Marlee Fritzsch

Students are coming into Admissions already being armed with research, peer recommendations and information that they found on the school website.  Guidance, support, and student advocacy are much better than persuasion, urgency or closing techniques.  Enrollment is a decision made BY the student and not FOR the student.  Respecting the students pace communicated trust and professionalism.  Also understanding general generational preferences and tendencies is greatly helpful in understanding how they like to communicate best.  This was all very good information. 

Very good information shared.  I love the wording of taking students from uncertainty and move towards informed decision-making.  The school and the student both need to be good fits.  The 2 questions of "Is what I am doing working?" (Awareness) and "If not, what else can I do differently?" (Flexibility) are core questions to always grow and adapt to what the students' needs are. 

Lots of great information in this section.   A solid recap of what you've learned about the student and what they're looking for in a school.  Then encouragement to enroll, and have them start the process while they're still with you in case they have any questions is a great suggestion.   Focus on the next steps, which having an Admissions checklist is helpful to keep students on task and then ask for referrals.  I loved the suggestion as well of encouraging the prospective student to bring a friend or a family with them, that can help alleviate any anxiety or fear… >>>

This section had lots of great information.  We as admission counselors need to build value for the students.  I will start to use the response to "it's expensive" with "compared to what?"  You should already have a good idea to "compared to what" if you asked the question "What other school are you looking at?"    Before going into the Financial Aid/Tuition talk" a good recap of what you've gone over so far in the meeting is helpful.   Having the full tuition cost, stating what that cost covers and any/all the additional extra costs is a great way to be… >>>

It is so important to really learn about the prospective student by gathering information and then giving information based on what you have learned about them.  They don't need all the information all at once as it could be too overwhelming.

Checking in with the student regularly to make sure you haven't "lost them" is necessary.  I love the question "From what you've learned so far, do you see anything preventing you from starting on _______date"

I think small talk is so very important, finding commonalities.  You can never go wrong with "How's your day going so far?"  or "I really like your earrings/necklace"  You can try to make connections by trying to find mutual interests ie: do they like sports? do that have kids? what hobbies do they enjoy?  It's nice to have guild lines without having to follow a cold script.  Smile when you're talking on the phone, joy can be sensed even on a phone call.