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New Video Tutorials Sharpen Admission Counselor Skills

February 2nd, 2016

During yield season we frequently hear this, “Our admissions team could benefit from a tune-up, reboot, transformation, or reinvigoration.”

Longmire and Company has answered that need by offering free video training tutorials on our website and YouTube channel aimed at making your counselors even better at their jobs. On our website you’ll find an ever growing list of admission counselor tutorials. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get even more. There you’ll find tutorials, up-to-date market data, co-sponsored study reports and a wealth of actionable information to help you with your recruiting efforts.

ITW_165x76Check out our Counselor Training Tutorials. At the heart of our highly-successful Interactive Counselor Training Workshop is a proven model of communication that counselors tell us is transformative. The model is simple and highly effective. Adopt this straightforward method and you will see greater success in your recruitment efforts. Our ever-expanding tutorial menu includes sessions covering these high–impact topics from the popular workshops we conduct at college campuses across the country:

  • Counselor Training Series Overview:  Longmire and Company believes that the conversations between prospective students and the colleges they are considering can be much richer and more fruitful for both. Having rich conversations with prospective students provides you with a greater understanding of each student’s unique needs, preferences, motivations, and how they will make their college selection decision. 
  •  Probing to Uncover Key Information about Prospective Students:  The vast majority of counselors don’t cover a sufficient number of topics with a prospective student. We tell you why you must probe and how to do so effectively.
  • Powerfully Presenting Your College’s Value Proposition:  Here’s how you can define your value to students and parents in a truly meaningful way.
  • Uncover and Break Through Objections and Concerns:  We show you how to turn questions, concerns, objections and indifference into conversations that lead to enrollment.
  • Take this Crucial Step Toward More Productive Conversations with Students:  Get the student to take the next logical step on the path to enrolling.
  • Learn to Differentiate Your College in a Compelling Way:  Break out of this trap: The students and parents you’re talking to are hearing the exact same thing from every other college they are considering.

The Counselor Training Series is just the beginning of the valuable free video tools we are making available to you. You can also check out our YouTube channel for more tutorials, powerful data from national YouTube_Horiz_200x90co-sponsored studies and interviews with some of your peers.

If you’ve thought about helping your staff with professional development, now is the ideal time to train and motivate your staff. Email or call me if you are interested in how we can help. Continue the conversation on Twitter @LongmireCo. For more information about Longmire and Company and the tools we have to offer, click here. Be sure to subscribe to Versions of Conversion today so you can stay up-to-date.

RHL_Photo_100x100Bob Longmire is President of Longmire and Company, Inc. He is a recognized expert on the topic of how prospective students and parents form their college selection decisions – and how colleges can use that knowledge to grow and control their enrollment. He can be reached at (913) 492-1265, ext 709 or at blongmire@longmire-co.com. Connect with Bob at Linkedin/in/boblongmire.

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Posted in Behavior, Closing the Sale, Conversion and Yield, Counselor Training, Organizational development, Research, Worthwhile Reading, Your Value Proposition

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Yield Nightmare 1 – Your Prospective Students Are Committed To Another College

January 12th, 2016

When does yield season really begin? Sooner than you may think. Much sooner.

In a recent study of nearly 12,000 prospective students across the country, we asked, “When did you make your emotional commitment to the college of your choice?”

As you can see on the graph below, nearly one-third of students make their final college selection decision before the end of March, and by the end of April that percentage rises to 57%. By May, 80% of students have made their final choice.Decision_Month_459x223

No doubt about it, students are making their college decisions NOW. And that puts more pressure on your admission team to cement the relationships you’re building with prospective students.

Recently an admission counselor confided to me that she has regular nightmares that the students she is recruiting have already made an “emotional commitment” to another school but haven’t shared that fact with her. “There have been students that I was sure were going to enroll with us that surprised me. When that happens, I feel like I have failed the student and the university,” she said. “This is the fear that keeps me up at night. What can I do?”nightmare

I told her exactly what I will tell you: There are actions that you can take today that will improve yield, and may even help you get a good night’s sleep.

Understand the student’s motivation.

You might be surprised to find that our research uncovered that nearly 40% of students make their ultimate choice based more on their excitement about the college than facts about the school.

What’s more, only 30% of prospective students consider cost the overriding factor in their college selection decision. So it’s likely that 70% of your pool will not be exclusively waiting to hear about your financial aid package before deciding which school is right for them. They may play the “other school is offering us more money” game to try to get more from you but, believe me, if you’ve gotten them excited they’ll ultimately come to you.

Demonstrate a genuine interest in the individual student.

We asked college-bound students if the colleges they were considering had taken a personal interest in them at any point in the recruiting process. The response was shocking. Two-thirds said “No” or “Don’t Remember” and in our view “Don’t remember” is the same as “No!”Personal_Interest_460x287

You may have heard the saying that “someone may forget what you said and forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” Showing a personal interest in each student makes them feel good about the college and it has a strong positive correlation to yield.

Smaller colleges may have an advantage in that they can more easily establish a one-to-one connection with a prospective student but that doesn’t mean that large colleges that recruit thousands of students cannot also give prospective students the sense that the institution cares about them as an individual. This is typically done by providing great customer service so that students can easily get what they need, when they need it, from people who seem delighted to provide it to them. This commitment and practice has a measurable impact on yield.

Be sure to ask this one KEY question.

We have found that the most successful admission counselors build relationships with their students and gain valuable personal insight about each and every one of them. They know whether or not cost is the most critical factor and what attributes of their college will excite the student.

With that knowledge in hand, they nurture a relationship with the student that best serves the needs of the individual. They stay in touch, ask questions and have meaningful conversations throughout the entire admissions process. And, they don’t get unpleasantly surprised when the student tells them he or she has opted for another college.

But, what if one of your prospective students has formed an emotional connection to another college long before you have firmed up any details with them? How can you know that? What can you do?

At various points throughout the recruiting cycle, most colleges will ask the question, “Are you still interested in us?” The real question colleges should ask is, “At this point, has any college captured your emotional commitment?”

If the answer is “yes,” don’t be discouraged. You have just been given a golden opportunity. Use your probing and supporting skills to present your college’s value proposition in a truly meaningful way. You are very likely to change some minds.

Continue the conversation on Twitter @LongmireCo.  For more information about Longmire and Company’s Yield Enhancement tool click here. [Subscribe to Versions of Conversion today so you don’t miss any of this highly-valuable information.]

RickMontgomery_100x100Rick Montgomery is as an Enrollment Strategist at Longmire and Company. With over 20 years in higher education marketing, he brings an innovative and dynamic approach to helping colleges and universities meet their enrollment goals. Rick can be reached at 913/492.1265 x.708 or via email at rmontgomery@longmire-co.com.

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Posted in Closing the Sale, Conversion and Yield, Counselor Training, Customer service, Research, Your Value Proposition

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Take this First Step Toward Increasing Yield TODAY

October 20th, 2015

[Part 2 of our Blog Series on the impact of pre- and post-enrollment customer service to increase yield at your college or university.]

 Customer service sealIn our last post, we shed some light on the pre-enrollment service perception problem – the fact that colleges and universities are losing potential students due to poor service during the courtship phase and the opportunities that exist for institutions to differentiate themselves by focusing on this single factor. Our studies have revealed that multiple factors such as responsiveness, grounds, food service, and interactions with faculty and admissions personnel strongly shape a student’s overall opinion of the institution and ultimately influence their final decision of where to attend.

You may know you need a pre-enrollment customer service improvement initiative, but with so many contributing factors it can be a challenge to know where to start.

Take the First Step:  Establish a baseline measurement to determine where you stand now vs. where you need be.

This will be the ground-level metrics that will drive high-level change so it is crucial that you gather insightful information from your prospective students.

According to George Brandt, a Forbes.com contributor and the author of The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan, “It’s frightening how many organizations say they care about customer satisfaction and how many of them are measuring the wrong thing the wrong way and then doing the wrong things with the information anyway.”

Baseline measurement guidelines:

Ask Questions

More specifically, ask the right people the right questions, at the right time.  This means you’ll want to keep the channel of communication open and working with prospective students and parents from the first moment of contact.

Cover All the Bases

As for the questions, try to elicit feedback about experiences during all touch points of the process. For example, you may want to include a set of questions about their pre-visit experiences with your department, another set of questions about campus cleanliness and security, another set of questions about follow up, and so on. Most importantly, ask them if you’ve moved their needle. Ask if, because of their experiences with you up to this point, they are more or less inclined to enroll. Give respondents the opportunity to share other thoughts, or open-ended feedback, to help you identify the issues that are most important them.

When we work with colleges to implement Service Quality Management (SQM), we elicit categorized responses. This is the key to helping you determine which initiatives to focus on for maximum impact.

Candor CountsService textbox

It can be a challenge to get completely honest input unless you use the services of an outside resource but it is absolutely crucial that you have anonymity built into your surveying efforts. Unless students and parents can be completely candid and not feel that they are burning bridges by being brutally honest with you, the feedback will be useless.

Compare and Contrast

Use the data from your surveys to compare and contrast your institution with others on multiple factors. This will help you identify unique strengths and opportunities where you can stand out from your competitors.  At the same time, it can focus your efforts where they will be most effective in the overall marketplace.

This approach was eye-opening for one of our SQM clients who were surprised to discover that scores they interpreted as “satisfactory” were far below the national average for other colleges. And, when their results were compared to those of competitive schools in their area, they were stunned to discover they were way off the mark in a number of key areas. “We expected to identify some areas of improvement,” the enrollment manager told us, “but the administration was shocked to find that our service delivery was impeding enrollment.” The end result? “We have made some simple changes that are making a huge difference already,“ she said.

In our next post, we will continue this conversation with more specific guidelines and tips for helping to improve the level of pre-enrollment service. We want to help colleges seize this opportunity to differentiate and attract more students through better service.  Call me if you have questions or need help in taking that all-important first step.SQM_Logo_160x120

Continue the conversation on Twitter @LongmireCo. For more information about Longmire and Company’s SQM tool and how you can measure and manage your pre-and post-enrollment service delivery, click here. Be sure to Subscribe to Versions of Conversion today so you don’t miss any of this highly-valuable information

Karen Full is a highly-respected higher education professional who has held positions in admissions and enrollment management at several institutions in the Midwest and Florida. With her vast experience working with large and small, public and private colleges, Karen brings a valuable perspective to her role as an Enrollment Strategist at Longmire and Company. Call Karen at 913/492.1265 x.711 or email her at kfull@longmire-co.com. Follow Karen on Twitter @KarenAFull.

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Posted in Campus Tours, Campus Visits, Closing the Sale, Conversion and Yield, Counselor Training, Customer service, Organizational development, Your Value Proposition

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The Business Principle You Can Adopt Today for Increased Yield

September 30th, 2015

[Part 1 of our blog series on how exceptional pre- and post-enrollment customer service can increase yield at your college or university.]

Imagine that your college is one of a handful of higher ed institutions in the country to receive a very prestigious award for Excellence in Service. Every person on your Customer service sealcampus would feel the pride of such an achievement. Imagine all the ways you could share this exciting news: banners, brochures, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more. This esteemed designation would most likely become the cornerstone of your recruitment efforts. Now, ask yourself this: Are we offering stellar pre-and post-enrollment service? Do you even know the answer to that question?

As an admissions professional, you know how crucial first impressions are. In our national co-sponsored study, Pre-Enrollment Service Study: How customer service delivery during the recruiting cycle influences enrollment, we found that over 53% of students and parents say that the pre-enrollment service they receive from a college influences their selection decision.

Whereas most businesses recognize the importance of customer service and laud accolades on those that excel in exemplary service, higher education has not typically made customer service a priority. For instance, how do you think colleges compare with services such as banks, hospitals or even the United States Postal Service? The truth is, all of these industries ranked higher in customer service satisfaction than colleges based on data we collected from thousands of students and parents nationwide. On top of that, more than half of students and parents questioned colleges’ commitment to providing a high level of service. Our study revealed that many colleges are currently flunking out when it comes to pre-enrollment service. Perhaps it’s time we look to other service industries and revisit Customer Service 101.

If you are searching for the singular way to differentiate your institution, take note:

Students and their parents say that service is one of the best ways to distinguish one college from another. The fact is: Prospective students and parents view the pre-enrollment service they receive as predictive of how the student will be served after enrollment. They will avoid colleges that exhibit bad service during the “college shopping” process. Through our Service Quality Management (SQM) studies at large and small, private and public, colleges across the country we have learned that breakdowns in pre-enrollment service delivery often outweigh perceptions of strength in areas such as academic quality, reputation of faculty, program offerings, and even scholarships and financial aid. Conversely, high levels of service often make an institution more attractive because of the perceived likelihood of favorable outcomes brought about through greater attention to the student’s individual needs.SQM_Logo_160x120

Longmire and Company’s Service Quality Management (SQM) tool explores the pre-enrollment customer service experiences that parents and prospective students have with your institution and that of other institutions, and how those experiences either enhanced or diminished their commitment to enrolling. SQM measures service experiences across numerous brand touch points of the institution. The impact on yield of delivering a high level of customer service is astonishing.

SQM and the data collected in our recent Excitement Factor national study show how important it is for an institution to deliver sustained and quality contact with students in each stage of the funnel. I can’t emphasize the word “quality” enough.

It’s easier than you think to measure the pre-enrollment customer service that you’re providing and how it impacts your yield rate. Many of our clients go through the exercise of measuring customer service across all brand touch points so that they can make an objective case for change to all of the departments that are not providing an ideal, or at least acceptable, level of service. Most people who work on a college campus understand the need to grow and shape enrollment. They often just don’t know how to do it. That’s why we always say that if you don’t measure it you can’t manage it.

Do you want to maximize yield? Measure and manage the way you communicate and respond to students and parents throughout the entire recruiting cycle. Do this and you’ll reap enormous benefits.

In our next post, we will continue this conversation with more specific guidelines and tips for helping to improve the level of pre-enrollment service. We want to help colleges seize this opportunity to differentiate and attract more students through better service.

Continue the conversation on Twitter @LongmireCo. For more information about Longmire and Company’s SQM tool and how you can measure and manage your pre-and post-enrollment service delivery, click here. Be sure to Subscribe to Versions of Conversion today so you don’t miss any of this highly-valuable information

RickMontgomery_100x100Rick 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. Rick can be reached at 913/492.1265 x.708 or via email at rmontgomery@longmire-co.com.

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Posted in Conversion and Yield, Customer service, Organizational development, Research, Your Value Proposition

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