[Today we kick off our Counselor Training Blog Series where you will find valuable and dynamic information to build a stronger recruitment team.]

At the heart of our highly-successful Interactive Counselor Training Program is a proven model of communication that counselors tell us is transformative. It is simple and effective. Adopt this straightforward method and you will see greater success in your recruitment efforts.

By using this model properly, both you and the student will be better served because you will understand the individual student’s needs and preferences, and that will allow you to present the value of your institution in a way that will most resonate with THAT student.

While the model may be simple, your skill in executing it makes all the difference. Swinging a bat is simple. Great execution makes for batting champions.

The 4-step process begins with PROBING, which really just means asking the student a lot of great questions that have both scope and depth.

In any conversation you have with a prospective student, whether it’s your first or your fifth, and regardless of where you are in the recruiting cycle, you need to probe. You HAVE to ask questions.

Most counselors think they already do this. But in our training workshops with admissions counselors across the country, we see two common mistakes:

First, the questions being asked don’t penetrate deeply enough to uncover all of the student’s motivations, assumptions, concerns, preferences and influencers in their college selection decision.

Secondly, we see questions asked that do little more than give the counselor an opportunity to talk about the college.

The key is to turn the focus of the conversation toward the individual student. Information you provide about the college must relate to only those things the student has told you is important in their college selection decision or, frankly, it is meaningless.

When you have asked enough questions to have a full understanding of the student’s unique preferences, you are ready to talk about your college and demonstrate how your institution can best meet their individual needs.

This next phase of the model is called SUPPORTING and this is where you’ll discuss your institution’s benefits and values, and you’ll naturally focus on what you know is important to them.

Supporting is an art in itself.

With practice, you’ll be able to not only INFORM the student that you have what they want but you’ll also get them excited about attending your college. The various ways you can support are too numerous to detail here but it’s the part of the conversation where a student’s interest in you will either get stronger or weaker.

The third step of the communications model involves DEALING WITH CONCERNS OR OBJECTIONS.

First, you have to find out if any exist.

That may sound easy but we have learned that most counselors don’t do it.

And, when you don’t do this you are left scratching your head, wondering why the student you fully expected to enroll chose another college. Again, probing comes into play here. You’re searching for concerns, objections, or indifference.

When you find them, you have to deal with it.

Maybe the student’s concern is based on a false assumption about your school. If so, you need to correct it.  Maybe they’re worried about something. If so, you need to reassure them. You can’t address their concerns or objections if you don’t uncover them and you can’t uncover them if you aren’t asking the right questions.

Once you have uncovered and dealt with any objections, you are ready for the fourth and  final step in the communication model: CLOSING.

Closing simply means getting the student to take the next logical step on the path to enrolling.

You know there are many milestones on that path. But in every conversation you should end with a suggestion that the student take the next step. If the student resists, you have to circle back to uncover their objection or concern.

The model of communication and its four elements is a simple approach to having great, productive conversations that benefit both you and the students you are recruiting.

Remember, the goal is to best serve the student by truly understanding what they need and want which will ultimately make both you and the student more successful.

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[This is Part 1 in our Series: Counselor Training for Recruitment Success. Subscribe to Versions of Conversion today so you don’t miss any of this highly valuable information. In Part 2, we will take an in-depth look at skillful  probing techniques.]

Rick Montgomery is as an Enrollment Strategist at Longmire and Company. With over 20 years in higher education marketing, he brings an innovative approach to helping colleges and universities meet their enrollment goals.