The vast majority of online students make their inquiry during the work day, with far smaller percentages doing so either in the early morning or evening. Time of Day of Inquiry and Preferred Time of Response: So you should employ many more emails than texts, and more texts than phone calls, and include a mix of all of these things. Scott: One way to use these data on preferred communication methods from institutions is to ensure that as you build your communications plan for each program – for example, over the first 21 days after the inquiry – the various methods of communication should be approximately proportionate to the preferred percentages in these data. So while fewer than 10 percent prefer a phone call, exponentially more find phone calls acceptable, and you’ve just got to do them. Why? Because we all know that phone calls close deals. As soon as possible, team members must engage in one of the personalized methods – and probably more than one of them within the first 24 hours.īob: This is one of those areas where an effective enrollment team cannot just use the most popular methods – email and text – but also must incorporate phone. Again think about staffing, if you receive an email in the evening, that non-personalized email that will be sent is acceptable, but must be built upon as soon as people are back at their desks. Holly: Institutions really need to pay attention to the differences between acceptable versus preferred methods. Preferred methods are led by email, followed by texts, and then by phone. There is a vast difference between acceptable and preferred communication channels used by institutions to communicate among online students. Acceptable and Preferred Communications Channels: This is an area of critical importance where enrollment leaders should consider including accurate record keeping and tracking (as well as timely response) part of the performance evaluation process. I can’t tell you the number of times that I have seen the best CRM usage for information request form leads and then no discernable system in place for those that come in via email (or phone). Scott: The proportion of those who send an email rather than use an information request form also highlights the importance of having a sophisticated and regimented record-keeping system in place to record, organize, and track all inquiries that come in that manner. If you don’t know for sure what your percentage of stealth applicants is, look into tracking this ASAP. This is another thing that a good CRM can tell you, and you need to know your own data. You may also have to adjust your expectations when the person responding is beyond your immediate control and authority.īob: Another thing that these data make clear is that – at least nationally – far fewer online students are in the “stealth applicant” category (not making any contact until submitting an application) than is often assumed. If you’ve got faculty responding to inquiries by email versus someone on the enrollment team, you have to be clear about what is needed – and why.

Holly: From a leadership perspective, it is important that you are clear with your recruitment team about your expectations for not only responding, but recording and tracking inquiries of all sorts. Once an institution knows how leads are coming in, they can focus on follow-up strategies for the methods most frequently used by students. This is just the first of many aspects where “knowing your own data” is of critical importance. Pretty much any CRM can answer this question if all records are being captured and tracked. If they do not know, they need to find out.

How do prospective online students first contact institutions?īy far the greatest proportion of online students at all levels email the schools/programs of interest as their first inquiry, closely followed by submitting an information request form.īob: Institutions need to know if these national trends match the trends of their inquirers. Irrespective of preferred or intended format of study, all graduate students have the same expectations of speedy response to both inquiries and admissions decisions. Scott Jeffe: Our 2021 study of the graduate population also demonstrated the absolutely essential importance of timely response. Whatever the school’s strategic vision is, institutions that want to grow will have to get better at their responsiveness.

Is timely response only important to online students?īob Stewart: There might be some people at institutions that are responsible for face-to-face enrollment saying “this doesn’t this apply to me, right?” I want to say that this absolutely applies to you – students of all sorts expect a level of responsiveness that institutions are not used to meeting – traditional age students just as much as older students or online students, etc.

Timely response