Improving Your Call Process
What does your inbound call process currently look like? What improvements would you like to make?
I have not heard anything back yet on what was done. The individual said he was willing to talk with corporate about his experience. I imagine our COO called this student to get his perspective of the conversation and the vendor was probably contacted as well.
Lorraine
Lorraine, Thank you for posting, and it does sound like you have great communication. That is really interesting about that student. What has been the outcome?
Elizabeth Wheeler
SEQUOIA, Sounds like your process is solid. Just to shake things up, do you feel there is anything that could be done differently -maybe you of the box?
Elizabeth Wheeler
Hi Linda,
I had a bad show rate also because I was going "by the book" instead of being myself. I found that I was giving up the opportunity to build rapport with a prospective student by giving myself a time limit. A great question to ask (I have found) is "why now." We have to find out why they inquired in the first place. Are they serious about creating change in their life or not? If they are, having them vocalize why they are doing this helps them remember why they took the time to inquire in the first place. If they aren't, then no amount of talking is going to inspire them to come in. They will set an appointment to get you off the phone.
I have also found that summarizing what they told you, tells them you LISTENED to what they had to say and that you care. I have had some students correct me on what I heard. Since I have started doing this, my show rate has improved dramatically.
Just a suggestion as to what has helped me. :)
Lorraine
Currently our inbound call process consists of a central lead system. Leads are filtered through our Central Leads Center (CLC) at the corporate level and assigned to us. Once the lead is assigned, an email is automatically triggered to alert us that a lead has been assigned, which allows us to do other tasks until then. All warm calls are received by CLS as well and then live transferred to the next available admissions representative using a "hunt" line.
As far as improvements I would like to see, I do not see any. We send all invalid contacts back to our corporate office, and our marketing department monitors them closely. They have, and will continue to, discontinue using vendors who send us a high volume of "garbage" leads. We had a potential student report to us just yesterday that he was told to lie to us when we contacted him. I personally reported what the individual was told to do by the vendor to our COO, who was on it immediately. We have a great support system from our corporate office and management!
Thanks,
Lorraine
Currently our inbound calls are handled by an administrative assistant and she transfers calls accordingly. I mostly handle outbound calling. I may spend time working the front desk from time to time, transferring calls and I'm very comfortable doing so. I don't have any suggestions concering improvements at this time.
Calls are either forwarded from the front desk or through the Admissions direct line. From there, I initial an interview assessing current needs to gather more information to provide a good customer service. I would like to improve on time management and maximize my time and the student’s time over the phone.
Excellent self-awareness, Riley! I'm happy to hear that the sample admissions call was helpful. It's all about finding the right balance between sounding conversational and professional and asking the right questions in order to gather the information you need.
Elizabeth Wheeler
Listening to the admissions call towards the end of module 1 made me realize that it's easy to fall into a routine phone call- and then it sounds scripted and awkward.
The call within the module was very natural- I would like to improve on that.
I'm comfortable with my inbound call process for the most part!
My inbound call process is very few and has a lot of time in between. I don't get a chance to talk on the phone a lot because we are a new program so gaining interest will take some time. When I do talk on the phone, I feel I am too anxious and "put my foot in my mouth" per say. I have trouble making that important first connection with potential student. If I do make a connection, I end up forgetting some part of the process such as their contact information. If I do both a majority of the process correctly, I still end up with either "I am too busy too visit" or an appointment no-show. I think I could learn to calm down. I know my calls are very few, but learning to relax definitely wouldn't hurt. I could learn not to use filler words. I think I also could learn to keep them on the phone without taking up their time as well as I want to know how to make that strong connection from the beginning and have them consider enrolling even before the visit.
Consistency to me is being mindful about phone techniques all the time - every time I am on the phone.
I plan to improve my consistency by remaining mindful.
....I wrote down the 10 commandments of the outbound calls.
....checked my 'tool kit' to ensure I have what I need
...I take a breath before I answer incoming calls - making sure I have a smile in my voice.
....integrate best practices
Gina, Thank you for posting. Will you clarify what you mean by consistency? How will you improve it?
Dr. Jean Norris
My inbound call process is always positive and pleasant. However, I will improve my consistency
Rebecca, Thank you for posting. How can improve this process?
Elizabeth Wheeler
Currently, whether the person calls central leads processing or the front desk number, they are transferred directly to the rep that is available. The person who answers first asks them for their information to see if they are assigned to anyone already from a previous inquiry and if not they get them transferred. If they are in the system already, the are usually transferred to the rep they are assigned to if they are available. I feel like the process itself is about as simple as it can be, but there are times that the person who answers doesn't ask the right questions and they end up having to be transfered again because they were given to the wrong campus/rep. I think this is frustrating for the caller as well as it takes away from how genuine the conversation seems when they are asked the same questions in the same manner from all the people they talk to.
Depending on how we get the inquiry, our incoming process involves several parties. Either the call center or the front desk will transfer the inquiry to the representatives. Floor Coverage is a must during the hours of operation so we don't miss any incoming calls. overall, we have an introduction, list of questions to determine interest, desire and motivation,invite,schedule an appointment, ask for a referral and support team to come along and recap the conversation with the prospective student.
Refrain from using fillers(um, you know, gotcha, etc) is the area of opportunity. I will continue to role play with the team to ensure they are having meaningful conversation that comes across natural. So they don't sound as if they are thinking of things to say or questions to ask.
I think listening to the audio, I was feeling that I was very upbeat on the phone, but I think I can do better. Also, try to engage more by asking questions and and getting to know them prior asking them to come and see me.
Carl ,
Your plan to split the inbound traffic sounds like a great idea. I bet that prospective students will find it helpful to talk to someone in admissions who can answer their questions right away. Thank you for your post!
Elizabeth Wheeler
Hi Brian,
We have our phone system set up this way: The receptionist forwards the call to an extension where all AR's phones ring. If by the third ring there is no answer, it rolls over to the director's and coordinator's phones. The messages are left on the director's vm as a last resort. The reps split the alphabet so we always know who the lead belongs to when they call in to speak with someone. The entire student services department is trained to schedule appointments, but discussing programs is strictly the AR's responsibility. It works well for our small school.
