Taking advantage of the warm and sunny Spring weather and the fact that schools were off for a week, it was an ideal opportunity for my High School Junior and I to head off to visit college campuses in preparation for the admission process that awaits us come the Fall. With suitcases packed and directions to and from the various colleges and universities on his wish list printed and ready for his reference as my co-pilot and navigator, the idea that it would be me who would come away having learned something I could apply to my business understanding was not at all top of mind.

First Impressions

There was a tremendous difference in the receptivity and welcoming that awaited students and their parents at the various schools. Some of the colleges seemed to forget that that the consumer of their product needs to be acknowledged and made to feel comfortable upon the initial introduction of student to college representative.

At one school, simply posting the student names on a sheet of paper in the Admissions Office as the students signed in for their campus tour put a smile on many prospective students' faces and their bill paying parents. Other schools barely acknowledged that a customer was even in the Admissions Office and exploring the possibility of spending $200,000 with them.

Listening to students and parents talking to each other while awaiting the start of the campus tours, it was easy to discern which schools had crossed the threshold of putting the

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customer at ease and which had more work to do to gain the confidence of the customer.

A couple of schools had fresh baked cookies available for the students to eat while they awaited the start of their scheduled visit with an Admissions counselor or student volunteer.

Lessons:

1. How receptive, warm, and inviting the business is to prospects that are shopping for where to spend their money can make a tremendous difference in how willing the customer is to choose the business. Simply noting that the student was making the visit and posting the name on a sheet led to the feeling of being recognized and special versus the other schools that acted as if the prospective student was an impediment. Are the initial customer contacts your business has turning them away from your business?

2. As hokey as it is, nothing gives people the feeling of hominess and feeling welcomed as fresh baked cookies. It is the rare person that would not appreciate the effort of being offered a warm cookie and feeling positively predisposed to that organization. While offering cookies may not be practical, are there efforts that your company makes to put your prospects at ease with you?

Show, Don't Tell

One major university with over 30,000 matriculating students did a fabulous job of welcoming students through the initial stages of welcoming students and their parents with informational packets, coffee, donuts, and a very slickly produced video extolling the virtues of the school through testimonials of well known alumni. And with the students excitedly projecting how they would fit in on the campus or planning the comments they would utter when it is their turn to be a famous alum, the school lost much of the momentum it had built by then having an hour-long presentation without benefit of slides, handouts or any visual material on Financial Aid. While it is important to cover in a campus visit, having High School Juniors sit through a speech without the chance to interact, view, or be engaged in the topic in any way led to a good number of visitors napping or patiently waiting for the droning to end. Rather than being conversational or trying to demonstrate how the students can accomplish THEIR goals, the monologue was about what forms must be filled out, deadlines, and fees and costs.

Lesson:

1. By not engaging the students or their parents in how the school was the place to be and focusing upfront on potential objections to attending (costs, lack of financial aid, etc.) - the school lost a chance to secure even higher interest among their prospective customers. How often do employees fail to help their customers see how our products and services can be used to solve their problems or meet their needs and only speak of logistics, costs, data that are dry and lack the emotion of the benefits being offered?

Names are Important

At one school the Academic Advisor had done a terrific job of promoting the school and helping my son see how the school could meet his expectations and spoke eloquently about how the school was a warm and inviting place where everyone knew each other by name and shared a sense of community. All was going well until he then referred to my son by the wrong name three times, even after being corrected the first two times. My son did not bother to correct him the last time, because it was clear that it was a scripted comment to speak of the sense of neighborhood and knowing names and not a sincere reflection of how the Academic Advisor truly acted. What had seemed so promising was now comprised as my son wrestled with whether it was just an odd occurrence that should be overlooked, or if it belied a lack of caring and community.

Lesson:

1. Using the name of prospects goes far in making them feel as if they are appreciated, recognized, and valued. Unfortunately, it can backfire when you use the wrong name or do not correct an error about someone's name. Do prospects feel they are treated as individuals and uniquely acknowledged?

Who Is The Customer?

In one galling instance for students on a campus visit, the campus tour was halted partway through and prospective students were then quizzed on whether they had enough information to make a decision, what they thought of the tour, how it could be improved, but not at any questions about what the school could do to help the students achieve their objectives or goals. Surely it makes sense to improve the tours and provide feedback on the experience so that there is constant improvement for future prospective students - but it is not the reason the students are on the tour.

Lesson:

1. While those on the campus tours can provide valuable insight that the school can use to improve; the focus should be on what the student stands to gain by becoming a member of that school's student body. Too often businesses get overly myopic on their own improvement that they forget the reason they exist - to serve customers.

Can You Picture It?

One very clever school actually took a photo of each student on the campus tour and then sent that photo to the student's email address that had been provided. Accompanied by a "thank you for visiting our campus" and a note wishing the student good luck in their search and making themselves available for follow up discussions, that school was able to very quickly get the prospective student to "see themselves" as already being a part of that campus.

Lesson:

1. The school successfully transitioned the students from being arm's length observers and passive receivers of information to now being able to "see themselves" on the campus and part of the fabric of the campus. When employees interact with prospects or customers, are they accomplishing the same thing by providing demonstrations or trial copies or other ways for prospects to sample the product or service?

Colleges and businesses alike need to think strategically about how well they perform their outreach to prospective customers and be certain that they are not intentionally or unintentionally missing opportunities to gain customers and fans for life.

David Zahn is a serial entrepreneur and consultant to Fortune 100 businesses (www.zahnconsulting.com) as well as entrepreneurial startups (www.startupbuilder.com).

The opinions expressed are the author's and not necessarily those of connpost.com. Please direct comments to cdauber@ctpost.com.

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