Providing an informative reason for them to call you back. Your voice and tone as well as being spontaneous during the message. Makes the person your calling say " Hey let me go ahead and see what this person is calling me for" and How can they benefit from the message left.
It sounds like this works well for you. I think you're right, people can sense when someone is being sincere so making that a practice is a great idea.
Dr. Jean Norris
I think inviting prospective students out to visit for campus events or scholarships is a great way to encourage call backs. I think being yourself and using a bit of humor is very important because people can pick up on insincerity very quickly, especially in any marketplace.
Providing upcoming events during a message is a terrific idea, it helps to keep the student engaged and could possibly inspire them to come to the event. Be careful of messages that make any false promises - if you don't have a lottery drawing of some kind at your school you will want to find a different approach. Thank you for your post!
Dr. Jean Norris
I love/always do this. I usually say it midway and revisit it at the end.
I do it so often, I didn't even think to say this as answer.
Thanks for reminding me.
Let the student know about interesting events happening at the college.
Leave a message with the student saying that their chances of winning the lottery increase when you call back a representative.
Probe the student!
Dabel,
YES! Sometimes I believe leaving only one way for them to get back to us may result in them not doing so - simply because they don't like to use the phone.
Dr. Jean Norris
When leaving a voicemail, it is very effective to leave a contact number, email address, and to ask the students to text the admissions representative. It is best provide multiple ways for students to reach you.
Jean-Max,
Yes, humor can be a valuable tool in building rapport and relationships - as long as it's in good taste. Some have crossed the lines in an attempt to be funny. Has this ever happened to you?
Dr. Jean Norris
having a great humor have worked for me in the past, make it the person more at ease.
This is an interesting approach Benjamin and could work if you have gathered enough information to know if saving money is a concern for them. I like the idea of utilizing what we already know about the student to think of what might interest them further - and offering information that may initiate interest during a call back. How do you think you might do that in future call backs?
Tell them about any programs that you have that might save them money.
I like how you utilize the request for information for your call to action in your message. I'm curious if others have used this approach and if you have had success utilizing this type of message?
I will sometimes leave a VM that says something like, "I have that information you requested. Call me and I can get that to you immediately." I'm not sure where I got that idea from, but sometimes people call back because "they asked for the information." It's completely honest because with our leads, they actually DID ask for something.
That's great Samantha! Let us know how your new techniques work out for you.
This has been an area of struggle for me. The suggestions that have been made have got my creative juices flowing. I am a person of structure so I need to jump out of my box a bit for sure. I am looking forward to creating some new techniques for the voicemail message.
Humor has a way of getting someone to relax or put down their guard as if you are trying to sell them of force them to enroll in your program. I use that technique and find that students tend to listen more openly and don't feel pushed into making a decision.
Humor is a great idea. Let the conversation flow more additional and can generate slightly more confident.
I love it! The combination of questions, creativity and even a bit of humor has proved to be successful for many admissions professionals. Keep it up!
Arousing curiosity with questions is a great and creative way to get people to call you back. I will also try to introduce little bits of humor when I see fit.
