We're back to our Roadmap Recruitment Series. Today, we are getting to the first contact. In a nontraditional world, that means (in most cases) a phone call.
A few years ago, being assertive and getting in touch with a prospect quickly gave you an advantage. Today - it's not as easy. Prospects are more weary of taking that call.
Depending on a prospect's willingness to talk to you, you may have a few minutes or a few seconds before they want to end the call. So connecting quickly to begin building trust is essential. Here is how we do that.
First, you must have a detailed outline or list of describing what a successful outcome of the first phone call is. And if you are the enrollment leader, you have to coach each staff member to use their personality type to lead prospects to that outcome. That's the difference between a basic call and a strategic call.
I had a recent conversation with one of my client's seasoned admissions representatives.
She shared with me how she has been working to improve the relationships she has with prospective students. This rep had downloaded our 8 Tips for Recruitment whitepaper, and had been seeing a better engagement and conversion after implementing some of those tactics.
She wanted help with her initial phone call with prospects. She knew she was effective at getting a call out in a timely manner, but not so sure she was really connecting with them.
We reviewed her goal for the call with the prospect and then outlined four specific steps to make those calls more effective. Here they are:
1. Direct the call.
Before calling - make a brief, but not definitive assessment. Our client in this case has a new inquiry form that helps the admissions team better understand the prospects initial, most immediate question is upon submission. She uses this to begin the conversation.
2. Get to the point.
Since she knows that, for example, a prospect wants to know more about how their online program works, she should begin with that by saying something like:
Hi, John, this is Whitney from Awesome University. I saw that you submitted requested information on our site earlier today, and I wanted to give you a quick call to review how the online program works. Do you have a few minutes for me to share this with you?
3. Identify their motivation.
After spending about 1-2 minutes on the initial question, she needs to get to their motivation for wanting a degree (if you don't already have it).
Next she needs to tie the motivation to the prospect's initial question. If the motivation is a promotion at work, then get to how the online program helps John get there faster.
4. Close with your goal.
At this point, she has a new inquiry with whom she's spoken. She isn't trying to get him to enroll. But she does have a defined next step.
It's important to note here that there isn't a single defined next step for each school or for every prospect.
Maybe John is ready to apply, or maybe you want to have a lengthier call to review more specifics and answer more questions.
In order to determine that next step, you have to understand how your various enrollment funnels progress. If John has been looking anonymously online at your program for a week, he may be ready to apply. If he just filled out a form from an online ad because he had thought about a promotion he saw advertised at work, he may need more time to commit.
Whatever the next, appropriate step is for John, be sure you lead him there. But your admissions team needs to have the ability to assess which funnel the prospect is in, and determine what the next step for him may be.
In this case, the admission rep wanted to have John come to campus. So she must set the appointment with him, and follow-up with an email reminding him of the date/time of the appt. We want to keep the appointment as close to the call as possible. The further out you go, the less likely it is John shows up.
If the appointment is more than a day out, send a reminder email the morning of the appointment. We want to be sure the email is more than a reminder; give John value to continue building trust. So the rep can send him a link to the campus map and highlight her office location, and let him know the closest place to park.
If you have dedicated spaces fro admissions guests, block a space for him, and let him know you've done tat in your reminder email (BTW, that may also put a little more emphasis on his attending the meeting).
If you connect on points 1-3, the likelihood John completes step 4 is dramatically higher. If you skip those steps, or barely glance over them in a rush to get to step 4, then John may not follow through - because you pushed him through the process and he wasn't ready.
Always keep in mind that this is a relationship-building process that requires trust. And the first phone call has more influence on your ability to do that than most any other initial contact you have with you prospect.