According to a study conducted by Velocify, 62% of inquiries will spend three or more hours researching before requesting information via a form-fill, inbound call or live chat. The “new” prospect is better informed and more demanding. While the prospect’s behavior has changed, unfortunately, most admissions teams have not.
We think prospects deserve a better process. We think a new approach is required and there is a major opportunity to be incredibly different in today’s competitive “me first” landscape.
Why are so many universities struggling to grow their online and graduate programs, and yet other schools are growing and thriving? What are successful enrollment efforts doing differently than those that are struggling?
Here are three strategies that offer a blueprint for success built on timeless principles:
- Leverage Real People to Convert Your Leads:
Double your website leads with existing traffic by staffing your inbound phones & chat with real humans 24/7. Or hire us. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) or Customer Experience (CX) is an aggregate of a customer’s A-Z experience with a brand. Did you know that 98% of your website visitors don’t fill out your static Contact Us form? The most impactful weapon for converting traffic into leads is answering the phone live, inbound and live chat. We use the power of 24/7 inbound phone & live chat to engage your prospects, on your website in real conversations to grow enrollment. We will double your website leads with existing traffic by staffing your inbound phones & chat with real humans – 24/7.
- Speed to Lead:
Conversion rates are eight X higher within the first five minutes of a prospect expressing interest. Disrupters such as Southern New Hampshire University deliver immediate, rapid response, eliminating competition completely. So why are most reps waiting days to contact a prospect expressing interest? The evidence is clear. Every minute counts; there is a short life for online leads. You could be losing thousands in tuition revenue due to poor response time. Immediate response is critical, perhaps even more than in the past. Fortunately, the payoffs are immense for schools that act.
At Education Connex, our advice is simple—put your lead-to-contact rate at the top of your to-do list. In fact, it should be your number one priority. If you can’t immediately respond, call us! Want to read more about SNHU’s focus on speed-to-lead and enrollment success? The university typically returns 98 percent of new lead calls in under three minutes. It has helped SNHU to grow its online enrollment from 3,000 students in 2003 to around 132,000 students in 2019.
- Discovery Call + Discovery Questions:
You are 60 percent more likely to have success in working with that prospect if you ask 11-14 questions during the discovery call (Xant). However, most schools don’t discover but “tell” and their reps are not asking enough questions. We recommend scheduling a discovery call; a meeting to listen, learn and establish relationships and be very different from the competition.
- What are the prospects’ motivations and challenges?
- Are they admissible? When are they looking to begin a program? Are they the right fit? Are they applying and when? Would there be a program that’s better based on their goals?
- Have they considered how they would fund the education? What’s the clear next step?
Effective advisors are great listeners. As they interact with students and prospects they truly listen and empathize, seeking to understand a prospect’s true motivations and challenges and what is important to them about their choice of a university. They listen before they prescribe a solution or ask for the application. Perhaps the university is not the right fit but they have the courage and the compassion to guide them to the right solution.
Execute the above tactics, or hire us to execute them, and your brand will truly stand out as you deepen engagement, increase referrals and enrollment.
To look at it alternatively these tips are growth opportunities clearly pointing the way to your enrollment success. It shows you what is possible! All you need to do is seize the opportunity! As always, we’re here to help. Call us, and we’ll show you how.
