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Feb 15, 2017

 

 

Over the past 6 to 12-months, we spoke with many who are responsible for increasing adult, graduate and continuing education program enrollments. 

What we heard – loud and clear – is that you are beginning to see a significant benefit in getting outsourced support in strategic planning and the implementation of your strategic plan. 

“We just don’t have the time to do research and planning because we’re focused on getting the emails written and sent, web sites reworked and updated, new program brochures designed and printed.”

Of course, the specific needs varied. 

Advisors.

For a large number of you, there is a need for advice and counseling.  

You want to be able to “…turn to someone that’s familiar with our goals, objectives, strategies and tactics so that they are providing us with personalize, relevant advice and guidance to our strategic and tactical questions.”  And those issues can cover “…just about anything that might arise during the planning, development and execution of any of our marketing programs and activities.”

“We want to turn to someone that knows us – who we are, what our goals and objectives are as well as our strengths and weaknesses – and ask them, based on their knowledge and experience, how we can improve our recruitment efforts.  Or increase retention.  Or set up a referral process that generates substantial enrollments.  And when we ask, they can give us the advice we need to make a well informed decision.”

Several pointed to our Mystery Shopper Audit and Non-Traditional Student Recruitment Assessment as great examples of this service – except that the services are limited to specific topics.

“I need this service to go beyond just what’s covered in your Audit – and I need to be able to ask about any subject when the need arises.  This month, I might have questions for you about recruitment efforts and then it could be about partnerships with local businesses or how to identify new program opportunities or new markets to enter with satellite campuses or…”

Strategic Planning.

Then there were those of you that admitted they needed more than just advice and counseling.

You realized that you need support with “…strategic planning including marketing research, competitive intelligence and program demand forecasting.”    With this segment, there was a strong desire to better understand their target audience, competition and overall market in order to be more effective at recruitment, retention, referral programs as well as partner programs with local businesses, government agencies and NGOs.

To be honest, this one really caught us by surprise because these research services are available by many service firms – but after a little more digging it became clear that few, if any of those service firms were willing to sit down and help their client take the insights learned via the research and develop a way to put that to use and increase enrollments.  Of those willing to get involved at this level, affordability became an issue for the college.

“What we need is someone that can work with our staff on developing a go-to-market plan that we can implement.  Dropping off the recommendations on what to do is nice but with our plates full, we need help putting together the plan that can make it happen.”

Director

Finally, there was a large number that admitted that on top of the strategic planning expertise was the need for program management services so that once the plans were designed, they would be implemented – and that their current full-time staff already had enough work on their plates.

“We don’t have the bandwidth to get everything that needs to be done, done.  And it’s not something that we feel is solved by hiring one more person because the skill set we need typically isn’t found in one person. That’s why we need someone that can bring a broad selection of expertise to the table – at an affordable rate.”

The Solution: Fast, Easy, Affordable Access to What You Need, When You Need it!

What it all comes down to is that many of you have a need for a broad array of expertise from planning to project management at a cost that is far below the cost of hiring the expertise so it was on staff all the time.

So, our newly revamped On-Demand Services now provide you with:

• Dedicated point of contact with more than a decade of marketing/enrollment experience in higher education that is responsible for understanding your goals, objectives, strategies, tactics, strengths and weaknesses so that they can identify opportunities we can improve for you
• Access to all of our resources and expertise via phone, email when you need it
• Advise, counseling, strategic planning and project management services so that you receive the support you need, when you need it.
• Flat-rate monthly fees, customized packages that range in length and scope

Think of it as making our team a real part of your current team without the salaries, benefits and complete expense – instead, you pay a low fixed amount based on the projected level of support we agree to at the start.

What’s this all mean – really mean?

The devil, they say, is in the details so what exactly does this service provide you. Here are a few examples:

• Review and assessment of your student recruitment email campaign including suggestions for message and offer testing as well as other recommendations focused on improving performance
• Design a strategic plan for generating enrollments for a graduate program that’s been under-performing
• Project management focused on the implementation of a key project tied to retention
• Research focused on identifying opportunities for new programs that can be developed
• And more…just ask!

Completely Customized for your Needs and Budget

Obviously, the more you want, the more we provide which means the higher the cost of the service.  So the goal is to define the service clearly at the start so you can make the decision regarding what is and isn’t mission critical.  (We’ll be happy to share our opinion here as well – after all, we do have a lot riding on this relationship as well!)

That said, let’s do a little math so you can see the potential ROI this offers you.

Calculating Your ROI - This Services Does Generate Revenue, Enrollments

Let’s say the typical adult, graduate and continuing learning student generates $20,000 in tuition and that $10,000 of that comes in Year 1.

And let’s say that this service helps you generate 10 additional enrollments in the first year – that’s $100,000 in new revenue.

Now, we know that our Mystery Shopper Audits have helped other colleges generate much more than 1 additional enrollment per month but even at 1 per month, that’s 12 new students at $10,000 in additional revenue or $120,000.

And our packages start at less than $48,000 per year…mean your ROI would be more than $70,000!

Interested in Learning More – call us at 651-666-0934 or click here

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