Who do you have on your call center team at your institution? If you’re not employing current students at your school then you may be missing an opportunity to build more authentic relationships with prospective students. Student telecounselor at Cal U, Daija Swain-Williams, shared that the conversations tend to switch when the person on the call finds out that she’s not just a caller, but a current student at the school.
“When they hear I’m a student here they always say, OK, I have a semi-personal question. And as soon I as hear that I know exactly where it’s going. And they ask – are you black? When I say yes they’re like, OK, now I have a million questions I want to ask you. ‘What is your school like? What’s around you? What’s diversity like? Do you struggle with anything?’ They’re basically trying to find all the bad parts they’d be scared about.”
Having a member of your team who can talk to these prospects, peer to peer, and share their own personal experiences as a student at your school is one hundred per cent more powerful than having an admissions staff member trying to do the same thing. Authenticity is powerful.