Posts Tagged ‘higher education branding’

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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.Kids winning_4241532

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.Ask Questions 3d button

  • 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.

Karen Full picKaren 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 Visits, Closing the Sale, Conversion and Yield, Counselor Training, Organizational development, Research, Your Value Proposition

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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.srudent fireworks1

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.

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.

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

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Enrollment Planners: Creating Excitement Will Drive Enrollment!

July 15th, 2015

I will be in Chicago this week to make an appearance at the ACT 30th Annual Enrollment Planners Conference. With a full day of pre-conference workshops followed by more than 60 ACTepcpractitioner-focused sessions and nationally known speakers addressing the latest topics in student recruitment and retention, the ACT Enrollment Planners conference is always a very rewarding professional development experience.

Rick Montgomery, from the Longmire and Company team, and I will be joining Cathy Heinz, Purdue University, Director- Enrollment Management Communications, and Rachel Balows, University of Denver, Associate Director of Admission and Communication, to present: ”The Excitement Factor: Drive Enrollment by Creating Student Excitement.”

This is sure to be an enlightening and thought-provoking session where we’ll present the findings and implications from a groundbreaking study, The Excitement Factor! The research revealed that a prospective student’s excitement about attending a college is more highly correlated to enrollment than either cost or the perceived quality of the institution. Purdue and University of Denver are two of the more than 40 colleges across the United States who cosponsored the study, which generated more than 13,000 respondents.

We are looking forward to taking a deeper dive into the data that was uncovered in this study. This is actionable information that will help enrollment professionals better understand the environments in which student excitement is created, the people on campus who create it, points in the recruiting cycle where it is most frequently created, and specific methods and messages that are most and least effective in creating a student’s excitement about your college.Excitement_Factor

Most importantly, Cathy from Purdue and Rachel of the University of Denver, will be sharing specific strategies that any college or university can use today to increase the excitement factor and grow enrollment.

Attending the ACT Enrollment Planners Conference? Join us Thursday, 9:45 – 10:45 a.m. in the Armitage Room on the 4th floor. If not, you can follow the conference on Twitter @ACTepc and #ACTEPC. If you are interested in learning more about The Excitement Factor, you can DOWNLOAD  the full report now. Or, better yet, call or email us and we will provide a comprehensive presentation of the data for you and your staff.

We recently announced the launch of our new co-sponsored study, “The Relationship Dynamic: How prospective students form a relationship with your college, and why it matters in your ability to grow and control enrollment.” This study is a partnership of private and public colleges and universities from across the country seeking powerful data about building the types of relationships with prospective students that will lead to enrollment. CLICK HERE to learn more about getting involved in this new study.

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.

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 Closing the Sale, Conversion and Yield, Counselor Training, Organizational development, Research, Your Value Proposition

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Admitted Student Fence Sitters? Lift (Don’t Nudge) Them Toward Enrollment

June 9th, 2015

It never fails: As summer approaches we visit with a number of college enrollment managers who are still working frantically to finalize their incoming class. The question they ask us most often is, “How can I coach my staff to nudge prospective students off the fence?”fence sitter

Our answer: When someone is stuck they need more than a nudge, they need to be lifted over that fence. The bottom line is that when you are working with a non-committed student in the late stage of the cycle, you can be certain that there’s a concern or objection that hasn’t been addressed. And, no matter where you are in the recruiting cycle, it is a GOOD thing when a prospective student or parent communicates a concern or objection about your college. Really.

When a concern or objection is revealed, you can deal with it. If they don’t share their concerns, they’ll never enroll and you’ll never know why. There are several great ways to cope with objections and concerns. But the first thing you have to do is to determine whether they exist.

The easiest way to do this is simply to ask.

Ask the student whether they have any concerns or questions that would prevent them from attending your school. If they acknowledge that concerns exist, you have to isolate each one and respond to it.

Questions, concerns, objections and indifference almost always arise during the college shopping process. And they vary widely. We train admission counselors in a variety of effective methods to manage each type. One of our favorite techniques is called the “Feel, Felt, Found” method of responding to a student’s concern.

Let’s take the student who is “fence sitting” about enrolling for classes that begin in just two months. Your previous conversations have gone well and you have been told that your college is a likely choice but the student has failed to take the final step. It’s time to probe for the core concern and you should be direct.

You ask, “What’s holding you back?”

The student replies, “My high school is pretty small and everybody knows each other. Your campus is SO big. I’m afraid I’ll get lost in all these people.”

With “Feel, Felt, Found” you can reassure them by saying, “I understand how you feel. I’ve talked to a lot of students from small high schools who felt the same way you do …

… In fact, Ashley, who interns in our admissions office, felt that same way before she enrolled here …

… But after coming, she found out how easy it is to meet people and form close friendships with students on our campus who have similar interests. I’m sure that will happen for you, too. Let’s get you signed up to attend our freshman retreat in July where you’ll make friends with students from big and small high schools.”

 “Feel, Felt, Found” helps to dissolve a concern or objection by confirming that others had similar concerns that turned out to be unfounded. Often, it’s all you need to lift a student over the fence and onto the exciting next chapter of his or her life.

We teach new and experienced counselors how to work smarter, recruit more effectively and, most importantly, adopt a student-centric approach to everything they do.ITW_Logo_503x232

Longmire and Company’s on-campus Interactive Training Workshops dramatically improve the performance of counselors and staff in areas such as effective communication with students and parents, applying creative entrepreneurship to their jobs, validating past and planned actions against outcomes, and discovering and leveraging the motivations of students (and themselves).

The net result? Improved service to prospective students and families, measurable increases in yield, increased counselor and staff job satisfaction, enhanced teamwork, and innovations in work process within the department. From my many years in enrollment management, I know that  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 have a powerhouse admissions team.

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 picKaren 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 Behavior, Closing the Sale, Conversion and Yield, Counselor Training

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