I've been submitting a round of new conference proposals. Tis is an opportunity for me to think critically about the issues and concerns I've heard most often over the past year. Knowing what you're struggling with helps me to develop the ideas and strategies you need to improve results.
One of those areas I've been hearing about is a need for outside professional admissions training opportunities for your recruitment team. There are plenty of opportunities out there for mid and senior-level management staff. Have you seen CALEM?
Yet other than the national and regional association conferences, there aren't many opportunities for the staff directly responsible for converting students. Thus we have developed two such opportunities for staff.
So how do you even know if you should be considering training for your staff? Here are four signs I look for when working with schools to determine if they need some additional help and training.
1. When asked how many applicants or inquiries need converted this week, your admissions team cannot answer definitively.
I wrote about this a week or so ago. This is always a big sign for me. Teams need goals - and not year long goals. They need immediate goals they can work to attain.
2. When you look at the daily tasks of one or more recruitment staff, they aren't sure how many calls should be made, or whom they should be calling.
This always comes back to your technology and/or defined communication plans. How well defined are they? And how well does your staff know them? If any member of your team carved out an hour to make a few additional calls, would she/he know with whom to start?
3. After multiple attempts to help one or more staff members improve their conversion rates, they have made little to no progress.
This is an important one. If you are going to take the time to prepare a training session (whether or not you are the person delivering it) for your team, you want it to have impact and be worthwhile for your team. If it isn't, you lose momentum, trust and respect with your team. 
4. Enrollment is not where it needs to be, and it's been trending this way for more than a single semester.
If the number of new students your team has been down for more than a single year, your senior leadership wants you to show them you can turn it around - whether or not the reason is internal or external.
As the recruitment climate changes, so must the tactics you and your team deploy to engage prospects. That is even more true when enrollment dips. And new tactics require dedicated time for your staff to learn and understand. Give them an opportunity to practice, to question and truly comprehend how your new steps and/or process will work.