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Admissions, Increasing Engagement, Psychology, Sales Basics, Strategy · August 9, 2022

Stop Using These Three Words

By Jeremy Tiers, Senior Director of Admissions Services

 2 minute read

Considering how hard it is to get and keep another person’s attention these days, it’s important to know which words and phrases to avoid.

There are three words in particular that a lot of admissions counselors and student callers continue to use that we’ve found slow down the decision-making process, or worse, stop it altogether.

They’re said a lot during phone calls, and they’re also frequently used at the beginning of emails and text messages.

“I was just…”

Are you guilty of “just wondering if…” or “just wanting to see”? If you are, you’re definitely not alone.

Here’s the problem when you use that phrase. When you use it, students know you want know something.

Maybe you want to know why they haven’t signed up for a campus visit. Or maybe it’s why they haven’t started or finished their application. If they’ve been admitted, maybe it’s when they plan to make their college decision.

Whatever it is, you don’t want to come across as super pushy, so you don’t ask in a direct way.

The majority of students continue to tell us in surveys that it’s okay to be direct with them, but also be empathetic.

Instead of saying “I was just…”, try using one of the following:

  • “I wanted to connect with you <First Name> because…”
  • “A lot of students are telling me they’re feeling overwhelmed right now. How are you feeling about your college search?”
  • “I know that every school is asking you to sign up for a campus visit. Let me explain how taking a visit will help you with your college search.”
  • “Our scholarship deadline is next week <First Name>. Do you need some help getting everything done?”

As you start another recruiting cycle, I encourage you to really focus on how you start out your sentences when you begin conversations. It’s little things like this that will make a big difference when it comes to how students respond to you, and what information you get from them.

If you’d like to talk more about this article, go ahead and reply back or email me here.

And if you found this article helpful, I encourage you to forward it to someone else on your campus who could also benefit from reading it.

Filed Under: Admissions, Increasing Engagement, Psychology, Sales Basics, Strategy

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