Communicate by handPosted by Ray Ulmer on June 26, 2009Even in our electronic world, there are some recruiting efforts that need to be delivered by traditional mail. But students and their parents are just as overwhelmed with postal mail as they are by email, so how do you cut through the clutter to make sure your letter or invitation gets opened? Here’s a suggestion that’s kind of old-fashioned. Actually, it may work as well as it does precisely because it is old fashioned. Direct response experts guarantee a higher open rate when you deliver your mail by hand — hand addressed, hand stamped, hand signed. “We know,” say the editors of the Go-to-Market Strategies Resource Center. “In a world where technology reigns, the handwritten direct mail piece seems old fashioned at best…and a LOT of work at the least. But we ask you…when was the last time you threw away a direct mail piece that was hand addressed, handwritten and/or hand signed?” Here’s why it works: Baldwin-Wallace College tour guide is not a “tourbot”Posted by Jeff Kallay on June 26, 2009This past Tuesday I was at Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio conducting tour guide training on rendering authenticity and storytelling. (That’s me standing by one of their admissions Minis.)
Yesterday I got an email from Pattie Skrha, BWC’s Director of Admission, telling me how the Chairman of BWC’s Board came to campus with a prospective student and shared with Pattie how “it was the best tour he ever had.” From Pattie’s email:
While I’d like to take credit and think that the three hours of training and lunch made the difference for Jarvis and the other guides, BWC’s students are really bright and personable. And Admissions gives them the permission and guidance to be students — not scripted “tourbots.” Two best practices at Occidental CollegePosted by Jeff Kallay on June 26, 2009Last week I returned to Occidental College near Los Angeles for some follow-up campus visit work. Trent Gilbert, TargetX’s Experience Evaluator joined me. We were really impressed by three best practices: 1. Self-guided Tour and Literature Stand
2. Admissions Guest Computers and printer
3. Preprinted direction cards These are seemingly small details, but they make a big difference and show that Oxy cares about their visitor experience. July 13th - Mark Your CalendarsPosted by Brian Niles on June 25, 2009On Monday, July 13th at 1:00pm ET, we’ll be on air with Abby Laporte’s show, “Abby’s Road” - a live webcast and podcast chronicling Abby’s search for the right college and her life as a high school senior. We’ll be joined by other high school seniors to talk about their college search process as well. I encourage college admissions officers to listen in live at http://live.twit.tv About Abby’s Road About TWIT TargetX Tweets for the Week of 2009-06-21Posted by TargetX Team on June 21, 2009“Where’s the bathroom?”Posted by Ray Ulmer on June 19, 2009Trent Gilbert remembers walking into a restroom so small that he longed for the lavatory on the airplane that brought him to campus. Another restroom at another school had all the charm of a truck stop. And was just about as clean. Time to remind admissions officers of the critical nature of first impressions, thought Gilbert, who evaluates campus-visitor experiences. So he launched a contest to honor the schools that “get it” — that understand one of the first things prospective families see is the inside of a bathroom. “Mr. Gilbert’s encounters with worn toilets and closet-sized bathrooms led his company to start the TargetX Bowl, a competition to flush out America’s finest campus bathrooms,” reports Erica Hendry of the Chronicle of Higher education. If the campus visit is in your portfolio, join CIVSA and get involvedPosted by Jeff Kallay on June 16, 2009
Last week I delivered the keynote speech at the 2009 CIVSA (Collegiate Information Visitor Services Association) Conference in Boston. The host campus was Boston University, and their Yankee hospitality exceeded my expectations. And the program was chock-full of strong content and events.
2009 CIVSA Conference Attendees pose in front of The Castle at Boston University. (taken with my not so steady iPhone camera!) XpertTip No. 112: Facilitating change this summerPosted by Adrienne Bartlett on June 15, 2009It’s common knowledge that to achieve different results, you have to make different decisions. And this year more than ever, clients have been coming to us to help jump-start that process. Brian Niles has even joined many of you for staff retreats and other meetings to facilitate discussions about change and “rebooting your recruiting process.” The results have been so positive that we’ve decided to offer his help with a special discount for clients — and there’s still time to make arrangements for this summer’s planning sessions or followup meetings. We know change is hard and that throwing “business as usual” out the window can be intimidating to say the least. But as we’ve been known to say, higher ed has reached a tipping point — and these days it’s embrace change or get left behind. TargetX Tweets for the Week of 2009-06-14Posted by TargetX Team on June 14, 2009
What’s the next big thing?Posted by Ray Ulmer on June 12, 2009The only thing more certain than death and taxes is the demise of Twitter and Facebook. It’s the nature of the Internet. Like everything that has preceded them, Twitter and Facebook will be replaced by something else. The question that marketing strategist Steve Rubel gets all the time is, “What?” “I can’t go to a meeting without being asked what will succeed Twitter or Facebook as the future king of community,” he writes in a recent issue of Advertising Age. And he has an answer. |









