One
of the most important parts of the enrollment sequence – the campus tour - is
also one of the worst for many potential students and their parents. We
Most
colleges relegate the tours to a group of students who likely start out
enthusiastic and interesting but soon devolve into the bored rote voices of
students who have more important things than this #$%ing tour on their mind.
This is especially so for students doing the tours to make minimum wage.
And
the tour itself…. “Here is a typical classroom (yawn). A computer lab (Woopie!
Computers in rows) This is a sample dorm room (which is almost always staged
much better than any other room). This is our cafeteria (where the food sucks
but I have to pretend it is fine), And on and on. How exciting and motivating.
The
tour is one of the most important aspects of the decision-making process. It
can make a decision to enroll or drive a potential student away. The tour can
also be the start of the engagement process during which a potential student
decided if he or she wishes to be wed to the school.
It
is also the point at which parents decide if they wish to support their child’s
college choice. This is especially is for mothers who seem to be most affected
by what they see and hear according to Jim Black of SEM. He Sid that the mother
is the most influential person on whether or not to attend a college other than
the child making that decision. Fathers pretty much decide on cost and if their
child will be happy at the school we find. And yet, tours get simply boring,
not directed to the decision-makers and well, pretty much ineffective. One tour
is quite similar to another school’s.
The tone of an article
in (2/13/07) New York Times summarizes it all rather well.
College tours are
pretty standard. A student walking backward will show you the library, the
athletic center and a typical dorm room. Then there will be the requisite
safety talk. The tour guide will point out blue boxes -- emergency call buttons
for the campus police -- and extol the security systems in the residence halls.
The spiel usually includes a bit about how, if a student feels uncomfortable
walking alone at night on campus, he or she can simply call security for an
escort.
Wouldn’t
that tour just light up your “gotta go there juices”? Not really since most any
tour of one school could also be the tour of another. Sort of interchangeable
like school catalogs and websites. No wonder the student tour guides lose their
enthusiasm too even though taking students to the library might be their only
visit too.
The
idea is that a student will provide a more authentic voice and customer service
that will seem genuine. This can’t be done when the tour is trying to please
two audiences at once – parents and students. These are two very different
audiences and one rule of customer service is that it must be focused and
geared correctly to the correct audience. And well, let’s face it. Students
have different interests than their parents.
Students
want to know they will get a good education but also have a good time. Parents
walk through the tour focused on the ROI for their tuition dollars, yes the
library because they believe students will use books rather than the web,
safety issues and how much this all is going to cost me.
Okay, the solutions. First, have two tours and two tour
guides. The potential students should go off with a student without the
parents. That way they can see the aspects of the school they really want to
see and ask real questions like “where do people really eat? Is one dining hall
better than another or should I skip them entirely?” “What dorms are the ones
you don’t want to get stuck in?” “What’s with web access for downloading on
campus?” “If I rush a frat/sorority how does that work?” And so on. Take them
to where students really hang out. Buy them a cup of coffee or a soda and talk
there, in their habitat; not the schools official one. They will feel more
comfortable and will feel as if they have joined the school community already.
And
community is one thing this generation craves. They feel isolated by the
society so they have a need to feel as if they can belong in some community.
Sitting and talking in an environment they are familiar with sets them into a
sense of community with the group around the table.
Parents
should go with an adult tour guide, preferably a faculty member, and be shown a
classroom, the library, safety including a brief meeting with the head of
security, an introduction to the financial aid office and director to set
appointments to go into financial aid packages, a quick introduction to an
academic officer, a dean or a chair if you schedule by academic interests. They
should meet the Dean/VP/Dir/ Head Honcho of student services too. They want a
feeling that there are real people there to help them and their potential
tuition provider.
If
it is not possible to have two tours, then hire professional tour givers or
train the admissions officers to give the tour. And I do mean train. Do not
assume that because a person is an admissions representative, he or she can
give a good tour. Simply walking with people and pointing out the classrooms
like a flight attendant pointing out the emergency doors “two doors aft and two
doors in the back…” is not pointing out the safety aspects of our Boeing
College 387. Teach them how to fake enthusiasm if it is not there and
then wonder why you keep a less than enthusiastic admissions rep. Train them
how to get the tourists to talk more than the reps. Teach them questioning and
listening as a touring technique.
Combine
aspects of the student tour with the parents’ tor away from it.our on a
checklist and ask the tourists what they want to see. Let them decide or at
least provide them the illusion they are deciding. Ever been on a guided tour
and felt like you were really missing the good stuff on the “okay everyone,
over here now!” Find out what interests them and not what you assume they want
to see. Then show it to them. And feel very free to ask them what they like and
do not; what is making them lean toward the school
Keep
in mind that this is the ME generation. The I will Manage my
Experience generation which by the way is more a state of mind than an age.
From what music they load on their IPod or phone, to designing their own home
and Facebook pages, to Tivo-ing to watch TV when they wish to rather than the
time the network set, to most everything, they want to make the decisions on
how their experiences will be set up and managed. They want control and
community. They want to manage their experiences. So let them make some
decisions and don’t assume you know what they want to see and experience.
Also
when setting up the basic concept of the tour, you may want to get external
guidance that knows what students really want on a tour. There are consultants
who can help. Or get some focus groups pulled together from high school
students and learn from them. Let them guide you so you can guide them on their
tours of their future school - if the tour doesn't lose them somewhere
out by Classroom Building B.
If
this makes sense to you, you will want to get a copy of one or both of my books
–The Power of Retention or From
Admissions to Graduation. You should also contact us about what else we can
do to help you increase admissions, retention and graduation rates s we have
done for over 40 colleges and universities in the States, Canada and Europe.
Call today at 413.219.6939 or email me at nealr@greatservicematters.com
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