By Jeremy Tiers, Senior Director of Admissions Services
3 minute read
Last week during a yield workshop I was asked which things really move the needle and increase a college’s chances of securing more deposits.
I continue to argue that getting a student to choose your school isn’t usually the result of one or two big things, but instead 10 to 12 little things that when added together sway them in your favor.
But, if you forced me to rank that list, I would say that including parents and making them feel like a valued partner throughout the process is at or very near the top.
According to our latest research, parents have become even more active in the decision making process these past few years.
Over the years I’ve shared all kinds of effective strategies to utilize with those important influencers, but here’s one that I haven’t written about – sort of a micro strategy within the macro topic of parents.
In a two parent family, when only one parent is with their son or daughter on a campus visit, or at an admitted student day, there’s a missing piece to the puzzle that you need to address.
We’re continuing to find that it’s really hard for the student and parent who visited to connect the missing parent to the emotion and ‘feel’ of it all. Plus, everything they heard about rarely gets communicated to the missing parent the same way it was presented to those in attendance.
And for that missing parent who hasn’t connected the same way with you, your colleagues, and your campus, it’ll be harder to sign-off on their son or daughter picking your school for the next four years.
With that problem in mind, here are four strategies I encourage you to consider:
- In your personalized pre-visit or pre-event communications, be intentional about inviting both parents to campus with their son or daughter. Mention that you understand the college decision affects the entire family, and you would love to have everyone experience this together.
- If you get word ahead of time that one parent won’t be able to make it, reach out to them ahead of time and ask if there’s anything they would like to discuss at this time. Even if they don’t have anything, they’ll appreciate feeling like you know they’re important.
- Consider offering another way for them to join for one or more parts of the visit/event – especially the tour. FaceTime, Skype, or another video app would work well. Show them that they’re important, and prove that you are going to extra efforts to make sure they’re included.
- After the visit or event, arrange a follow-up call with all the family members. Be prepared to lead a conversation and ask direct questions about how the visit went, their feelings about it, and what they’d like to see happen next. For that missing parent, hearing their loved ones talk favorably about the experience is vital to keeping them (or getting them) on board with the next step. I’d also encourage you to ask the missing parent, “What are you still wondering about when it comes to the idea of <Student’s First Name> being a student here?”
Each of those strategies is simple, effective, and probably not being utilized by your competitors.
And finally, in the case of a non-traditional family, be sure to ask the student, “Who are you going to be leaning on for advice during your college search?” Or, “Who is going to help you with your decision?”
A direct question like either of those will help you identify other influential family members who need your attention.
If you found this article helpful, please forward it to someone else on your campus who could also benefit from reading it. You can also encourage them to subscribe to the weekly newsletter here.