively converting social media followers and event participants into WhatsApp contacts.

2. Using a chatbot to categorize inquiries and collect contextual information upfront

CECES set up a chatbot that automatically answers most questions from parents, schools, and partners to improve inquiry handling efficiency. When someone wants to apply for an activity, the chatbot pre-collects registration information and assigns the conversation to the designated staff based on the inquiry type. This greatly enhances work efficiency and facilitates handling inquiries outside office hours.

For example, the Premature Baby Support Program provides ultra-small diapers for the most vulnerable babies weighing as little as one pound. Parents who couldn't reach them outside office hours naturally felt anxious and worried during the sudden early arrival of their baby. Now, they can click on the WhatsApp chat plugin on the website to learn about the application eligibility and submit information through the chatbot. The assigned staff member can start processing the application immediately, significantly reducing parents' waiting time and providing peace of mind.

SleekFlow has become indispensable to our work. The chatbot collects information and hands it to a human for follow-up, allowing us to process applications efficiently and easily hand over tasks using internal notes in customer chats.

Ms. Sansan Ching

Director, The Hong Kong Council of Early Childhood Education and Services

3. Sending targeted WhatsApp promotions yield a 5x higher response rate than email

CECES uses SleekFlow's CRM features, such as labels and lists, to categorize WhatsApp contacts based on information collected by the chatbot, such as school district, children's age, and membership start date. This lets them quickly generate highly granular member segments for marketing broadcasts. When a new service is launched, the team selects the most relevant labels or lists as audiences, reaching many members simultaneously, which is more precise and proactive than using social media for promotion.

In 2024, CECES launched Hong Kong's first OceanTech Education Programme and published a survey on marine conservation in all primary schools and kindergartens in Hong Kong. They used SleekFlow to send WhatsApp messages inviting members to complete the survey, achieving a 62% read rate and a 5.35% completion rate, five times higher than email.

4. Facilitating registrations through WhatsApp with 20% higher application rate

CECES has introduced WhatsApp registration to streamline school and group sign-ups for their activities. For example, the Country Park Kindergarten School Visit Program, supported by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, is a popular environmental education project attracting nearly 200 kindergartens annually. In 2024, using WhatsApp for promotion and registration increased the registration rate by 20% compared to traditional forms and Google Forms, making it more convenient for colleagues to manage subsequent administrative and contact work.

About CECES

The Hong Kong Council of Early Childhood Education and Services (CECES) was founded in 1982 as a charitable NGO under the Hong Kong Government Inland Revenue’s Section 88. Their mission is to provide informal, out-of-school learning with the aim of nurturing children’s many talents through hands-on, experiential learning. In addition to its regular English language curricula and Healthy Living programmes, the organisation focuses on environmental sustainability and nature-based learning in the coming decade. They mainly support children from low-income and disadvantaged families so that all children may enjoy our numerous education services under non-stressful and joyful conditions.