Posts Tagged ‘college admissions’

Bad Pre-Enrollment Service Outweighs Other Attributes of Your Institution

November 28th, 2011

The Influence of Pre-Enrollment Service

A nationwide study conducted by Longmire and Company of nearly 5,000 prospective college students and parents showed that 53 percent reported that their decision to enroll in a given school was heavily influenced by the level of service they received during the “college shopping” process. The study found that poor service delivery, across any brand touch point, can outweigh other important factors including strength of academic programs, faculty reputation and even financial aid. Students and their families believe that the type of service they receive during the college selection process is indicative of the overall culture of the institution; i.e. poor service during pre-enrollment will mean poor service throughout the student’s college career.

We know that impressions are formed from the first moment of contact with a prospective student and span across all brand touch points including every department, staff member, faculty member and even other students. What we didn’t know was just how critical those first impressions are. The study shows that a single bad experience can be the catalyst for completely derailing the prospective student’s original enrollment plan.  Moreover, the study concludes that offering great pre-enrollment service will not only “save” enrollments but it is also one of the best possible ways for a college or university to differentiate itself in today’s competitive environment. The goal is not only to meet expectations but to exceed them.

Shift Your Thinking to a Student-Centric Approach for Greater Success

Here is a reality check for higher education:  A college education may be the best money ever spent but it is still a “purchase” in the minds of many prospective students and their parents.  Successful colleges recognize that today’s prospective students (and their parents) are very savvy consumers.  Leaders of some of the nation’s best performing educational institutions are modeling the “customer-centric” approach of other top service industries by providing the extraordinary level of service that one would expect to receive when making any other high dollar investment.

Successful Practices of Student-Centric Colleges

Do prospective students and parents see and experience your commitment to service?

High Point University in North Carolina is one example of a college that has implemented several initiatives to provide prospective students with exceptional levels of service. By employing numerous “concierge” desks around the campus the university has eliminated the intimidation factor and made their beautiful campus uniquely welcoming and student focused.  Current and visiting students use the concierge services for a wide range of issues and services that include scheduling tutoring sessions, checking out a Kindle or iPad to download an eBook, reserving tickets to various campus-based events, library book return, dry cleaning service, arranging transportation services and even automated daily wake-up calls.

Is your entire campus community (staff, faculty and students) on board?

Earlham College expects their entire campus community to serve as ambassadors to prospective students.  How do they make that happen?  By communicating the culture of Earlham and asking everyone to reflect it to visiting prospective students and parents. They make their guests easily identifiable by providing visiting students and their families a bright red folder.  Everyone on campus, from the cafeteria staff and groundskeepers to the faculty and students, are aware that they should offer extra attention and assistance to anyone carrying this folder.

Are problems identified and quickly addressed?

Given that one in ten prospective students reported experiencing difficulties during the college selection process (many of which were never satisfactorily resolved) colleges should implement a system to address issues and problems as they arise.  A campus ombudsman offering a single point of contact for any question, comment or complaint can be golden for your university as well as for the benefit of prospective students.  Imagine the power of being able quickly identify and resolve your problem areas throughout the institution.  And, imagine the impact on a prospective student and parent when the campus representative follows-up with them to ensure a satisfactory outcome. The study showed that this one action alone can save lost enrollments. Certainly many of the admission offices we work with make valiant efforts to fill this role but the study underscores that this issue belongs to the entire institution and should not be the sole responsibility of any single department.

Whose Responsibility Is It?

Building an institutional culture is a top-down process with the starting point being the college president. On-campus workshops should be held for all personnel regarding what it means to be committed to the service experience, and how this philosophy can be embedded in interactions with not only prospective students and their families but with the college community as a whole.

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Posted in Conversion and Yield, Research, Service Quality

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4 Lessons Learned From Prospective Students and Their Parents

November 8th, 2010

Relieve my stress!

Over 80% of parents say that colleges add stress to the college selection process for themselves and their children. Most commonly, they say, colleges add stress with excessive volumes of non-personalized mailings, e-mails and phone calls.

Parents and students alike say that what they appreciate most about their relationships with colleges is rooted in good communication with admissions representatives and financial aid officers. With that good communication comes a deeper understanding of the needs and preferences of the student and family on the part of the college and a more informed, stress-reduced decision-making process for the student and parent.

Show me the value!

After a buyer becomes interested in any product or service, they have a tendency to focus on price first. Because of this, more expensive colleges may be rejected out of hand by parents long before the college is able to communicate its value.

This demands that values (the right values!) be communicated early in the college selection process. In truth, 74% of parents say that they would reconsider a college that they initially believed to be too expensive if it could demonstrate greater value.

What are those values? The four most commonly mentioned by parents involve getting their child out of college in four years, a track record of students gaining high paying jobs upon graduation, superior internships and work study opportunities, and a high level of personal attention and service to the student.

Bond with me!

Our research clearly shows the correlation between likelihood of enrollment and the level of bonding developed between counselor and prospective student. A strong bond is developed through mutual understanding and trust. Students say they have the strongest bonds with counselors who “relate to me” and provide information and guidance based upon a clear understanding of their needs.

Our research shows that their most important “needs” fall into the category of the emotional rather than the intellectual or factual. They want to feel comfortable, wanted, proud, and the like. A counselor who recognizes and reacts to these most fundamental needs stands the greatest chance of presenting the value of the institution in the most personalized fashion possible.

Uncover my hidden perceptions and false assumptions!

There is no bigger barrier to good communication than false assumptions and hidden perceptions. These can exist in either the student or counselor.

The student may have false assumptions or inaccurate perceptions about the college that will never be cleared up if the counselor doesn’t probe for their existence. Conversely, counselors fall prey to false assumptions about students as well. If this happens, the right questions won’t be asked, or the right information won’t be presented, or important feelings and attitudes of the student will be overlooked.

The best way to uncover hidden perceptions and false assumptions is simply to probe for their existence using an unbiased methodology that enables students to be very candid in expressing their perceptions and feelings about the colleges they are seriously considering.

Longmire and Company’s Yield Enhancement System is a tool we have been using for over 15 years to uncover perceptions and attitudes of prospective students about colleges. Detailed information about each student is provided to counselors so that they can better understand the feelings and motivations of the students for whom they are responsible.

Having this information facilitates a more informed approach to the student and helps to increase the likelihood of enrollment due to a deeper understanding the student’s needs.

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Posted in Behavior, Conversion and Yield, Counselor Training, Research

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A Transformation in Higher Education?

June 8th, 2010

Is a major transformation in higher education imminent? Will more people question the value of a college degree in the new economy? Has the cost of college risen beyond what could be considered a reasonable investment for many students and families? Is it possible that higher education could be delivered through open source channels? Will the new era of growing social networks enable people to find their own paths to higher learning?

The answer is yes, according to reporter and author Anya Kamenetz.

Always on the lookout for new and different perspectives on higher education, I ran across an interview on C-SPAN that I think is notable and worthy of bringing to your attention.

In this interview with C-SPAN’s Pedro Echevarria, Kamenetz talks about her new book, DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education .

Kamenetz is a Yale graduate, child of two college professors, writer for Fast Company magazine, the New York Times, the Washington Post, contributor to The Huffington Post, and author of two books about higher education.

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Posted in Worthwhile Reading

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Get More Production From Your Admissions Office

December 2nd, 2009

When you think about how much revenue a college generates annually and the source of that revenue, the trail typically ends in the office of admissions. For state supported colleges, the percentage of total revenue generated through tuition may be well over 60%. For privates, it’s often 80% or more.iStock_000009277706XSmall

When I suggest that the trail of this revenue ends in the admissions office, I’m referring to the department that employs and manages the people who are responsible for generating interest among prospective students, managing the “sales” process and “closing the sale”. The aim, of course, is to match the student’s needs and preferences with the attributes of the institution: to best serve the student’s educational aspirations and personal growth. Fortunately for students, they may choose among many fine institutions that are fully capable of doing just that.

In truth, academic sales and marketing is similar to that of the B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to consumer) marketplaces. That is, generate interest, prove that the institution is a good fit, and manage the communication and human interaction process toward a successful conclusion (enrollment).

Here’s the $64,000 question: how much does an institution invest in the people and processes that are central to generating the vast majority of the revenue collected by the college? I’m not referring to things like direct mail and website development. I’m referring to people and processes -  the hiring of  the admissions team, building a motivating culture, engaging in a comprehensive training program,  implementing effective sales management, providing CRM software designed to enable sales, and enhancing communication between people and departments.

The answer? Not nearly enough. And why not, when the potential return on investment is so large and immediate?

Every institution can find its own reasons why they aren’t investing in these areas. We’ll often explore those reasons as part of our consulting engagements with clients. The most common barrier is perceived cost. But that barrier is easily removed – at little cost – with a change in perspective.

Here’s something that any institution can begin doing tomorrow that promises improved functioning and production out of the admissions department: identify the strengths of each and every member of the department, fully align their tasks with those strengths, and lead them with an understanding of how someone with their strengths is most productive.

While this may sound simple in concept, it requires a radical change in thinking on the part of many organizations. All too often, organizations work more on trying to fix a department member’s weaknesses than maximizing their strengths.

strengthsfinderbook2I highly recommend two books from Gallup Press that define this philosophy and enable you to take immediate action. The books, Strengths Finder 2.0 and the companion title, Strengths-Based Leadership give you immediate access to assessing the strengths of each member of the admissions team and, what’s more, provide direction in managing each member of the team based on their individual strengths.

I suggest purchasing the Strengths Finder 2.0 book for every member StrengthsBasedLeadershipof the team because each book contains a unique code that provides access to an online assessment that isolates and reports their top five strengths.

When we work with enrollment management departments as a part of our consulting engagements, we use a similar model to enhance productivity. You would be amazed at the results achieved when people are allowed to discover and play to their strong suits.

Likewise, in our Interactive Training Workshops for admissions offices, we see team members revitalized by the commitment that their leadership has made by investing in their future with professional training.

We see it work every day: hire the right people, put them in roles that let their strengths shine through, give them the proper tools, and structure their compensation to reflect the value they bring in terms of revenue generation and populating the institution with students who will be successful and committed to the institution long after graduation.

Bob Longmire is the President and CEO of Longmire and Company and has been helping colleges and universities across the country maximize their yield for over 20 years.

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Posted in Counselor Training, Organizational development, Worthwhile Reading

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