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Six Ways You Can Relieve Prospective Student Stress

November 15th, 2016

Right this minute, all over the country, college-bound students are in the throes of making what is most likely THE biggest decision they have ever made: “Which college is right for me? Will the college accept me? Can I afford it?”   Their parents are offering guidance and counsel because they know this is a crucial decision. Certainly, they too have a hugely vested interest in being certain that the final decision is the “right” one. Let’s face it: For nearly every student and their parent this is a period of high-anxietystress-baby.

No college would want to do anything that would ADD angst to an inherently stressful process, right? No college would do so intentionally but as an industry we do it all the time.

Through our pre-enrollment research, we communicate with hundreds of thousands of prospective students and parents every year and they have been very specific about the things colleges do that add stress to the selection process. Here are the 6 stress-inducing actions most often cited about the college admissions industry:

  •  That we communicate poorly
  •  That we’re slow to offer or reject admission
  •  That we have burdensome processes
  •  That admissions people are not responsive
  •  We are poorly organized, and,
  •  In some cases, they believe we’re being DISHONEST

Are you ready for some good news? Since these things happen more than you can imagine it gives you an opportunity to differentiate your college or university by doing the opposite. You can differentiate your institution by RELIEVING rather than ADDING stress to the college selection process.

Here’s how.

Students and parents have told us what you can do to help. Here are 6 stress-relieving actions:

  1. Communicate often and artfully. Students want information that’s relevant to THEM.
  2. Provide helpful advice and counsel throughout the college shopping process.
  3. BE RESPONSIVE. Return calls and emails promptly.
  4. Make decisions promptly.
  5. Treat each prospective student as you would expect and hope to be treated.
  6. Above all, show a sincere interest in the student.

These may seem obvious but it’s amazing how many colleges fail to practice these proven behaviors that will serve a prospective student and parent well.  Every student has a unique combination of needs, preferences, perceptions and motivations. Identifying and dealing with all of them enables the college to have a deeper and stronger relationship with the prospective student. Uncovering them requires that the college focus on the student rather than the institution.

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.

Longmire and Company’s on-campus Interactive Training Workshops 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 end result is 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.

We help colleges with their recruiting efforts every day. If we can help you please call or shoot me an email. 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 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, Organizational development, Parents, Research, Uncategorized

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Asked and Answered: Building Relationships that Lead to Enrollments

September 28th, 2016

We just returned from Columbus where we teamed up with Jeff Fuller, University of Houston Director of Student Recruitment, to present the results of our nationally co-sponsored study, “The Relationship Dynamic,” to an enthusiastic crowd of enrollment professionals at the NACACRelationshipDynamic_300x172 Conference.  NACAC’16 drew thousands of participants and I suspect that most returned home feeling like our team; newly energized and proud to be part of the profession of college admissions.

“The Relationship Dynamic” defines specific actions colleges can take to build stronger relationships with prospective students that will lead to enrollments and it was great to be able to share those with the 500+ admission professionals that attended our presentation.  Often, the most constructive part of any presentation comes from the questions asked by the participants and we want to share some of the best Q&A’s to share with you.

Q: “We have a huge volume of prospective students in our pool. How can I determine if we have “moved the needle” with individual students when it’s impossible to talk to all of them individually?”

A:  “Build a feedback loop into every channel you use to communicate with prospective students. For instance, when you send an email include a link to a one question survey that finds out if they are more or less excited about your college, if they plan to take a particular action, or some other indicator that tells you if you are, or aren’t, moving their needle.”

Q:  “You recommend recruiting parents much like we do students. At our college, we are often trying to separate parents from the student so they don’t dominate the conversation. Are we wrong to do that?”

A:  “We recommend creating a separate track for parents, assuming both the parent and student agree that it’s OK. Find out what a parent wants and how they’re going to arrive at their college choice independent of the students. We know that parents are influencers but the Relationship Dynamic study shows just how much they are facilitators. We need to enable them.”

Q:   “We do a lot of texting campaigns but your data shows only 16% of students say texts played a significant role in building a relationship with the college. Should we abandon texting as a recruiting tool?”

A:  “Absolutely not. However, you can give your text communications far more impact when you make them personal and relevant to the individual student’s interest. Use the data and info you have about the student to personalize it and make it compelling. The technology available to you these days makes that possible.”

Q:  “The study shows that contact frequency has much less influence on building a relationship than contact relevance. How do you uncover what is relevant and how do you leverage that information?”

A:  “If it’s possible to have conversations with each of your prospective students then use those to explore the issues that are relevant to them. I’m talking about asking a diverse and penetrating set of questions much deeper than “what do you want to study?” Once you’ve gained an understanding of the student’s motivations, interests and fears, the info must be recorded in a CRM or other data warehouse where you can pull it to drive future communications.

If you are one of the many colleges who have enormous pools of prospective students making it impossible to have individual conversations, we advise you to ask for feedback and information from students with each and every communication. Make it a two-way instead of a one-way flow of information. 

It can be done.  For many years, we’ve been uncovering students’ needs, preferences, fears, plans and motivations without talking to them face-to-face. The information you gather should then drive your messaging through each and every communications channel.”

Q:  “Are you still signing up co-sponsors for your current co-sponsored study [he is referring to our study currently underway called “Hidden Influences”] ? Can colleges still get in on it?”

A:  “Yes and yes. [Click here for full details.] This study is doing a deep dive into uncovering the things students hold back from colleges during the college shopping process and, more importantly, the findings will provide colleges with strategies and methods to uncover hidden influences and deal with them before the student solidifies his or her enrollment decision. We welcome all colleges to participate.”

Want to see the full “Relationship Dynamic” report? Click here for an instant download.

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.

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 Behavior, Campus Tours, Campus Visits, Closing the Sale, Conversion and Yield, Counselor Training, Organizational development, Parents, Research, Worthwhile Reading, Your Value Proposition

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Travel Season Strategies with Real Impact

September 20th, 2016

Let’s hear it for College Admission Road Warriors!

motorcycle-dogAll over the country, college reps are contacting high school counselors, hosting meet & greets with college-bound seniors, presenting at college fairs, pulling together promotional materials and visiting 100+ high schools in way too few days. For admission counselors, it is Travel Season and it can be stressful and relentless.  But, is it productive?

Here are a few Travel Season Tips that will help you differentiate your college or university, have meaningful interactions with prospective students and ensure a very rewarding travel season.

That great pitch you have prepared?  Put it away!

Many counselors have a canned presentation at-the-ready that lists of all the super features their school has to offer? If you have one, set it aside. 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 (and showing) 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, college-bound students say that the majority of the colleges they communicated with during the college shopping process never took a personal interest in them at any point in the recruiting process. In our  nationally co-sponsored study, “The Excitement Factor,“ 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.

The best conversations start with these questions.

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 help you paint a compelling picture.

You can be “The Go-To Person.”

You can and should be the key person that a student can count on to provide anything they need related to your college or university. Tell the students you are recruiting, “I’m your college information source. If you need something, if you have a question, if you are worried about something, text me.”

In our most recent co-sponsored study, “The Relationship Dynamic,” college-bound students told us that they are most likely to build a relationship with an admission counselor who is knowledgeable and responsive. They most appreciate the counselor who knows the answers to every question about their school, campus, costs, loans, scholarships, etc…  And, if they are asked a question that they don’t have an answer for, they promise to find out fast.

A key member of your team:  High school guidance counselors.

Guidance counselors are crucial influencers for college-bound students and they can be one of your best assets. Unfortunately, they are often the most overworked and underappreciated educators on the team. In most high schools, the guidance counselors wear many hats and guiding seniors through the college search process is just one of the many goals they need to accomplish each day.

Help them do their job and they will help you do yours. Here’s how:

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? Perfect! Your college just happens to have one the best programs in that particular area 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 size, 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?

High school counselors enjoy hearing (and often sharing) stories of successful placements. When possible, update them on some of their former nacac-promo-finalstudents 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.

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.

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 Campus Visits, Closing the Sale, Conversion and Yield, Counselor Training, Organizational development, Uncategorized, Worthwhile Reading, Your Value Proposition

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Use Your Orientation To Build Relationships and Minimize Summer Melt

June 14th, 2016

Over the next couple of months, thousands of eager newly-admitted students will be stepping onto college campuses across the country to participate in that all-important college orientation. iStock_000003607414XSmallYou already know this is an essential step for your incoming class, but for many students college orientation represents even more significance:  It is when and where they will ultimately seal the bond with your school that will ensure they are on campus when school starts.

In our recently released co-sponsored study, “The Relationship Dynamic,” over 12,000 college-bound students opened up to us about the factors that contribute to building a bond with a college that leads to their enrollment. (Click here to download a copy of the full report.) Surprisingly, 21% of college-bound students told us that their Blog Yield Relationship Timelineemotional connection to their college of choice (their feeling of having formed a relationship) did not develop until the summer months of June, July and August. More precisely, many of these students said the bond with their chosen college was triggered by specific experiences and relationships realized during orientation.

Unfortunately, orientation – or any other process we put students through – doesn’t guarantee they’ll show up on the first day of class. The predictor of enrollment is excitement and emotional commitment. Students who don’t feel an emotional attachment to your college are far more likely to melt.

“The Relationship Dynamic” study findings point to specific actions you can take during orientation and beyond to strengthen and maintain the relationships you have worked so hard to build with your admitted students AND create meaningful connections with those students who have yet to bond with your college.

Make this Priority #1

What goals have you established for your orientation program?  Do they read like a laundry list of paperwork, must-do’s, must-know’s and must-see’s?  Instead, your goals and practices should be developed in the context of, “How does this strengthen (or create) the emotional bond each student has with us?”

By its very nature, college orientation is very process-driven: read this, hear this, watch this … Kudos to those admission teams that have created entertaining programs and activities that engage students, foster enthusiasm, and enable the student to feel what it’s like to be a student and a part of a community.

Have you built in opportunities for admitted students to connect with (not simply meet) other newly-admitted and current like-minded students? Are your programs one-size-fits all or are you constantly searching for and testing new and unique ways to engage with students.

Find out if you have “moved the needle”

Orientation affords yet another opportunity to find out if you are changing or enhancing the student’s perception of your institution. Ideally, you have a chance to ask each student personally, “How was your orientation today? Did you meet some great people? Are you starting to feel like a (insert your mascot, school nickname)?” Based on the answers, your follow up might be “Is there anyone you’d like to meet before school starts?” or, “What would make you feel more comfortable or excited about your decision to enroll here?”

Sometimes that highly personalized interaction is simply not practical due to a high volume of students. However, it is still possible to gauge changes in student enthusiasm. Does your college do a post-orientation survey? We highly-recommend this tool to evaluate your level of service delivery during orientation as well as a channel to identify students who aren’t yet emotionally committed to your college. Be specific. “Did your orientation experience make you feel more connected to our college? Are you more or less excited about attending? What can we do to make your transition to our college better?”

You can maximize your orientation events and minimize summer melt by making this your mantra: Every interaction with a student, in any form, should be measured on the basis of, “Does it make our relationship stronger?”

Get On Board with our Next Co-Sponsored Study!

We know that prospective students don’t always tell us what they really think. Sometimes they don’t want to be completely honest about their REAL first-choice college because they think they’ll hurt our feelings. They often say one thing and do another. Why?

Hidden_Influences_ProspectusWe will answer that critical question in our next co-sponsored study, “Hidden Influences: Revealing the unspoken perceptions that prospective students have about your college and why it matters in your ability to grow and control enrollment.” This unprecedented study will break new ground in exploring the hidden perceptions and opinions that influence students in choosing your college or another. Unlike any other higher education research or non-matric studies, “Hidden Influences” will dive deeply into the emotions and perceptions that factor into the college selection process. This study will provide you with actionable information you can use immediately and effectively.

For more information or to reserve your participation in this study, contact me at (913) 492-1265, ext. 708 or by email at rmontgomery@longmire-co.com or Bob Longmire at (913) 492-1265, ext. 709, blongmire@longmire-co.com. Colleges are signing up now so we encourage you to contact us soon if you are thinking about participating. CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE INFORMATION.

We help colleges with their recruiting efforts every day. If we can help you please call or shoot me an email. 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 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 Behavior, Campus Tours, Campus Visits, Closing the Sale, Conversion and Yield, Counselor Training, Customer service, Organizational development, Research

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