Best Practice
Are there any best practices out there to help agents retain rules and regs of the business?
It's important not to steal the student's opportunity. We need to listen, reflect, think through our students' needs and ask open ended questions.
Examples:
* Why do you think that's important?
* How do you see this will help you?
* Tell me more about that...
I agree with this. There is a huge difference between memorizing and understanding. Memorizing takes practice and can fade with time. It also doesn't enhance your comfort with the material. Understanding why a requirement or practice exists helps to organically cement it in memory, and also aids in comfort of execution and communication relating to the topic.
Asking the questions also helps to better understand the student's "story" - what are their real motives? What needs, values, goals will be met by entering school and selecting a particular program of study? Asking perceptive questions - and listening - truly help us as admissions professionals to better serve our students and guide them in the right direction.
I think that this will be something I will use as a best practice myself. Understanding the reasons behind the rules allows for easier recollection of the facts.
I agree. There should always be an open door of opportunity in asking questions to the prospect. Have documentation backing up what you as the Admissions representative are supporting. Let the student talk about themselves, their concerns and then have the information to boost the confidence in making their final decision.
Best practice for me is to get the concept.
I believe that there is a rationale for everything we do. So, if I know "why" we do what we do, it helps me understand the concept and retain the information.
Tracy
I believe that one of the best practices should be to always ask questions and to "seek out" new information always. It will give you a leading edge to help your prospect make the right decisions...
When I have important information that I need to retain, I think of the most important word, words, or phrase. Then I take my 5 important phrases and string them together and memorize that. In this way, just having a sentence memorized allows me to stay focused on touching on all key points.
Example:
3332-1-09 Student Enrollment Policies & Practices
Admission Qualifications
Graduation Requirements
Program Outcomes
Financial, Other Obligations
Responsibilities,Contract Rights
