1. Lessons Learned
Business Practices for
College Marketing & Recruiting

2. 410 Colleges/Universities
97% Retention Rate
Profitable w/No Debt
Fastest Growing Private
$2,000 Personal Investment
Cash Flow Positive

3. Interesting details hiding
the fact that this guy has
no idea how highered works.

4. What bugs you most about
implementing new ideas at
your institution?

5. We don’t seem to have
time for that.

6. Needing to be in control of
the message, not wanting
to take risks, fearing the
1% that may abuse it.

7. Good ideas get ruined or
watered down at the middle
manager level due to fear
and inexperience.

8. New ideas do not happen
often enough.

9. Need to copy or only
do things that others
are already doing.

10. How many people need
to voice an opinion.

11. Change will not come if we wait
for some other person or some
other time. We are the ones
we've been waiting for.
We are the change that we seek.

12. Managing Expectations
Situational Analysis
Brian Goes Crazy
Your Responsibility

13. 1 Declaration
4 Examples
1 Story

14. The Pedagogical
Divide of 2009.

15. I’m a professor and I have knowledge.
You’re a student and an empty vessel.
Get ready, here it comes. Your goal is to
take this information into your short
term memory and through practice
and repetition, build deeper cognitive
structures so you can recall it to me
when I test you.

16. A definition of a lecture is the
process by which the notes of
the teacher go to the notes of
the student without going through
the brains of either.

17. Non-Sequential.
Interactive.
Asynchronous.
Multi-tasked.
Collaborative.

18. Talk At Teaching

19. Talk At Marketing

20. 15%
10%

21. I.O.U.

22. DENIED
100 Most
$$$ Needy
Accepts

23. $47k per year
$20k per year

24. Is an undergraduate degree
from Northeastern worth $108k
more than an undergraduate
degree from UConn?

25. Dec 2008
March 2009
73%
93%
University Research Partners, 2009

26. June 2009
71%
National Association for College Admission Counseling

27. Julius, a! 17
$ 116,248
$ 160,345
$ 106,839
$ 111,701
$ 194,050

28. 53%
U.S. Department of Education, 2009

29. Whew!

30. Language.

31. You provide a service.
You accept money for it.
You have delivery costs.
You pay people.
You may (or not) have profits.

32. It’s a Business.
It’s time to stop thinking
it’s something else!

33. Business
Consumers or Customers
Sales & Marketing
Costs, Return, Investment
Experience

34. Sales.

35. Salesperson
if your admissions people don’t like
that, they should get another job

36. Match the product or
service you offer with
people who have a
demand for that
product or service.

38. Hire different people.
Train them differently.
Provide different tools.
Create different plans.
Set different goals.

39. Sales Tip #1
If you listen, your customers
will tell you what they want.

40. Sales Tip #2
Ask the prospective customer
for their business.

41. The customer is
always right. Just not
always right for us.

42. The sales team should be
the highest paid people in
the organization.

43. 62%
Noel Levitz, 2009

44. Support.

45. 6X
Xerox Sales Training Institute

46. It takes a
community.

47. Urgency.

48. Complacency.

49. False Urgency.

51. Hiring lots of
Consultants.

52. Trouble Scheduling
Meetings.

53. Run from meeting
to meeting.

54. Deadlines regularly
missed.

55. Authenticity.

56. We’re such a
friendly place!
Even the teachers
know my name and
say “hi” to me!

57. 4,276

58. Differentiate or Die.
(but be authentic)

59. What’s your
elevator pitch?

60. “Average Kids
Succeed Here.”

61. • We each are accountable for our actions and time management. Deadlines are met.
• We understand this is not a typical 9-5 job.
• We seek to help each team member grow as a professional inside the boundary of the company's
overall strategic direction.
Customer Service
• We believe our customers come first - we "exceed their expectations" at all levels.
Our Vision • We understand that our customers expect a quick, thorough response.
TargetX was founded on the idea that college students have changed the way they select a college and thus • We provide solutions clients need, training to get them started, reactionary support and consulting to
colleges need to change how they communicate with future students and alumni. !Products and services are support their efforts and proactive communication to maintain the relationship.
developed that are practical, easy to use, and feature-rich. !But the real value to the customer comes from the • We reflect a positive attitude in our communications.
expertise of the TargetX team. !Clients benefit from the wisdom of professionals who are dedicated to providing
• We believe the answer is either "Yes" or we seek out and provide alternatives.
forward-looking, practical advice and solutions. !It is this unique combination of technology and expertise that
propels TargetX to the forefront of higher education marketing.
Effective Solutions
Our Mantra • We do not embrace fads but instead provide tools and services that are proven to be effective.
• We prioritize building effective user-interfaces for the client.!
"Overthrowing Dead Culture" • We focus on continual development of each product.
Tools, techniques and messages that have been utilized for over 20 years to recruit and communicate with future
college students have long outlived their effectiveness. In light of changing generational traits (both student and Business Finances
parent) and increased access to the Internet to seek out information and make online connections, colleges must
• We focus on maintaining a profit through aggressive sales goals and cost containment.
abandon their traditional "talk-at," controlling ways of marketing and recruiting, and instead embrace stories,
• We are fierce about minimizing expenses by seeking more efficient, or less costly means.
conversations and authenticity. TargetX's vision is to change the way colleges market by overthrowing traditional
strategies and tactics. • We share the financial status of the company with all team members.
Our Values Family Comes First
• We believe that for our team to be working at their best, they must also be able to provide for and
Industry Expertise
support their respective family.
• We hire individuals with experience frequently in higher education admissions and marketing. • We provide a thorough benefits program and understand the need for occasional flexible work hours
• We utilize their expertise to the benefit of both the company and the client. and location.
• We hire people "smarter than us" in their particular area of expertise.
• We assign ownership responsibilities, empower team members and get out of their way. Social Responsibility
• We embrace a philanthropic effort called "The Power of X" to give back to the non-profit community.!
Team Work
• We give 1% of our profits, 1% of our product and 1% of our team's time to nonprofit efforts.
• We practice open, honest, respectful communication and active listening.
• We never stop asking questions, are always learning and emphasize sharing.
• We provide a positive work environment that balances hard work and personal enjoyment.
• We each offer equal levels of energy, focus and a sense of urgency.

62. Focus.

63. What is your college
“in business” for?

64. Bookstore
Food Services
Information Technology
Housing
what’s next?

65. What are you NOT?

66. Do what you do best.
Outsource the rest.

67. Leadership.

68. Shared
Governance

69. Clear vision
Hire great people
Get out of their way
Hold them accountable!

70. Death to the
!!

71. A committee is a group of
people who individually can do
nothing, but who, as a group,
can meet and decide that
nothing can be done.

72. A decision is what one makes
when he can't find anybody
to serve on a committee.

73. Any committee that is of the
slightest use is composed of
people who are too busy to want
to sit on it for a second longer
than they have to.

74. The optimum committee
has no members.

75. A committee is a group that
keeps minutes and loses hours.

76. A committee is where all
good ideas go to die.

79. Professional
Development.

83. Accountability.

84. Everyone is replaceable.
Everyone is accountable.
Everyone has ownership.

85. Do you know what
you spend your time
doing?

86. Experience.

87. Economic Progression
• Agrarian
• Industrial
• Service
• Experience

88. Avoid Commoditization
Charge a Premium Price
Pay When Never Did Before
Sell Memories

90. Stories.

91. Stories not Stats. Text
People not Programs.
Michael Sexton, Dean of Admissions, Lewis & Clark College

93. Give Back.

95. 1% of Profit
1% of Product
1% of Time

96. 1% of Time

97. Language Leadership
Sales Development
Support Accountability
Urgency Experience
Authenticity Stories
Give Back

98. Back to you.

99. There are many ways of
going forward. But only
one way of standing still.

100. We are the change
that we seek.

101. Never underestimate the power
of a few dedicated people to
change the world.
It’s the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead, Anthropologist

102. Lessons Learned
Brian Wm. Niles
niles@targetx.com | brianwmniles