When you win the parents, you’ll win the student.
We started the conversation about recruiting parents last week but how do you win parents?
You start with 3 incredibly simple steps.
1. Collect Parent Info Early
We aren’t suggesting that you collect Parent Info in your initial Request for Information (RFI) form. You want to keep your RFI short and sweet to encourage a high submission rate.
Once that RFI comes in though, you will want to make sure you collect the parent’s info.
According to 2019 Parents’ Role in College Planning Report by Ruffalo Noel Levitz:
- Parents preferred email!
- Get Mom’s contact info - 83% of the survey respondents were female!
2. Contact Parents Frequently
If parents are very involved and are dedicated to getting their students into college, you should have a robust communication strategy for parents that rivals your communication to their children.
After all, the best way to ensure your college info is in the right place at the right time is to be everywhere at once.
We recommend that your students and parents EACH receive a communication PER WEEK.
3. Provide the Information Parents Want
Quoting an Opportunity Alert from the aforementioned RNL report:
“When asked how communication from colleges could be improved, more than half of the parents in this survey indicated they’d like to hear from parents of current students. Tap into testimonials, graduation statistics, and career outcomes when reaching out to high school parents.”
The testimonials from parents of current students is the most powerful form of communication you can provide. Parents expect colleges to positively talk about themselves and will be more quickly won by parents that rave about you.
Sure, prospective parents know you hunted for positive reviews, but when you have enough of them, they’ll start to think you didn’t have to search very hard!
The Parental Difference:
High school students may not be ready to ask the right questions; but their parents are and they are waiting for your answers. Parents understand that a college degree opens up more career options and is worth the investment.
They aren’t primarily concerned with the “experience” of college; they are focused on the success of their child after college.
So make sure they hear from you (and the parents of your current students) so they are convinced that your college is the best option for their teenager.
These three tips will make a difference but you need to start now! The longer you nurture your relationship with parents, the more influence you will have over the student’s college decision.
Stay consistent, recruit parents and students will come.
Next week we are going to share how to position yourself as the EXPERT parents need to solve their BIGGEST concern.
|
|
|
 |
Ready to Open up?
|
 |
How much do First Impressions Matter?
|