It’s often not the unknowns that most hold us back. It’s the things we believe are true, but actually aren’t. Here are seven of the biggest enrollment myths that may be standing between you and your goals.
Myth #1 – If the top of our funnel grows, then the bottom will also grow.
This is a dangerous myth. A large top-of-funnel can waste your time and money. Think of it like searching for 100 needles in a haystack. Would you rather the haystack be huge or small? Smaller is better, as long as you still have all the needles.
Many leaders believe that if we simply add more students to our inquiry pool, we’ll end up with more enrolled students. This is false. In reality, we often lose students by spending time and resources on prospects who were never truly interested.
Myth #2 – We have a good sales team.
It’s rare to find a multi-million-dollar organization that hands its sales operation to a young team with no prior sales experience. Yet, that’s exactly what many institutions do with their admissions offices. Some would call that foolish.
Sometimes we wear rose-colored glasses when it comes to our admissions teams. We hired them, so we assume they’re great. But often, they’re not. Many can’t answer even the most basic questions about the institution. This is your sales team; they need to be excellent. If you want more sales, you need to upgrade your salespeople.
Myth #3 – We understand how we create value for students.
Christian colleges often fall back on familiar value points:
- We integrate faith and learning
- We have a great Christian community
- We offer small class sizes
- We have strong academic programs
These are good things, but they don’t make you stand out. You need to answer three critical questions with specificity:
- Who have we chosen to serve?
- Which of their needs will we meet?
- What are they willing to pay for us to meet those needs?
Most schools can’t answer those questions clearly, and as a result, sound generic in the market. You must deeply understand how your institution creates specific value for your students.
Myth #4 – Our real problem is our systems.
Enrollment teams love to talk about broken systems. Yes, systems can be a problem, but often the problem is poor execution of the fundamentals.
I once coached my daughter’s 6th-grade basketball team. I never coached basketball before, so I studied cool plays and formations. At our first practice, I got a rude awakening—they didn’t know how to pass or catch! So we scrapped the plays and went back to basics.
It’s the same in enrollment. If your sales team isn’t strong, your communication plan is weak, and your campus tour is forgettable, then your systems aren’t the issue. First, master the fundamentals, then build systems that help you succeed.
Myth #5 – Students choose colleges based on facts.
We’ve all seen the “fact bar” on a college website:
- 1,400 students
- 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio
- 16 sports teams
- 25 student organizations
But, does anyone actually choose a college based on these? Here’s what really happens after a campus visit:
The family gets in the car. Someone asks, “What did everyone think?” No one says, “Wow, that building was built in 1903!” Instead, they say things like:
- “I felt at home here.”
- “I really liked the professor I met.”
- “I think I’d have friends here.”
- “Someone was rude to me.”
These are feeling statements—not facts. Students make decisions emotionally, then justify them with facts. If your print materials, website, or tour lead with facts, then you’re doing it wrong.
Myth #6 – Next year will be different.
Here’s a quote worth remembering:
“Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.” – W. Edwards Deming
If you’re not hitting your enrollment goals, it’s because your current system is designed to get those results. If you want dramatically different outcomes, you need dramatically different actions. Hope is not a strategy.
Myth #7 – We’ve been dealt a losing hand.
I saved the most dangerous myth for last. The team that believes it will lose will.
Have you ever noticed that winning coaches keep winning even when they move to new programs? Why? Because they believe they can win.
Here are some common excuses enrollment teams use:
- The enrollment cliff
- Outdated facilities
- An unattractive location
- The wrong academic programs
- A declining industry
- Not enough marketing dollars
If you believe these are why you can’t win, then you’re right. And, you’ve already lost to teams that believe they can win. Belief comes first.
Which one do you believe, and is it holding your performance?
For outside help diagnosing, contact us today to schedule a time to start overcoming these myths.
—Nick Willis is a partner at TG Three and a builder-leader, problem solver, and mathematician. TG Three is a values-driven strategy company dedicated to serving Christian institutions to help get them from where they are to where they want to be.