Higher ED Comprehensive Marketing Assessment
                         
  The Higher Education Marketing Assessment is a detailed audit of your institution's marketing that gives you an impartial, neutral valuation of your marketing strategies, processes, practices, programs, and operations.  It is designed as a self assessment.  It will help you quickly identify areas of opportunity and problems that are affecting your organization's marketing performance.   The purpose of this assessment is to identify areas of strength and areas of opportunity.  
                         
  The assessment is broken down into the following areas:              
                         
  1)  Business / Marketing Challenges Facing Your Institution            
  2)  New Student Acquisition / Lead Management              
  3)  Student Relationship Management              
  4)  Marketing Management              
    a)  Planning & Control                  
    b)  Program Management                   
    c)  Marketing Communications and Promotions              
    d)  Organization                  
    e)  Service                    
  5)  Marketing Information Practices and Systems              
                 
  Instructions:                    
                         
  Click the section titles on the tabs below or the hyperlinks to each section above and complete all of the questions within each section.  When you have completed all of scored sections, click on "Scorecard" tab in order to learn your overall assessment.

 In each section, select a value of 1 to 5 from the drop list in the scoring column for each statement.  A value of "1" means that you strongly disagree with the statement as it applies to your organization and a value of "5" means that you strongly agree with the statement as it applies to your organization.

 If the statement is not applicable to your situation, select "NA" from the drop down list.  When you are finished with each section, no statements are to be left unscored.

Check the Scorecard TAB for your total results and overall score.
 		 
Scorecard Rating Scale:
       5 - Strongly Agree                  
       4 - Agree                    
       3 - Unsure                    
       2 - Disagree                    
       1 - Strongly Disagree                  
       NA - Not Applicable                  
  After completing this assessment, you will be presented with a score that will help you identify strengths and opportunities for improvement.  If you would like us to review the assessment, you can contact us and request a consultation.  (Call for pricing.)   During this session we will provide you will practical recommendations to turn opportunities into improved performance.  To schedule your consultation, please call  651-315-7588 or contact us by email to schedule a date and time for this meeting.  If you elect to retain our services after the consultation, the assessment and consultation will be FREE and the amount of the assessment and review session will be credited to your account. 
 
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  Scorecard    
  Each section looks at key functional areas.  You need to score above a "3" in each section.  If not, you should focus on developing policies, practices and processes to improve your organization's overall business practices and marketing efforts.    
  Section Description Total
Questions 		Questions
Answered 		Maximum
Points From
Answered Questions 		Actual
Points
From
Questions
Answered 		Average
Score 		Graded Score  
  1 Institution / Marketing Challenges
Facing Your Organization 		 
  2 New Student /Acquisition / Lead Generation & Management
Issues, Practices 		 
  3 Student Relationship Management
Issues, Practices 		 
  4a Marketing Management - Planning & Control
Issues, Practices 		 
  4b Marketing Management - Marketing Program Development
Issues, Practices 		 
  4c Marketing Management - Marketing
Communications / Promotions
Issues, Practices 		 
  4d Marketing Management -
Organization
Issues, Practices 		 
  4e Marketing Management - Service
Issues, Practices 		 
  5 Marketing Information Management
Issues, Practices 		 
    Totals / Overall Score  
                   
  Analysis of your Score              
                   
  Grade "A" - Excellent -       
  Overall, a score of 90% and over means that you have excellent business and marketing processes and practices in place.      
                   
  Grade "B" - Above Average      
  A score between 80% and 89% means that you have good processes and practices in place and only need to work on fine tuning a few critical areas.  You could benefit from streamlining processes.      
                 
  Grade "C" - Fair      
  A score between 70% and 79% means you need to evaluate and document processes that utilize your resources efficiently.        
                 
  Grade "D" - Below Average      
  A score between 66% and 69% means that your organization has a lot of work to do in improving marketing strategies and marketing management processes and practices.        
                   
  Grade "F" - Poor      
A score of 65% and below means that your organization is on life support and in danger of going out of business.
                   
  Section 1 - Institution & Marketing Challenges    
  Instructions:    
       
  This section covers the business and marketing challenges that are facing your institution.  Select a value from the drop down list in the Score Rating column below, next to each statement.  If the statement is not applicable to your situation, select "0" from the drop list.  No questions are to be left unanswered.  Check the Scorecard TAB for your total results & overall score.
       
       
  Rating Scale: Results for This Section:
       
       Score 5 - Strongly Agree Total Questions in This Section
       Score 4 - Agree Total Questions Answered
       Score 3 - Unsure Total Points
       Score 2 - Disagree Max Points Possible From Answered / Applicable Questions
       Score 1 - Strongly Disagree Average Score
       Leave blank if not applicable Equivalent Grade Score
       
# Institution / Marketing Challenges Facing
Your Institution 		Score
Rating 		Comments/Concerns
1) Our institution is ranked in the Top 50 by US News and World Report.
2) Our institution practices operational excellence.
3) Our institution prepares a strategic gap analysis.
4) We have a formal process for establishing financial forecasts and budgets that involves all departments within the institution (Administration, Academics, Enrollment Management/Admissions, Technology, etc.)
5) Every department within our institution is student oriented.
6) In our Institution marketing/enrollment management is an organizational attitude, not a department.
7) "Marketing/enrollment management is far too important to be left only to the marketing/enrollment management department."
8) Marketing, enrollment management are part of the same department in our institution.
9) Our marketing/enrollment management department is "well-focused" and an important part of our team.
10) Our marketing/enrollment management department is "imaginative, generates lots of new ideas, and delivers."
11) Our marketing/enrollment management team is good at finding and developing new growth opportunities.
12) Our marketing/enrollment management department influences all departments and employees to be student-centered in their thinking and practices.
13) Our program and brand managers have an excellent grip on "commercial realities."
14) We view marketing/enrollment management expenditures as an investment, not a cost.
15) We have strong program / service differentiation from our competitors.
16) We are not giving away a lot of costly services and add-ons to get the sale. (Discounting pricing strategy)
17) Our pricing is not being quickly matched by our competitors.
18) Our advertising is not becoming more expensive.
19) Our advertising is not becoming less effective.
20) We are not spending too much on student recruitment.
21) Our costs for recruiting and retaining students are not increasing and consuming a larger percentage of our overall  margins.
22) Declining enrollment management productivity is not a major factor impacting our revenue and profit goals.
23) We are not having trouble competing against lower-cost, lower-price competitors domestically and globally.
24) Our brand today is as strong or stronger than it was last year.
25) Our institution has many ways of stimulating and collecting new ideas.
26) Our institution depends on getting ideas from enrollment management, curriculum developers, faculty, and staff.
27) Our institution has appointed a person(s) to stimulate and collect ideas.
28) Our institution has a well-working idea management system.
  Section 2 - New Student Acquisition & Lead Management
       
  Instructions:
       
  This section covers new student acquisition and lead management strategies, practices, processes and programs.  Select a value from the drop down list in the Score Rating column below, next to each statement.  If the statement is not applicable to your situation, select "0" from the drop list.  No questions are to be left unanswered.  Check the Scorecard TAB for your total results & overall score.
       
       
  Rating Scale: Results for This Section:
       
       Score 5 - Strongly Agree Total Questions in This Section
       Score 4 - Agree Total Questions Answered
       Score 3 - Unsure Total Points
       Score 2 - Disagree Max Points Possible From Answered / Applicable Questions
       Score 1 - Strongly Disagree Average Score
       Score 0 - Not Applicable Equivalent Grade Score
       
# New Student Acquisition /
Lead Management 		Score
Rating 		Comments/Concerns
1) We have a formal plan for acquiring new students
2) We have a formal lead generation/recruitment strategy and plan with supporting budgets and forecasts.
3) We use lead generation/recruitment programs to identify and qualify prospect interest and potential before committing  resources.
4) We regularly review performance of our lead generation/recruitment programs in order to determine if we are successful.
5) We can quickly adapt to changes in the market that impact our new student acquisition/recruitment efforts.
6) We target our lead generation/recruitment efforts based on a well-defined profile of what we know to be our best / most successful and profitable students
7) We have a formal process for qualifying leads / new student prospects.
8) We use a lead scoring system to rank the potential student value of all leads however they are generated.
9) We make it easy for prospective students to get information about programs, services and our institution via the TELEPHONE.
10) We make it easy for prospective students to get information about programs, services and our institution via our WEBSITE.
11) We make it easy for prospective students to get information about programs, services and our institution via SOCIAL MEDIA (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) on the Internet.
12) We make it easy for prospective students to get information about programs, services and our institution via MAIL.
13) We have a process for managing the relationship with prospective students from the point of initial contact through enrollment in their first course.
14) We have dedicated marketing/enrollment management team that works exclusively with new prospects.      
15) Our enrollment management team is involved in the development of all lead generation/student recruitment programs.      
16) Only qualified leads are turned over to our enrollment management.
17) Our enrollment management team is happy with the QUALITY of leads generated from our recruitment efforts.      
18) Our enrollment management team is happy with the QUANTITY of qualified leads that are generated from our recruitment efforts.  
19) We use a Level 1 call center team (a first level call center generally operates 24/7, acts as the initial point of contact for user requests and has knowledge of the products, terms and conditions offered by the business) to qualify all leads before assigning to an enrollment management representative.
20) All new inquiries are immediately assigned to an enrollment representative who makes their first attempt to contact them within 1 hour.
21) Our enrollment advisors/representatives are thoroughly educated on the full promotional effort before it runs, including: media selection; samples of advertisements; detailed explanation of offers; etc.     
22) We utilize capacity and lead flow planning to manage lead flow so that it matches our enrollment team's capacity to handle them.
23) Our lead management process requires prospects be qualified and prioritized before assigning to an enrollment representative.   
24) We have a student referral program.
25) We constantly review our processes in order to improve and provide greater value to prospective students.      
26) We use information that we gather about our best/most successful students to target new student acquisition efforts.      
27) We have a formal lead nurturing process and system for working and converting qualified leads that are not yet ready to enroll.
cold leads into customers.
28) We have regular ongoing communications programs with our prospects.
29) We have a centralized database for capturing all prospect demographic, marketing, and financial data.
30) We know how much it costs to generate a new student prospect/lead.
31) We are constantly striving to lower our student acquisition costs.
32) We use integrated marketing campaigns to acquire new students
  Section 3 - Student Relationship Management    
       
  Instructions:
       
  This section covers student releationship management strategies, practices, processes and programs.  Select a value from the drop down list in the Score Rating column below, next to each statement.  If the statement is not applicable to your situation, select "0" from the drop list.  No questions are to be left unanswered.  Check the Scorecard TAB for your total results & overall score.
   
       
  Rating Scale: Results for This Section:
       
       Score 5 - Strongly Agree Total Questions in This Section
       Score 4 - Agree Total Questions Answered
       Score 3 - Unsure Total Points
       Score 2 - Disagree Max Points Possible From Answered / Applicable Questions
       Score 1 - Strongly Disagree Average Score
       Score 0 - Not Applicable Equivalent Grade Score
# Student Relationship Management Score
Rating 		Comments/Concerns
1) Our institution is actiively and frequently involved with our students from a communications perspective.
2) We have a process in place aimed at welcoming NEW students.
3) We know that our new student program increases their satisfaction and retention.
4) We have a centralized database that identifies ALL student contacts.      
5) We have a centralized student database that is easily accessible by EVERYONE within our organization.
6) We capture ALL student interactions in the centralized database.
7) We know who is talking to our students and what they are saying.
8) We know why we lose students.
9) We have developed successful strategies and programs that have reduced student defections.
10) We know if we are the primary, secondary or tertiary source (choice) for our students and have developed strategies to protect or improve our position.
11) We have a program that identifies enrollment opportunities within our existing students base and allows us to capitalize on these opportunities.
12) We measure the profitability of individual students
13) We know who are our best/most successful / ideal students are.
14) We know what percentage of our students are profitable.
15) We know who are our most profitable students.
16) We know how are our unprofitable students.
17) We know how to turn our unprofitable students into profitable one.
18) We treat our best students differently than other students.
19) We treat our students as  advocates, partners and part-owners in our institution.
20) We have calculated the Life Time Value (SLV - student lifetime value) of our students.
21) We use our knowledge of our student's budgets to help us project our revenue.
22) We constantly monitor student performance in order to identify early warning signs of possible dissatisfaction and / or defection.
23) We have a process in place that allows us to retain potential defectors to other institutions.
24) We have a process in place for winning back former students.
25) We have special promotional efforts aimed at our best students that are not available to our general student base.
26) We offer our best student special services not available to our general student base.
27) We have programs in place that motivate potential students to increase their enrollments with our institution.
28) We provide our students with a primary contact (counselor) and/or academic advisor within our institution that is responsible for ensuring the student's satisfaction.
29) We provide fast, easy access to accurate and relevant information to all students via telephone, face-to-face, Internet, mobile, etc.
30) We have a formal training program for all departments and staff that interact with students and prospects to ensure consistent levels of service.
31) We have a formal process for capturing and disseminating student feedback so appropriate action can be taken quickly.
32) We have a formal process for evaluating student service performance that is based on metrics that tie to our institutional objectives.
33) Our enrollment / advising personnel have the authority to resolve student service issues.
34) Our student service personnel have the authority to resolve student service issues.
35) Our enrollment management regularly reviews  performance and formally discuses performance with their staff.
36) Our enrollment and service personnel have input into the creation of marketing materials (e.g. sales brochures, catalogs, website, print and broadcast advertisements, etc.)
37) Our enrollment and service personnel have input into the development of marketing programs aimed at our students
38) Our marketing department is responsible for training enrollment, advising and service personnel on upcoming marketing programs, campaigns, and offers.
39) We have programs in place for training all departments and staff that come in contact with prospects and students
40) The Internet is used to communicate with prospects, students and partners.
41) Our institution has on-line self services available for student transactions and support.
42) Student inquiries are typically responded to within 1 hour.
43) Our institution has a formal program for increasing student service levels.
44) We regularly survey our students to determine their level of satisfaction with our programs and services.
45) We use the results of student satisfaction surveys to develop marketing programs and materials.
46) Our business and marketing strategies are student-centric.
47) Our sales and marketing programs are student-centric.
48) We collect student transaction, service, attitudinal, and demographic information from internal and external sources and use this information to acquire, retain and service valuable students.
49) We use student relationship management technology (centralized database system) to capture, store, analyze student data and interactions, and to communicate with students.
50) We use this information when communicating with students through any touch points including enrollment, advising, student service, web sites, marketing collateral, and all communications.
51) We use student data to acquire, retain, cross-sell, and up-sell students
52) Our institution and processes are structured around our students to better serve them.
53) We understand and anticipate the needs of our students
54) We have a student relationship management strategy to improve service, cut costs, and revitalize enrollment management, recruitment, retention and marketing.
55) We constantly analyze student behavior in order to identify opportunities and/or threats.
56) We regularly compare our student needs with our programs and services in order to identify opportunities and threats.
57) We have a student advisory board that provides us with valuable insight into their perceptions of our efforts to deliver value.
58) We have identified students that are 'under performing' and developed plans to improve their performance to increase their retention.
59) We purchase student data and append it to our centralized database in order to enhance our knowledge of the student and improve our retention effort.
60) We have identified and understand the typical student's institution and program selection process.
61) We have identified students that are 'price sensitive' so that we can provide them with financial and program solutions that enable them to continue their education with our institution.
62) We use student advisory panels to help us in new program development.
63) We define student defections as "a student that has not enrolled with us during the past 12 months."
64) We define student defections as "a student that has reduced their enrollments/credit hours by more than X% within the last 12 months."
  Section 4a - Planning & Control    
       
  Instructions:    
       
  This section covers makreting management planning and control strategies, practices, processes and programs.  Select a value from the drop down list in the Score Rating column below, next to each statement.  If the statement is not applicable to your situation, select "0" from the drop list.  No questions are to be left unanswered.  Check the Scorecard TAB for your total results & overall score.
       
       
  Rating Scale: Results for This Section:
       
       Score 5 - Strongly Agree Total Questions in This Section
       Score 4 - Agree Total Questions Answered
       Score 3 - Unsure Total Points
       Score 2 - Disagree Max Points Possible From Answered / Applicable Questions
       Score 1 - Strongly Disagree Average Score
       Score 0 - Not Applicable Equivalent Grade Score
       
# Marketing Management - Planning and Control Score
Rating 		Comments/Concerns
1) Our executives, managers, and personnel see planning as a tool that is critical to the success of our institution's achieving its financial and other goals.
2) The institution's mission is clearly stated in marketing oriented terms and is feasible.
3) The institutional and marketing objectives and goals are clearly stated enough to guide marketing planning and performance measurement.
4) Instituional management has articulated a clear marketing strategy for achieving its marketing objectives that is appropriate to the stage of the program life cycle, competitor's strategies, and the state of the economy.  
5) The institution has a market segment strategy for identifying, rating, and choosing the best market segments to target.  
6) The institution had developed an effective positioning strategy and marketing mix for each market segment that it is targeting.
7) Marketing resources are allocated optimally to the major elements of the marketing mix.
8) Adequate resources are budgeted to accomplish the institution's marketing objectives.
9) We have a formal, 12-month strategic marketing plan that supports our overall institution's strategies and objectives.
10) We have a multi-year strategic marketing plan.
11) Our strategic marketing plan contains sections on: situation analysis; marketing objectives and goals; marketing strategies; tactics; programs; controls; and budget and forecast.
12) We conduct a S.W.O.T analysis as part of our planning process.
13) Partners are included in our marketing planning process.
14) Students are included in our marketing planning process.
15) We have a proactive procedure for developing new markets and finding new students
16) Our planning format is standardized and computer-based so that all levels of management can access the plans.
17) Our global marketing strategies, plans and programs are localized and specific by culture and/or country.
18) We use marketing scorecards to judge our marketing performance.
19) We know what marketing activities provide the greatest return on our investment.      
20) We measure our relative program and service quality to determine whether our pricing is higher, the same, or lower than our relative quality advantage will support.
21) We see a tremendous value in conducting an annual marketing audit regardless of how our institution is doing.
22) Our marketing vice-president (director, manager) has the authority and responsibility for all institutional activities that affect student satisfaction.
23) All of our marketing activities are optimally structured along functional, product, segment, end-user, and geographic lines.
24) All marketing functions have good communications and working relationships with other departments, including: leadership, academics, enrollment, admissions, technology, curriculum development, finance, accounting and legal.
25) All of our marketing personnel are well trained and motivated.
26) We have quarterly (or more frequent) meetings with representation from marketing, enrollments, academics, customer service and other key departments in order to review marketing results from the previous quarter and to adjust strategies and tactics for upcoming activities.
27) We have an initutional brand management system that works effectively.
28) Our academic program managers pay attention to long-term strategy.
29) We have a sufficient number of program and market segment (undergraduate, graduate, traditional, adult, online, etc.) managers and area managers to respond to differences that exist in markets.
30) We have a formal competitive intelligence system which we use to closely monitor our top competitors for marketing efforts, programs and other key areas.  This information is updated at least once per year.
31) We have identified our top three (at a minimum) competitors, track and monitor their strategies, promotional efforts, programs / services, pricing, distribution, quality, service, and support on a semi annual or more frequent basis.
32) We have a formal process for notifying our institution's staff when a competitor changes their academic, enrollment and operations/practices.
33) We have ongoing research programs that compare our programs and services with the needs of our target audience, both prospective and active students.
34) We constantly monitor market trends and adjust our strategies and tactics accordingly.
35) We use research to identify opportunities in the market and use that information to drive our demand generation and management and student retention strategies.
36) We perform regular, ongoing research on critical marco enviromental actors (economic, governmental/political, societal/cultural, environmental, and technological).
37) We know what demographic developments and trends pose opportunities or threats to our institution and have adapted our institutional / marketing strategies and plans accordingly.
38) We know what major developments in income, prices, savings, and consumer credit affect our institution and have taken actions to respond to these developments and trends.
39) We constantly monitor the cost and availability of resources and energy needed by our institution.
40) We have taken actions to address the institution's role in pollution and conservation.
41) We constantly monitor the public's attitude toward education and the institution's programs and services, as well as changes in student lifestyles and values that might affect the organization.
42) We have identified our profitable students and use this information to guide our lead generation/recruitment efforts.      
43) We have identified the typical steps taken by a student in their decision process and use this knowledge to focus our lead generation and management/recruitment efforts.      
44) We use input from prospective and active students in our new program / service development efforts.      
45) We have established specific performance objectives for lead generation and management/recruitment and student retention so that we can determine effectiveness of our efforts.      
46) Our institution is actively pursuing significant opportunities for reducing our overall marketing costs.
47) We have a formal process for establishing financial forecasts and budgets that involves all departments within the organization (Academics, Administration, Technology, Student Services, Enrollment, Advising and Marketing, Other).
48) We know how much revenue and profit we lose each year to student defections.
49) We know what it costs to acquire a new inquiry / lead / student prospect.
50) We know what it costs to acquire a new student.
51) We know how many enrollments it takes for a new student to become a sucessful and profitable student.
52) We have a documented pricing strategy.
53) We regularly review profit contribution by program and / or service.
54) We have a multi-year financial forecast.
55) We evaluate market trends and adjust our forecasts accordingly.
56) We hold regularly scheduled meetings throughout the year to review progress towards our goals and to discuss the need to adjust our plans in order to be more efficient and effective.
57) We use marketing scorecards to judge our institution's performance.
58) Our marketing scorecards (metrics) include market growth in units.
59) Our marketing scorecards (metrics) include enrollment and revenue growth.
60) Our marketing scorecards (metrics) include student enrollments/credit hours (actual, and gain or loss).
61) Our marketing scorecards (metrics) include market share (actual, and gain or loss).
62) Our marketing scorecards (metrics) include student retention rates (actual, gain or loss).
63) Our marketing scorecards (metrics) include numbers of new students
64) Our marketing scorecards (metrics) include numbers of dissatisfied students
65) Our marketing scorecards (metrics) include number of lost students.
66) Our marketing scorecards (metrics) include a program quality measurement relative to that of our competitors.
67) Our marketing scorecards (metrics) include a measurement of our service quality relative to that of our competitors.
68) Our marketing scorecards (metrics) include a measurement of new program enrollments relative to those of our competitors.
69) Our marketing scorecards (metrics) include student withdrawals and other adjustments.
70) We perform the following types of analysis on our marketing activities: Cost per Response / Inquiry / Lead / Click / Order (CPR, CPI, CPL, CPC, CPO) Analysis.
71) We perform the following types of analysis on our marketing activities: Campaign, Student Enrollments/Credit Hours, Program Breakeven Analysis.
72) We perform the following types of analysis on our marketing activities: Response, Inquiry, Lead Conversion Analysis.
73) We perform the following types of analysis on our marketing activities: CLV / LTV (customer .lifetime value) Analysis
74) We perform the following types of analysis on our marketing activities: ROI / ROAI (return on advertising investment) Analysis.
75) We perform the following types of analysis on our marketing activities: Marketing Income Calculations.
76) Our institution tracks the satisfaction levels of major stakeholder groups (i.e., faculty, staff, alumni, partners, the community, .etc.)
77) We use analytics software to analyze key process metrics.
78) We have a marketing database.
79) We use this marketing database to store and measure the results of all of our marketing programs and activities results.
80) We use this marketing database to store and measure all of our student enrollment data.
81) We use this marketing database to continue ongoing communications with our students prospects.
82) We track the number of lead generated from promotional programs by effort.
83) We track the quality of leads and conversion information.
84) We measure and track average transaction value of all enrollments
85) We are able to track sales by acquisition type.
86) We track all leads generated from all marketing activities. 
87) We evaluate leads based on their propensity to turn into an enrollment and graduate.
88) We measure the payback from all of our promotional efforts including advertising, direct marketing, social media marketing, mobile marketing, sales promotion, and public relations.
  Section 4B - Marketing Programs & Management  
       
  Instructions:    
       
  This section covers marketing programs and program management strategies, practices, processes and programs.  Select a value from the drop down list in the Score Rating column below, next to each statement.  If the statement is not applicable to your situation, select "0" from the drop list.  No questions are to be left unanswered.  Check the Scorecard TAB for your total results & overall score.
       
       
  Rating Scale: Results for This Section:
       
       Score 5 - Strongly Agree 15 Total Questions in This Section
       Score 4 - Agree Total Questions Answered
       Score 3 - Unsure Total Points
       Score 2 - Disagree Max Points Possible From Answered / Applicable Questions
       Score 1 - Strongly Disagree Average Score
       Score 0 - Not Applicable Equivalent Grade Score
       
# Marketing Management -
Program Management/Program Marketing 		Score
Rating 		Comments/Concerns
1) The institution's enrollment goals and objectives are sound.
2) The current program offering is meeting our enrollment objectives.
3) We have a strong new-program planning process.
4) We have effective organizational structures for nurturing and handling new program offerings.
5) Our programs are being reviewed and updated on a consistent basis.
6) Our programs are unique and differentiated in the market.
7) Our programs have a lot of competition in the marketplace.
8) We need to make our programs more exciting to potential students.
9) We are looking for ways to differentiate our programs from our competitors.
10) We want to find new audiences and/or markets for our programs.
11) Our programs are still as good as ever but lack excitement or newness to our students.
12) We need to re-package our programs within our existing market(s).
13) We need to reposition our programs within our existing market(s).
14) Our programs appear tired and our students are bored with our offering.
15) Our programs are essentially valuable but need a facelift.
       
  Section 4c - Marketing Communications    
       
  Instructions:    
       
  This section covers marketing communications and marketing promotions strategies, practices, processes and programs.  Select a value from the drop down list in the Score Rating column below, next to each statement.  If the statement is not applicable to your situation, select "0" from the drop list.  No questions are to be left unanswered.  Check the Scorecard TAB for your total results & overall score.
       
  Rating Scale: Results for This Section:
       
       Score 5 - Strongly Agree Total Questions in This Section
       Score 4 - Agree Total Questions Answered
       Score 3 - Unsure Total Points
       Score 2 - Disagree Max Points Possible From Answered / Applicable Questions
       Score 1 - Strongly Disagree Average Score
       Score 0 - Not Applicable Equivalent Grade Score
       
# Marketing Management - Marketing Communications Score
Rating 		Comments/Concerns
1) We have a formal marketing communications plan that identifies all programs, objectives, expenditures, and expected results.
2) We are spending the right amount on advertising.
3) Our advertising themes and copy are extremely effective.
4) Our students and the public think our advertising creative is exceptional and our messaging is right on.
5) The advertising media used in our promotional efforts are well chosen.
6) Our sales promotion budget is more than adequate to achieve our business objectives.
7) We make effective use of sales promotion tools such as samples, coupons, displays, and contests.
8) Our public relations staff is competent and very creative.
9) Direct marketing is an important component of our marketing mix.
10) We are making effective use of database marketing processes and practices.  All of our marketing planning and marketing activities are database driven.
11) We have unique marketing communication processes that are driven by our CRM system which allows us to deliver the right message to the right individual at the right time via the right channel.
12) All promotional efforts (advertising, direct mail, internet, sales collateral, face-to-face, etc.) communicate the same company image and messages.
13) We formally track and measure the results of all of our marketing programs and activities.
14) All new programs and services are communicated to prospective and active students in regularly scheduled communications.
15) We establish reasonable expectations in our marketing efforts so customers clearly understand how to do business with our company.
16) We coordinate all communications through a single department in order to ensure consistency of message because we realize this will make our efforts more effective.
17) We constantly test messages in order to improve the performance of our customer acquisition and retention efforts.
18) We constantly test creative presentation of our marketing collateral and advertisements (content) to improve the performance of our customer acquisition and retention efforts.
19) We constantly test communication channels and frequency of contact with prospects and customers to improve the performance of our customer acquisition and retention efforts.
20) We constantly test offers in order to improve the performance of our customer acquisition and retention efforts.
21) We use the results of customer satisfaction surveys to develop marketing campaigns and marketing materials.
22) Our sales team is involved in the development of all new customer acquisition / lead generation programs.
23) Our enrollment specialist, academic advisor and customer service teams have input into the creation of marketing programs and conten (e.g., sales brochures, catalogs, website, print advertisements, audio, video, etc.)    
24) Our enrollment team is thoroughly educated on the full promotional effort before it runs, including: media selection, samples of ads and / or mailing packages, detailed explanation of offers or incentives, etc.)
25) We are fully utilizing the e-marketing in our lead generation efforts.
26) We are fully utilizing the e-marketing in our customer retention efforts.
27) We have a formal process in place for monitoring our institutional brand online.
28) We have a formal process for evaluating online comments and determining how to respond.
29) Our institution is “social media ready.”
30) Our institution has undertaken an extensive internal audit that identified individuals and departments utilizing any aspect of social media.
31) We know who, within our institution, is using wikis for internal communications.
32) We know who, within our institution, is writing a blog.
33) We have formal processes and procedures that clearly state the institution’s position about employees participating in any social media.
34) We have vetted all social media activities through our internal legal and regulatory in order to create clear rules for our staff.
35) We have mapped out a clear plan for social media that includes: wikis, blogs / micro blogs, social bookmarking, online communities, videos, audio, etc.)
36) We have a formal process in place for monitoring and evaluating our competitors’ social media activities.
37) We regularly meet to evaluate our social media activities against specific, measurable objectives.
38) We regularly meet to evaluate the social media activities of our competitors.
39) Our organization has a presence on social networks as LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Foursquare, Pinterest, Google +, Ning, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.
40) Our institution has an online community manager.
41) We are fully utilizing the Web 2.0 social media in our student retention efforts.
42) We are utilizing mobile media in our student retention efforts (i.e., SMS text messages).
43) We are using mobile phone applications (e.g., iPhone applications) in our student retention efforts.
44) We have optimized our website for mobile phone and tablet browser viewing and use.
  Section 4d - Organization    
       
  Instructions:    
       
  This section covers organization strategies, practices, processes and programs.  Select a value from the drop down list in the Score Rating column below, next to each statement.  If the statement is not applicable to your situation, select "0" from the drop list.  No questions are to be left unanswered.  Check the Scorecard TAB for your total results & overall score.
       
  Rating Scale: Results for This Section:
       
       Score 5 - Strongly Agree Total Questions in This Section
       Score 4 - Agree Total Questions Answered
       Score 3 - Unsure Total Points
       Score 2 - Disagree Max Points Possible From Answered / Applicable Questions
       Score 1 - Strongly Disagree Average Score
       Score 0 - Not Applicable Equivalent Grade Score
       
# Marketing Management - Organization Score
Rating 		Comments/Concerns
1) Our senior marketing staff has more than 10 years average of marketing experience.
2) Our middle management marketing personnel have more than 5 years average industry experience.
3) Our marketing staff has extensive experience outside of our institution.
4) Our marketing staff has extensive experience in brand development.
5) Our marketing staff has extensive experience in demand generation and management.
6) Our marketing staff has extensive experience in student customer retention and loyalty programs.
7) Our marketing staff has extensive experience in direct marketing.
8) Our marketing staff has extensive experience in digital marketing (including: PPC, SEO, email, electronic advertising, social media, and web site development.)
9) Our marketing staff has extensive experience in creating and managing partner development programs.
10) Our marketing staff has extensive experience in channel development.
11) Our marketing staff has extensive experience in multi-cultural marketing.
12) The marketing and enrollment management organizations within our instituion are completely integrated.
13) Marketing and enrollment management agree on the definition of a lead.
14) Marketing and enrollment management agree on lead prioritization.
15) Marketing and enrollment management agree on what information is to be captured on prospects and students.
16) Marketing and enrollment management agree on when a lead should be handed off from marketing to enrollment representatives.
17) Marketing knows how the enrollment team communicates with prospective and current students
18) The enrollment management team has input into the creation of marketing collateral created by the marketing communications department.
19) The enrollment management team uses the marketing collateral created by the marketing communications department.
20) Marketing and enrollment management work together to create content and recruitment campaigns.
21) Marketing does a good job of training the enrollment team on student needs and challenges.
22) Marketing does a good job of training the enrollment team on program features and functionality.
23) Marketing does a good job of training the enrollment team on program benefits to the students
24) Enrollment representatives are taught to use questioning methods such as SPIN to learn about student needs.
25) Enrollment representatives believe that on going training is important to their success.
26) Enrollment representatives have a formal process for preparing for calls with prospects and students.
27) Enrollment representatives have a thorough understanding of a student / prospect's needs, interests and issues before making a call.
28) Enrollment representatives thoroughly identify all people involved in the buying process that they need to contact and include in their enrollment plan.
29) Enrollment representatives have a thorough understanding of the student's buying process.
30) Account plans are created for all institution / business partners annually, if not more frequently. (In the comments section, list which:  (annually, semi-annually, more frequently, not at all.)
31) Account plans are created for government partners annually, if not more frequently. (In the comments section, list which:  (annually, semi-annually, more frequently, not at all.)
32) Enrollment team members believe they have adequate time to do account planning.
33) Enrollment team members view account planning as an important process and usage of their time.
34) Enrollment team members feel that their account plans are heeded by management.
35) Enrollment management team leaders view account planning as very important.
36) Senior management is committed to the account planning process and regards account planning as absolutely necessary.
37) Enrollment representatives have a good understanding of our key competitors. 
38) Enrollment representatives and business development team members have a clear understanding of and can articulate our competitive advantages.
39) Enrollment manager(s) knows how many new students need to be enrolled in order to reach the revenue objectives for the next two terns.
40) enrollment and marketing departments agree on the definition of a "high-quality" student lead.
41) Our enrollment force is large enough to accomplish the institution's objectives.
42) Our enrollment team is organized along the proper principles of specialization (territory, market, program etc.)
43) We have enough enrollment managers to guide the enrollment representatives.
44) Our enrollment team compensation levels and structure provide adequate incentive and reward to our enrollment team.
45) Our enrollment team shows high morale, ability, and effort.
46) Our procedures are adequate for setting quotas and evaluating performance.
47) Our enrollment team is superior to that of our competitors.
       
  Section 4f - Service    
       
  Instructions:    
       
  This section covers student / customer service strategies, practices, processes and programs.  Select a value from the drop down list in the Score Rating column below, next to each statement.  If the statement is not applicable to your situation, select "0" from the drop list.  No questions are to be left unanswered.  Check the Scorecard TAB for your total results & overall score.
       
       
  Rating Scale: Results for This Section:
       
       Score 5 - Strongly Agree Total Questions in This Section
       Score 4 - Agree Total Questions Answered
       Score 3 - Unsure Total Points
       Score 2 - Disagree Max Points Possible From Answered / Applicable Questions
       Score 1 - Strongly Disagree Average Score
       Score 0 - Not Applicable Equivalent Grade Score
       
# Marketing Management - Service Score
Rating 		Comments/Concerns
1) Our institution is more concerned about delivering an experience that exceeds the expectations of our students, faculty and staff.
2) We have a clear concise and practical definition of what "superior service" means for our institution and staff.
3) We view service as a critical way to differentiate our institution in the market.
4) We have experienced service professionals leading our efforts.
5) We have given all of our employees complete authority to do what it takes to ensure student satisfaction, so that student service issues or problems rarely or never escalate to management.
6) We have a database or similar tool to capture student comments regarding issues and problems with programs and services, and the steps taken to resolve those issues or problems.
7) We have performance metrics that allow us to evaluate the performance of our service.
8) We constantly monitor our performance through student surveys.
9) We constantly monitor our performance through secret shopping.
10) Our student service calls are "monitored and /or recorded" for accuracy and training purposes.
11) We have a student service/ care center (call center) that operates 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year.  
12) Our service is recognized as the best in our industry by respected third parties.
13) All our student service policies involving applying, enrolling, registering for classes, adding/dropping courses, purchases textbooks and materials, shipping, returns, exchanges, refunds, adjustments, replacements and "total satisfaction" have been created to keep our students happy - - not, necessarily, to save the institution money.
14) Our student service and privacy policies are clearly stated in all our catalogs, brochures, our websites and in "internal" documents used for our employee training - - everyone is aware of our student service policies.
       
  Section 5 - Marketing Information Practices    
       
  Instructions:    
       
  This section covers marketing information strategies, practices, processes and programs.  Select a value from the drop down list in the Score Rating column below, next to each statement.  If the statement is not applicable to your situation, select "0" from the drop list.  No questions are to be left unanswered.  Check the Scorecard TAB for your total results & overall score.
       
  Rating Scale: Results for This Section:
       
       Score 5 - Strongly Agree Total Questions in This Section
       Score 4 - Agree Total Questions Answered
       Score 3 - Unsure Total Points
       Score 2 - Disagree Max Points Possible From Answered / Applicable Questions
       Score 1 - Strongly Disagree Average Score
       Score 0 - Not Applicable Equivalent Grade Score
       
# Marketing Information Practices Score
Rating 		Comments/Concerns
1) We have a marketing intelligence system that is producing accurate, sufficient, and timely information about marketplace developments with respect to students, prospects and various publics.
2) We have a marketing intelligence system that is producing accurate, sufficient, and timely information about marketplace developments with respect to institutions with whom we have articulation agreements, organizations with whom we have partnership arrangements, etc.
3) We have a marketing intelligence system that is producing accurate, sufficient, and timely information about marketplace developments with respect to competitors.
4) Our institution's decision makers are consistently asking for market research and they use the results of this research.
5) Our institution is employing the best methods for market measurement and enrollment forecasting.
6) Our marketing planning system is well conceived and effectively used.
7) Our marketers have access to decision support systems.
8) Our planning system produces acceptable enrollment/revenue targets and quotas.
9) Our control procedures are adequate to ensure that the annual-plan objectives are being achieved.
10) Management periodically analyzes the profitability of programs and markets.
11) Marketing costs and productivity are periodically examined.
12) Our institution is well organized to gather, generate, and screen new program/service ideas.
13) Our institution does adequate concept research and business analysis before investing in new ideas.
14) Our institution carries out adequate program and market testing before launching new programs/services.
15) Our institution is currently using a CRM (customer relationship management) solution to manage our student relationship activities.
16) We are satisfied that this CRM solution meets our current and future needs.
17) Our institution is currently using a SFA (sales force automation) solution to mange our enrollment team.
18) We are satisfied that this SFA solution meets our current and future needs.
19) Our instittution is currently using a MA (marketing automation) solution to execute and manage our email and other automated marketing programs.
20) We are satisfied that this MA solution meets our current and future needs.
21) Our institution is currently using a MM (marketing management) solution to manage our planning, projects and marketing operations.
22) We are satisfied that this MM solution meets our current and future needs.