By Jeremy Tiers, Vice President of Admissions Services
2 minute read
Here’s something important we’ve learned from tracking tens of thousands of admissions interactions over the past 10+ years:
A lot of admissions counselors and tour guides are great at answering questions. Many however miss opportunities to create a deeper relationship with a prospective student (or parent) because they don’t probe or dig for context.
The more you can learn about a student’s mindset or their decision-making process, the easier it becomes to personalize future conversations.
Let me explain why that matters so much.
When we do anonymous surveys with incoming or new first-year students we ask what they remember about their interactions with the admissions staff. The counselors who are consistently inquisitive and intrigued with their students almost always get mentioned by name.
Check out this quote from a college’s survey ahead of a training workshop I led last month:
“<Admissions Counselor’s First Name> was an amazing help and I credit her largely for why I’m going to <College Name>. She always tried to understand my situation and why things were important to me. No other school had anyone who did that and it made me feel like people here would have my back.”
Caring more continues to be a competitive advantage that helps increase yield.
Asking follow-up questions so you can give someone more than what they ask for is a simple way to deliver a better response.
Here’s an example:
A counselor texts a student about signing up for one of their overnight or admitted student events. The student eventually responds back with, “I’m coming on the 15th.” The counselor then responds back with, “Awesome, I’m excited to see you then.”
Given how hard it is to get a student’s attention in the first place, this is a missed opportunity to extend the conversation and learn more about how that student is feeling.
A better response (especially if the student hasn’t visited campus before) would be “Awesome, what are the one or two things you’re really hoping to see or hear about when you’re here?”
Depending on the student’s answer, there will likely be an opportunity for the counselor to share a story or share something the student didn’t ask about (but would like to know) which then leaves them feeling like you care more than your competition.
Another way to improve the responses you give involves looking for opportunities to answer difficult questions or address common fears and concerns.
Let’s say a counselor emails an admitted student and asks what their biggest concern is about the college. The student responds back with some version of, “I’m not sure if I want to go that far away from home.”
The counselor can deliver a better response by not only thanking the student for being so open, but asking a follow-up question like, “Why do you think that is?” After the student offers some additional context the counselor could highlight resources the school offers that help new students adjust, or share some advice straight from a current first-year student who dealt with something similar… and how they got past it.
Improving the responses you give is a winning strategy. Try it out.
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