Posts Tagged ‘customer service’

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 campus 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.

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

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

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

Strengthen This One Relationship for More Productive High School Visits

August 11th, 2015

Here is one Travel Season Tip sure to make your upcoming school visits the most successful ever. And no, it’s not a new set of lightweight, heavy-duty luggage (although that is a good idea, too.)

Start now building your relationship with the high school guidance counselors at the schools you’ll be visiting.

Guidance counselors are key influencers for college-bound students. They are also often the most overworked and underappreciated educators on the team. They are often nearly impossible to reach on the phone and can be difficult to track down on campus because they wear many hats. A counselor I grew to know well during my own school visit days, once described her typical day, “Somewhere between counseling a student with depression, meeting with the parents of a great kid who is flunking four classes, and breaking up a food fight in the cafeteria, I had an hour to offer guidance to four seniors who are starting to navigate the college search process.”

“How,” you ask, “do I build a relationship with a person so completely covered up?”

First, do your homework.

Before you arrive on campus, learn all you can about the school you are visiting. You should be able to identify strengths that match up well to your college or university. The high school has an award winning band/art/science program? Your college just happens to have one the best higher ed programs in the state/region/country.

Don’t just concentrate on the high school’s strong points, though. Make note of what is missing from the school’s offerings and fill that gap. Good counselors often know of students who have special talents or interests in areas that aren’t being served at the high school level.

Stand out from the crowd.

If you want your voice to be heard, be sure you are not saying the SAME thing as every other college rep they hear from. Yes, all those facts about your school are important; class sizes, top majors, new buildings, etc., but your face time with the counselor needs to concentrate on things that can’t be read about in a handout or on your website.

Focus instead on those attributes that make your college unique. Perhaps it is your “Great Books” program for avid readers, your acclaimed science department with the state-of-the-art labs, or your dynamic career services facility. What special niches can you fill? Find out with questions such as:

Are there specific college programs that would interest some of your students that you have had a hard time finding?
Do you have a student with particular passion we might be able to help?
How can I make your job easier?

Every high school counselor I ever met enjoyed hearing (and often sharing) stories of successful placements. When possible, update them on some of their former students who are now enjoying college life at your school. Offer specific examples of students from all walks of life who have flourished in their new college environment.

Stay Top of Mind.

Follow up and follow through. Showing your appreciation with a handwritten thank you note will make you memorable and is an opportunity to highlight the unique values of your college. Keep notes about specific areas of interest you have uncovered in your conversation and follow up via email with any relevant news. Involve department heads and key administrators in sending personal notes about new developments on campus.

Daniel R. Porterfield, Ph.D., the highly-respected president of Franklin and Marshall College, shared a powerful message in The Huffington Post that serves as a reminder to all of us on the impact of guidance counselors. “I like to spend a few minutes writing short notes to the high school counselors who helped our soon-to-be graduates chart their course to F&M,” he writes. “If you think about it, these educators are the unsung heroes of so many college success stories. They listen to students’ aspirations and motivate them to consider carefully what kinds of institutions can help them grow and achieve their goals. They educate families about sources of financial aid and help them complete the necessary forms. They spend hours writing thoughtful recommendations that showcase each student’s unique strengths and assets. And they inform themselves about everything relevant to their students’ college choices and constantly research the qualities and resources of all the schools their students might attend.”

There are communication techniques your staff can learn that will help them feel confident about reaching out to prospective students to ask the right questions. This is one of the core techniques we teach in the Interactive Counselor Training Workshops we hold on college campuses throughout the country. It is also a key component of YES, our Yield Enhancement Tool. Let me show you how we can help you. Please call or email me for more information. 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.

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, Organizational development, Your Value Proposition

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

Make This Travel Season a Knock-out!

August 4th, 2015

The saying “First Impressions Last” has been around for a long time because it’s absolutely true. All over the country, admissions counselors are preparing to make that critical first impression as they venture out on those all-important high school visits.

Currently, you’re most likely in the planning stage. Contacting high school counselors, setting up meet and greets with college-bound seniors, scheduling college fairs, pulling together promotional materials and packing your bags. Very soon, travel season will begin and it can be stressful and relentless. Believe me, I know. During my years in enrollment management, I, too, spent days, even weeks, on the road visiting 100+ high schools in way too few days, and sometimes wondering whether or not my efforts were having a significant impact.

Whether this is your first travel season or your fifteenth, there are ways you can differentiate your college or university, have meaningful interactions with prospective students and ensure a very rewarding travel season.

Lose The Pitch

That canned presentation that you have at-the-ready where you list of all the super features that your school has to offer? Forget it. Features are only benefits when the person hearing them sees value in them. How do you know which special attributes of your institution will be meaningful to a student? You ask the right questions.

When you are asking questions and getting acquainted with the student you are also doing the one thing that will truly distinguish your college from all others. Can you guess what that is?

The Answer is: Taking a Personal Interest in the Prospective Student

If you are thinking that is too simple, or that most colleges do this already, two-thirds of prospective students will disagree with you. In truth, most college-bound students say that the colleges they most seriously considered never took a personal interest in them at any point in the recruiting process. In The Excitement Factor!, our recently released nationally co-sponsored study, 12,000 college-bound students told us that the college’s personal interest in them, or lack of it, was influential in their college selection decision.

And, as a practical matter, the more personal interest you take in a student the more you will find out about his or her unique combination of interests, preferences, desires, anxieties, and aspirations. With that greater understanding you will naturally communicate a unique value proposition. The student will perceive you as distinctive among their available choices. You will have reached the coveted state of differentiation.

Ask “Why?”

Every admissions counselor has an arsenal of questions that they ask prospective students during the school high school visit. We suggest that you replace those with the type of questions that will begin the process of building relationships. These topics are great discussion-starters for group sessions, too.

Picture your ideal college. Tell me about it.
What excites you about going to college?
Is there anything that concerns you about college?
What are your interests outside of school?
Right now what college interests you the most? Why?
Do you see anything getting in the way of going to college?
Why are you most interested in biology/communications/whatever?
How would you like me to communicate with you? May I text you?

The best admissions representatives paint a picture of what the college experience will be like. And they do that in a way that is personalized to the student. The right questions will lead you to painting a compelling picture.

Be THE Guy

Maybe you are not actually a guy but you can still be the key person that a student can count on to provide anything they need related to your college or university. Lindsay, a superstar admissions counselor shared this with me recently, “At the end of my last travel season I had over 200 new friends’ numbers in my phone. I tell them, ‘I’m your guy at XYZ University. If you need something, if you have a question, if you are worried about something, text me,’” she explained. “You can’t imagine the number of questions and requests I have fielded but I have a relationship with every one of those students and my yield rates are tops.”

There are communication techniques your staff can learn that will help them feel confident about reaching out to their prospective students to ask the right questions. This is one of the core techniques we teach in the Interactive Counselor Training Workshops we hold on college campuses throughout the country. It is also a key component of YES, our Yield Enhancement Tool. Let me show you how we can help you. Please call or email me for more information. 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.

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

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

The Unexpected Partnership That Can Lead to Increased Enrollment

July 29th, 2015

You already know that a student’s excitement about your college leads to a far greater likelihood of enrollment. And, you probably know that college tours and campus visits can influence a student’s level of excitement about a particular institution. But, you might be surprised to learn exactly what does and does not create excitement during a campus visit.

Recently, we asked 12,000 college-bound students to give us the scoop on campus tours and, frankly, we were shocked by what they told us. For instance, approximately 60% of students say that college campus tours are about the same in terms of generating excitement. Most don’t generate any more or less excitement than all of the others they experienced. In part, the reason for not generating excitement, students say, is the focus that the college places on itself rather than the student. This is especially so in group tours. In contrast, students who receive one-on-one tours where the focus is on them and what they want, tend to see the campus visit experience as a demonstration of the college’s personal interest in them.

When asked to rank the order which factors are most influential in generating their excitement about a college, students rank “seeing the campus” as most influential. The importance of interacting with current students places second. This is a continuing refrain, as evidenced in other data uncovered in The Excitement Factor! (our latest national higher education study) about the power of current students as a draw for prospective students.

Can you guess what ranked third? More influential than talking with counselors, meeting faculty, or even spending a night on campus or attending a sporting event? Seeing and experiencing the city and community in which they will live!

That’s right, gaining a sense of the community and what it has to offer has a big impact on prospective students. It’s an important component in the total set of factors that will make up this new chapter of their lives.

Lower number represents greater influence.

The relative influence of the city/community suggests that colleges will be well served in their recruiting efforts by taking a hands-on approach to enabling students and parents to see and experience all that the city and community has to offer them, in much the same way as a campus tour is planned, organized and executed.

How can you tap into this resource most effectively? We have compiled a few effective strategies for you to consider.

Personalize It

Some universities actually have an online interactive tool that allows students to select the various types of restaurants, activities, shopping and sights they are most interested in experiencing. Once the selections are made, recommendations are made and directions, reservations and special offers are made available.

Make Handouts Meaningful

If your college, like most, includes a community brochure in your welcome packet, it is time to take it up a notch. Ask retailers to include special offers for visiting students and their parents or to provide some local swag such as t-shirts, hats, cups, mugs, posters, etc.

Involve Community Leaders

Your institution is an enormous player in the local economy and adds great status to your city. If you don’t already have a presence in the local chamber of commerce and downtown association perhaps now is the time to do so. Progressive chambers of commerce will welcome the opportunity to expose their membership to your influx of potential new “residents” and may be willing to host events, present city tours and provide key community players to interact with the students. Downtown associations and chambers have been known to organize street parties and welcome events during campus tour periods and to ensure that every establishment is decked out in welcome signage.

Offer a Taste of the City

Invite restaurants, retailers, attractions, and key businesses to be a part of the campus tour experience. Whether you make this a stand-alone event or integrate it into your standard tour, it can have big impact. Entertainment from local theme parks and attractions; demonstrations of anything from skateboarding to the rock climbing club; food samples from area restaurants, all designed to expose students to a selection of activities that represent your unique community is sure to generate excitement.

These community partnerships needn’t be budget breakers either since the majority of cost will be borne by the businesses you work with. You’ll be offering priceless exposure to local businesses and creating excitement for the community AND your college or university.

Measure It!

Most colleges survey students and parents after a visit. Were we friendly? Did we provide the information you needed? Was the tour guide engaging? Did you like our campus and community? What did you like most and least about your visit? What improvements can we make?

These may seem like good questions but they don’t tell you much. Instead, ask questions that tell you whether your campus/community visit “moved the student’s needle” in your favor. Examples: Did your campus tour guide make you more or less excited about attending? If so, by how much? Why? Did you find the city/community more or less exciting and inviting than other colleges you visited? If so, what made it more or less exciting? To what degree do you feel we took a personal interest in you? Did that make a difference in your desire to enroll here? Did your view of our college change as a result of your visit? If so, how? For better or worse? How can we better show you what your life will be like as a student here?

This just scratches the surface of the range and depth of questions you can ask. Don’t be afraid to ask penetrating questions of students and parents after a visit. Let students and parents know that your purpose is to better serve them, and future students, by gaining a greater understanding.

The best part: You will be differentiating your campus visits/tours from all others!

Summer is the ideal time to train and motivate your staff. Email or call me if you are interested in how we can help you develop a powerhouse team of admission counselors, tour guides, student callers, and others on campus who impact your ability to recruit students.

Because it’s connected with the topic of this post, you should know that we are launching a new higher education study (the latest is a very popular series) in which we will explore, in detail, how students form a relationship (or not) with the colleges they consider. It’s called, The Relationship Dynamic: How prospective students form a relationship with your college, and why it matters in your ability to grow and control enrollment. You can get insight into how effectively you are building (or not building) relationships that will lead to enrollment.

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.

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

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