Versions of Conversion

A blog on managing enrollment and yield

Posts Tagged ‘admissions’

New Study Underscores Volatility of First Choice College

April 8th, 2015

Many students enter the college selection process with, at a minimum, one or two colleges that are at the top of their list of preferred schools. It’s inevitable that some students will replace their initial first choice college with another institution they find more attractive during the course of their selection process. But how often does this happen?

More often than you think! Roughly 40% of students from the pools of public and private colleges swap out their former first choice school with another institution during their college selection process. This happens in about 25% of cases for prospective community college students.

Excitement_Factor

What motivates students to change their minds? And, more importantly, what can you do about it?

As you probably suspected, one factor is cost. Among those students bound for four-year institutions, approximately half replace their first choice college for one that costs less.

The issue of affordability is a tough one to tackle as an admissions counselor. (We have previously addressed proven strategies for presenting your institution’s unique value proposition in a manner that will take you from “too expensive” to “totally worth it.” See here.)

However, there are times when it is not going to be within your power to make the cost of your college feasible for a student you would like to enroll and they will find a better financial fit elsewhere.

Here is the good news: You do have control over the factors that are influencing the remaining pool of students who are likely to make a change. In the soon-to-be-released study, The Excitement Factor!, which explores how students arrive at that decision point, we uncovered that half of students that change their minds, do so for one of two reasons:

Perception of better quality at another college
Greater excitement about attending another college

You can protect your school from losing prospective students by presenting your college’s value proposition in a powerful, highly-personalized way. You and your team have been working for months to create student excitement about your institution. Every promotional brochure, email, campus tour, press release, personal conversation, every single effort you have put forth to make your class, has been designed to emphasize your college’s unique attributes in a way that will spark the enthusiasm of your prospective students.
But, it you aren’t asking direct questions about how a student feels, how excited (or not) they are about your college, how they feel about your college and the others they are considering, you will not learn what you need to do to change false perceptions and generate the kind of excitement that will lead to enrollment.

We encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and ask questions of students and parents that you have never asked before. Don’t worry that those questions will be too intrusive. We have done years of research on this topic, talking with hundreds of thousands of college-bound students and their parents, and have never found these questions to be considered invasive. We do, however, hear frequent complaints from students that the counselor did not attempt to get to know them better.

Best strategy: Listen to what they say. Listen for how you can help them. Ask penetrating questions and your prospective students will know that you truly want to get to know them more as a person.

We help colleges and universities with their recruiting efforts every day, especially now during yield season. If we can help you, please let me know.

If you would like a copy of The Excitement Factor! as soon as it is released, you can CLICK HERE to send us an e-mail to put you on the distribution list.

Continue the conversation on Twitter @LongmireCo. For more information about Longmire and Company’s Interactive Counselor Training Program, click here. Be sure to Subscribe to Versions of Conversion today so you don’t miss any of this highly-valuable information.

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. 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, Research, Your Value Proposition

Tags: admission counselor training admissions admissions counselors admissions customer service admissions success college college admissions college presidents college recruiting college recruitment enrollment management finding the right college fit higher ed higher education branding higher education marketing higher education strategies higher education value longmire and company Longmire and Company study staff training value proposition yield enhancement

The “AHA!” Moment: Create Student Excitement to Drive Enrollment

April 6th, 2015

Last Spring, we conducted a series of focus groups on college campuses with students who had recently completed the college selection process and were now enrolled in college.

While we were exploring their individual experiences, one student wearing a t-shirt with the college’s logo raised his hand and said, “I remember the EXACT moment I knew this college was the right one for me.” Intrigued, we asked him to explain.

He went on to describe how he had whittled his short list down to three colleges but was still uncertain. They all had what he wanted and all were going to be affordable for his family, he said. On a whim, he decided to visit one of the campuses again. “I was alone,” he said. “I didn’t tell anyone. I just wanted to walk around.”

He described how he was walking through one of the academic buildings. The halls were empty because students were in class. “Then,” he said, “class let out and I was in a sea of college students streaming through the hallway.”

He continued. “I just flowed along with them. I looked around, saw all these people, and felt like I belonged here. Right then I made my decision. I can’t even explain it. I just knew it was right.”

Other students in the focus group had been listening intently and nodding their heads. We asked if anyone else had a similar experience. Hands shot into the air.

That day, nearly every student in the focus group shared a specific story about their “AHA!” moment. They didn’t explain it in rational terms. They described it as an emotional epiphany. They remembered the moment in great detail; where they were, who was with them, the time of day, the weather, even what they were wearing.

Most of all, they remembered the wave of excitement they felt at that instant. They had found their college.

Next week, we will release the findings from a groundbreaking study, The Excitement Factor, which explores how students arrive at that decision point. And what colleges do to cultivate it. Our deep dive on the topic provides even stronger proof that yield is closely associated with student feelings.

Joining in this nationally co-sponsored study were forty institutions including four-year public and private not-for-profit institutions, as well as community colleges. More than 12,000 students participated in the research. Each co-sponsoring institution received proprietary data specific to their institution, but we will share the aggregate report and key findings. If you would like a copy of The Excitement Factor as soon as it is released, you can CLICK HERE to send us an e-mail to put you on the distribution list.

The findings offer valuable insights and specifics that you can use to create student excitement about your college that will drive enrollment. We will delve into many of The Excitement Factor discoveries on this blog, too. There will be findings that validate what you have always suspected, and there will be quite a few surprises as well.

Continue the conversation on Twitter @LongmireCo. Be sure to Subscribe to Versions of Conversion today so you don’t miss any of this highly-valuable information.

Bob 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.

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Posted in Behavior, Closing the Sale, Conversion and Yield, Counselor Training, Organizational development, Research

Tags: admission counselor training admissions admissions counselors admissions customer service admissions success college college admissions college branding college enrollment college presidents college recruiting college recruitment enrollment management finding the right college fit higher ed higher education branding higher education marketing higher education strategies longmire Longmire and Company study value proposition yield enhancement

Yield Enhancement Series: The Final Push – Share and Learn From Your Peers

April 1st, 2015

[This is Part 8 of the Yield Enhancement Series: The Final Push, offering actionable and effective strategies for the closing weeks of the yield season.]

Tonight, Longmire and Company is honored to be the featured guest of the Twitter chat group #EMChat at 9 p.m. (ET). We hope you will join us for a lively discussion about how to have richer and more productive conversations with prospective students.

The topic is particularly timely, because our research tells us that that nearly 50% of students will make their emotional commitment to a college in the next eight weeks. I can’t over emphasize this point: Every single conversation, every interaction you have with a student or a parent right now, should be focused on how you can get that student to the highest state of excitement about enrolling at your college.

If you aren’t already following #EMChat, you are missing out on a wealth of valuable information from an online community of higher education enrollment management professionals interested in advancing the field. Since founding the group in 2011, Alex Williams (@AlexMWilliams), Jennielle Strother (@EMjennielle) and Jillian Hiscock (@jhiscock) have been bringing admission professionals, counselors, directors, VPs, and higher education partners, firms, and consultants together to tackle enrollment and admissions issues.

What makes EMChat unique and especially constructive is the top-notch caliber of enrollment management professionals it attracts. For instance, tonight’s chat will be moderated by Stephen Ostendorf (@Ostendorff), a highly-respected and enormously successful higher-education marketing specialist.

Our own Karen Full (@KarenAFull) has been a moderator and devotee of EMChat for several years and will be part of tonight’s discussion. When Karen joined Longmire and Company as an Enrollment Strategist last year, after an impressive career in enrollment management, she brought along her passion for higher education and admissions and she will share her distinctive perspective with you tonight.

In tonight’s chat we will explore the core issues relating to your communications with the students you are hoping to admit, such as:

How do your conversations and interactions with prospective students improve yield?
What actions can you and your team take to improve your marketing and interactions with prospective students?
How do admissions reps sometime “get in their own way” when working with prospective students?
What are the most common concerns/objections you are currently encountering from your admitted students and how do you deal with them?

Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to share ideas with admissions professionals who have the same challenges that you are facing every day.

At Longmire and Company we believe that the conversations between prospective students and the colleges they are considering can be much richer and more fruitful for both. When that happens, both sides are better served. We give colleges a greater understanding of what motivates individual students to select a college and remain enrolled. Our products and solutions help institutions realize greater efficiency and productivity in their recruiting practices. We help colleges and universities with their recruiting efforts every day, especially now during yield season. If we can help you, please let me know.

We will soon be releasing the findings of our national co-sponsored study on the impact of a student’s excitement about attending a college on the ultimate college decision. If you would like a copy of our Excitement Factor report as soon as it is released you can CLICK HERE to put your name on the distribution list.

Continue the conversation on Twitter @LongmireCo. For more information about Longmire and Company’s Interactive Counselor Training Program, click here. Be sure to Subscribe to Versions of Conversion today so you don’t miss any of this highly-valuable information.

Bob 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.

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Posted in Behavior, Organizational development

Tags: admission counselor training admissions admissions counselors admissions customer service college admissions college enrollment college presidents college recruiting college recruitment EMChat enrollment management higher ed higher education marketing higher education value longmire and company staff training yield enhancement

Yield Enhancement Series: The Final Push – One Thing That Can Derail Your Recruiting Success

March 25th, 2015

[This is Part 7 of the Yield Enhancement Series: The Final Push, offering actionable and effective strategies for the closing weeks of the yield season.]

It’s a safe bet that most students in your admit pool have something that they don’t want to share with you. Maybe it’s a concern. Or something they flat out don’t like about your college. Or a negative perception that’s based on a false assumption. It may be huge or it may be small, but it is the one thing that could derail their plan to enroll at your college.

Over many years, we have found that nearly every student has a hidden concern or objection that could disrupt their path to enrolling. Even the most skilled admissions counselors often find it difficult to uncover these “secrets.” Why don’t students open up and share their concerns with you? Typically, for one of these two reasons: A) Your prospective students are genuinely kind and don’t want to hurt your feelings, or B) they are concerned they will reveal something that will hurt their chance of being admitted.

We know this to be the case because although they won’t tell you, they have told us. We provide a tool called the Yield Enhancement System (YES) that gathers key information from students at a crucial point in their college selection process – after they have applied. YES gathers candid information from students in a college’s admit pool about their needs, preferences, perceptions and plans, including which colleges are truly under final consideration and what they are most concerned about.

Over the years we’ve asked more than a million college-bound students a simple question: Tell us your top-three colleges, then tell us your positive and negative impressions of each college.

Very often, we find that the one thing troubling the prospective student is actually a misconception. We see this time and time again, even among those students who completed extensive research, toured the campus and received exceptional one-on-one counseling. And, almost always, the concerns can be addressed and overcome, if only you, the counselor, can uncover them.

Let me share some actual unedited concerns we have uncovered from students about the colleges and universities they are seriously considering:

“THERE ARE MANY LOCATIONS, WHERE ONE MIGHT GET LOST.” (The college is under 1500 students and situated on about 6 acres of land.)
“THE BUILDINGS ARE OLD AND DANGEROUS.” ( The buildings at this celebrated university have been standing for quite some time on a campus that is considered one of the most beautiful, and well-kept, in America.)
“LACK OF SOCIAL ACTIVITY.” (This was a big surprise to the admissions department of this college that consistently gets high rankings for being one of the most social in the nation.)
“FRESHMEN CAN’T DRIVE ON CAMPUS.” (Confused with another school? At this school all students drive wherever they want.)
“CROCODILES GET IN THE DORMS.” (It’s true that this big, beautiful Florida campus has lakes that crocodiles live in – and occasionally sun themselves on the shores of – but none of the adored reptiles has ever made its way into a dorm.)

You can uncover hidden objections and help the student make an informed decision about which institution is the best fit for him or her. Skillful probing is the key to uncovering the things that may be holding a student back from making a final commitment. Give him or her permission to open up: “At this point, most students I meet have at least one major concern. It is a normal part of the process. What is yours?” Sometimes it’s the student’s misunderstanding about a fact. Sometimes it’s a false assumption.

Probing will also help you peel back the layers of the underlying issue and allow you to remove a doubt or a fear. The student who was worried about getting lost on the small campus? A quick walk of the campus with the counselor was all it took to change her mind. And the student who was concerned about a lack of social activity? That vanished when the counselor introduced him to several students who shared his interests.

A highly-personalized approach is most important at this stage of the recruiting cycle. The goal is to best serve the student by truly understanding what he or she needs and wants. Ultimately, that will make both you and the student more successful. One of the keys is to address potential objections and concerns head-on. It must be part of your conversations with prospective students.

We help colleges and universities with their recruiting efforts every day, especially now during yield season. If we can help you, please let me know.

Continue the conversation on Twitter @LongmireCo. For more information about Longmire and Company’s Interactive Counselor Training Program, click here. Be sure to Subscribe to Versions of Conversion today so you don’t miss any of this highly-valuable information.

Karen Full pic 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.