When I have a prospective student in my office, my time is theirs and I do not take outside calls. Our receptionist is well trained - she very politely explains that I am currently with a student and I will call them back ASAP. She is usually able to get multiple conact numbers and any other pertinent information so that I can reach them as soon as I am able, prepared for the call with the right info at hand,if at all possible, so as not to waste any more of their time... As most everyone has a cell phone today, I am usually able to reach them very shortly after their initial call with no problem and I find them to be completely understanding of any minor delay.
Thanks Jason. It sounds like you value your students. I wonder then, what is your policy regarding checking your voicemails to ensure quality follow up?
I do not like the idea of taking a call when a student is in my office. I would rather the call go to voicemail, where I say "I am out of the office or assisting a student at this time."
At our school the students ALWAYS comes first. That is not practiced if I am taking an incoming call while I have a student in my office.
Thanks for sharing Sirena. It sounds like each situation at your office is different depending on the number of staff members available. It also seems like you and your co-workers have a plan for those interruptions. I'm curious, how do your students respond when your conversation is interruptted?
This process is a judge mental call that is made before the interview began. Because we have such a small staff if for any reason I know their will not be another person to take a message or answer the call I inform the student that we may have a few interruptions during our interview because we are short staffed at the moment to please bare with me. If a call happens to come in I will answer an inform the student that I would love to speak with them if he/she can kindly state their contact information I will return the call once I am done with my current student meeting.
I get the sense that you have a strong commitment to your students achieving the ultimate goal - graduating! That's awesome and I hope you continue to demonstrate that commitment to your students.
I try to get to know them as much as possible without overstepping my boundaries. Doing this gives me a sense of whether or not a student is ready to make the commitment to coming to college and completing their degree. I feel the better we know our applicants, the better the rtention rate and graduation rate wil become. When you get to know the students, they feel some responsibility to do their best for the admissions counselor, as well as themselves.
That's a great practice, Jeremy. I'm guessing that when you put your students first and make it a priority to learn about them you develop powerful relationships. Being realistic and upfront about expectations is important to continue to build that relationship. What are some other things you do to help develop your relationships with students?
Generally, I always put the student who is in my office first on my priority list. I try to gather as much information in a short period of time with the incoming call and then tell them that I will get back to them within a reasonable amount of time. I always try to underpromise and over-deliver when it comes to the timeline.
Interesting Anisha. In a later post you talk about showing your respect for both parties by answering the phone and getting the information from the caller. I like that you use "with taste" as it shows me that you are wanting to make both parties comfortable.
It's great that you are showing respect to both parties Anisha. The follow up with the caller is key too.
In my pass possition I was able to let it go to voice mail, but how our system works is that if you don't answer you you miss out on the lead. We have about 25 reps so you have to jump on each call, but with taste.
That's a great question. What I do is ask the student to excuse me 4 a moment while I answer this call. Once I have the person on the phone I inform them that I am speaking with a student @ the moment so give me your name & the best point of contact & i'll call u back as soon as I can.
Interesting. I think it is great the you re-introduce yourself on the phone to the student. That is such an easy piece to miss. Keep up the good work.
I usually intorduce myself and tell them that I am sorry I missed ther call and tell them that I am here to help and try to uncover the reason for their call by asking them some open ended questions about themselves like how did they hear about our school, How long have they been interested in.... Why are they interested in coming to school now......It usually does rengage them...
I do not take inbound calls when a student is in my office. Our office is set up to transfer the call to an available counselor before transferring it voicemail. If the call happens to go to voicemail I retrieve the call as soon as my meeting is over and return the call.
It sounds like you have a system in place to ensure that your students are being served whether they're in your office or on the phone. I'm guessing that your students appreciate the fact that they get to talk to a "live" person.
No, that does not happen because our receptionist just takes the messages and I call the students after.
It sounds like you prefer to give the student in your office your undivided attention, Ronda. I'm sure your students appreciate this a great deal. Have you ever had a student ask you why you weren't answering your phone while you were meeting with them and if so, how did you handle this?
I imagine that your students appreciate the fact that you're upfront about how you'll handle any calls you may receive while meeting with them. This is definitely a way to show your student that you want to do your best to serve your students, Gianna. I'm curious, what might you do in a situation where the student says "sure, no problem" but he/she appears to be upset or disappointed by the potential disruption?
