POV: You’re nearing the end of the fall travel season. You have been all over your territory and met with hundreds of students at college fairs and in classrooms. You have answered questions and told everyone who would listen about all of the benefits of an education at your college.
So, now what? How do you turn these prospects into completed applications?
Here are three tips to making that happen:
- Get Them to Campus: The best way for someone to discover if your school is the right fit for them is to visit the campus and surrounding area. This is your opportunity to match up what they told you was important to them with what your school offers. Your goal should be to answer any questions, handle any objections, gauge their interest, and guide them through the next steps in the admissions process.
- Targeted/Purposeful Follow-Up: Whether through phone calls, emails, texting, or a handwritten note, the follow-up should both gather and provide valuable information, guide the applicant through the current step, and explain the next step in the process. If there is hesitation on the prospect’s part, then there is some objection that you need to uncover and handle before moving on. Lastly, you should end the conversation with what you are going to do, what they are going to do, and when the next follow-up will be.
- Use Technology to Map/Evaluate/Rank Data: Your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a valuable tool in the admissions process. Take advantage of all its capabilities to organize students by geographic areas and specific schools, programs of interest, where they are in the process, and their chances of becoming a student at your school. Effective use of technology maximizes your time-management, guides your follow-up, and provides the best chance for meeting and exceeding your admissions goals.
Being successful in admissions comes down to working smarter, not harder. To teach your whole team to turn prospects into enrolled students, schedule a call with Scott to discuss our one-day comprehensive sales training and ongoing coaching.
