A10 Best Practices For Non-Traditional Student Recruitment

• 1. 10 Best Practices ForNon-Traditional Student Recruitment Brad Johnson Art Stenmo Eran Goren A Guide For Post-Secondary SchoolsCompeting For Non-Traditional Students

2. Current Landscape

• Rapid growth of non-traditional student programs the last 20 years.

• • Online enrollments more than doubled from 1.4 million to over 4 million from 2002-2007

• • 10 million enrollments today

• Significant increase in the number ofcompeting institutions.Public, for profit & not-for-profit.

• Schools struggling to compete against multi-nationalcorporate education programs.

3. Key Differences Between Online & Traditional Students

• Limited Brand Loyalty, Often Having Only Passive Interest

• Difficult To Reach

• Generally Ambivalent

• Heavily Targeted Over Brief Period of Time

• Often Influenced By Contact Strategy Versus Institutional Reputation

• Generally Requires Coaching & Motivation

• Obstacles

4. 1) Strong Marketing Plan

• Interactive

• • Media Planning & Buying

• • Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• • Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

• • Social Media

• • Mobile Marketing

• Traditional

• • Television & Radio, Print, Direct Mail

• Direct Recruitment

• • Military & Corporate Sales

5. Planning

• Make sure the leads you will receive are consistent with your programs and admissions requirements.

• Many prospective students will inquire with 2-3 schools.

• Be prepared to speak to prospective students after-hours.

• Have a CRM tracking system in place so you can effectively track each lead and the effectiveness of each source.

• Be ready to sell your institution and differentiate your programs.

• Many prospects will need to be contacted multiple times via phone and email.

6. 2) Response Plan

• Responding within 5 minutes of inquiry via phone and email increases enrollments by nearly 300%.

• Guide the process

• Follow-up when you say you will

• Utilize email communications and other technologies

• Improve job satisfaction and admission staff retention

7. 3) Pre-Application Sales Process

• • Qualify the prospect.

• • Build a rapport with each prospective student.

• • • Understand The Why Factor

• • • Connect The Why With Your Institution

• • Present your school & program.

• • Motivate prospect to apply.

8. 4) Post-Application Sales Process

• The sales process is not over just because a prospect has applied.

• Streamline admission process.

• Award financial aid quickly.

• Drive admits to enrolled. Enrolled to start.

• • A prospect is not a student until after the drop period!

9. Recruitment Steps

• Prospect Qualification & On-Going Development

• Recruitment - Presentations that highlight the features, benefits & outcomes of the educational experience

• Assist students with completing the online application

• Financial Aid Advising How To Apply

• Conduct Application Follow-Ups

• Call to Congratulate Students on Admission to the University

• Advise students on course selection

• Register students for first term courses

• Other counseling and advising as needed (Books, Payment Plans)

• Assist with orientation, ensuring readiness for class, and login

• Reminder Call to students prior to the start of the term

• No Show Call to students who have not logged in after the start of the term

• Welcome Call to Enrolled Students (2 weeks after start of the term)

10. 5) Retention Steps

• Single Point-of-Contact For Student

• Provide Academic Support & Encourages Persistence

• Proactively Checks In With All Students & Monitors Progress

• Assists with Term-To-Term Registration & Course Selection

• Ensures That Students Register and are Administratively Ready for Class

• • All Financial Aid Documents Submitted

• • Degree Audit/Transfer Evaluations

• • Books Ordered

• • Payment Arrangements Made

• • Student Logs-In To Class

• Seamless Integration With Institutional Academic Advisors, Faculty & FA

11. 6) Use Technology

• Increase efficiencies by over 45%.

• Increase conversion rates by almost 60%.

• Minimum technologies required:

• • • Lead/customer relationship management software.

• • • ACD phone system with multi-line phones & headsets.

• • • Email marketing software.

• • • Tracking system.

• To generate larger volume:

• • • Predictive dialing system.

• • • Advanced contact center phone system & reporting.

• • • Integrated ACD.

• • • Professional CRM/LMS with phone system integration.

• • • Automated tracking system.

• • • Sales management systems.

• • • Dedicated IT resources.

12. 7) The Right Resources

• The difference between weak and strong conversion.

• Segregate lead qualification and admission counselors.

• Qualifiers:

• • Aggressive.

• • Sales-oriented.

• • Motivating.

• • Comfortable with prospecting over the phone.

13. 7) The Right Resources (cont.)

• Admissions Counselors:

• • • Solid understanding of your school, admissions process, basic financial aid, student services, and admissions counseling.

• • • Ability to provide life coaching and encouragement .

• • • Assertiveness, confidence and sales ability.

• • • Impeccable follow-up skills.

• • • Strong ability to position your school and its benefits above other schools prospects may be considering.

• • • Excellent phone and written communication skills.

• • • Knowledge and understanding of the competition.

14. 8) Setting Goals & Metrics

• Set realistic and measurable objectives:

• • • Dials Per Day.

• • • Contacts Per Day.

• • • Sales Presentations Per Day.

• • • Applications .

• • • Admits.

• • • Enrollments.

• • • Drop Rate.

• • • Overall Conversion Rate.

15. 9) Know & Abide By The Law

• FERPA, EDs Safe Harbor Regulations, etc.

• State, & federal telemarketing regulations includingdo-not-call.

• E-mail marketing regulations.

• Single violations $ 11,000+ and other federal sanctions.

16. 10) Your Online Presence

• Non-traditional students use the internet to research schools.

• A strong marketing site for your non-traditional programs:

• • • Detailed program information.

• • • Financial aid information & resources.

• • • Studenttestimonials (video preferred).

• • • Online application form.

• • • Career information.

• • • Features & benefits.

• • • School credibility (accreditation, awards/rankings, high graduation rates, etc.).

17. enCircle Media

• Leading education marketing agency.

• Privately owned.G&H sister company.Irvine, CA & New York, NY

• Manage all student recruitment marketing

• Proprietary technology to validate, score and optimize online media buys.

18. Greenwood & Hall

• End-to-end enrollment management solutions for undergraduate and graduate online programs.

• Founded 1997. Privately owned. 250 employees.

• Best of education & contact managementexpertise.

19. School Case Study 1

• Large private, non-profit school.

• Revenue constraints.

• Expand online graduate program.

• Generated 700 new enrollments per term.

• Exceeded enrollment goals by 32%.

• Exceeded revenue goal for term by $1.1mm.

20. School Case Study 2

• Situation: Traditional school with an Online MBA program was generating about 50 new enrollments per term and was achieving reasonable metrics but wanted to grow enrollments significantly.

• Action: The school outsourced the marketing and enrollment management functions utilizing many of tools we have discussed today.

• Result: Over the past six (6) terms, over 980 new enrollments have been generated at conversion rates that have increased by 29%.In other words, the school has scaled up while decreasing its cost per enrollment.

21. School Case Study 3

• Undergraduate Online Program exceeded the enrollment goal for the Summer 2 term by 45%.

• Undergraduate Online Enrollment increased 276% from the previous year.

• Undergraduate new student drop rate reduced from 29% the previous year to under 7%.

• Total Retention Rate for the Online Undergraduate Program from Summer 1 to Summer 2 term was 67%, over 50% improvement.

• Online MBA Program exceeded the enrollment goal for the Summer II term by 47%.

22. Q&A 23.

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