1. 10 Steps to Better
Campus Visits
NSCEC 2009
Jeff Kallay, Experience Evangelist
2. Let’s Manage Expectations
- Much to cover in short time - I strive to overwhelm
- “Big Picture” thinking - it’s about change
- Experience Economy 101
- Recap Ten Steps that make the difference between
a tour and an experience
- The Lows (let’s hope your school isn’t featured)
- The Highs (featuring a near perfect experience)
- Questions along the way and at close of session
- Give-a-ways (did you submit your business card?)
- PDF available online
3. “I Love My Clients!”
- I’ve got the greatest job thanks to them and TargetX
- I couldn’t do what I do without them
- They are the ones with courage and vision to bring
me to their campus and listen to my consultation
- The Lows - they know already and are correcting
- The Highs - more often than not
- All have highs and lows
- Did I say, how much “I love my clients!?”
4. The Experience Economy 101
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6. Experience marketing
is about:
1. Repelling commodization
2. Charging a premium price
3. Persuading consumers to pay
when they never did before
4. Selling “Memories”
7. Remember,
“The experience is the marketing.”
Arts & Science Group Student Poll 2004
Arts and Science Group
8. The experience is higher
education marketing
- 84% use the web most heavily in
researching colleges
- 71% say the campus visit is the
most trusted source of information
Eduventures 2007 Survey of 7,867 High school junior and seniors.
Reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education “Prospective Students Rely on Campus Visits and Web Sites to Learn About Colleges, Report Says”
Arts and Science Group
9. 10
Ten Steps that make
the difference between
a tour and an
experience
10. 1. Integrate the four E’s
Higher Education is the experience economy: 4 E’s
Absorption
Entertainment Education
Passive Participation Active Participation
Esthetic Escape
Strategic Horizons, LLP Immersion
11. 2. Craft a mini campus experience
- Customize the Experience
We all want what we want - accommodate the various
levels of interest of guests to your campus
- Eliminate negative cues
- Accent positive cues
- Look for missed cues
Elon University
12. 2. Craft a mini campus experience
- Engage ALL the senses
“83% of marketing appeals to sight, leaving a paltry 17%
to the other senses. Surprisingly, smell is the second most
important sense after sight, and not sound. In fact, 75% of
all emotional connections are based on smell.” Adweek review of Brand Sense
Centre College The Ohio State University
13. 2. Craft a mini campus experience
- Mix in the memorabilia - “ticket stub”
California Lutheran University
14. 3. Set the expectation
- Before guests arrive (online, email, & mail)
- Explain route (will and won’t be seen)
Map courtesy of
Lenoir-Rhyne College and Sketches
15. 4. Spend no money
- Engage the “sense of the butt”
Millsaps College Albright College
Hampshire College Saint Joseph’s University
16. 5. Tell stories not statistics
- Stories render authenticity
Hendrix College
Lenoir-Rhyne College
Albright College
17. 6. Reveal your school’s nomenclature
7. Keep it real - do what’s authentic to
your campus and experience
Millsaps College California Lutheran University
18. 8. Do you have a signature moment?
Cerritos Public Library Albright College Westmont College
Millsaps College
Hampshire College
Ursuline College
19. 9. Mystery shop your tour
(and your competitors)
The Ohio State University
20. 10. Top Ten Tidbits for Tour Guides
1. Interact as if you’re giving your sibling a tour
2. Answer questions honestly and directly, but remind them it’s your perspective
3. Watch your pronouns - “We” is exclusive, “You’ll “is inclusive
4. Tell stories - yours and your friends’
5. When you walk backwards they look at you, not the campus
6. If you feel negatively about any other school - don’t name names
7. “Tour guides” is boring - you’re bright, come up with a memorable name
8. Find connections with your audience and ask open-ended questions
9. Is asking “Do you have any more questions?” the best way to end a tour?
10. Have Fun!
22. Expectations Not Managed
- Difficult to find “Visit” information on
websites “How many clicks?”
- No email, phone, or mail confirmation
- Not fully explaining how long to be on
campus and what all a visit entails
- Just kind of sit and wait in office or
visitor’s center
23. There’s better parking in Hell
- No visitor parking
- Not enough visitor parking
- No wayfinding signage
- Country Mile from Admissions
24. Am I in a Doctor’s office?
- Or a funeral parlor?
- Dark, depressing Admissions Offices or
Visitor’s Centers
- Harsh fluorescent lighting
- Chairs around the walls or crowded
- No music, computers, or refreshments
- Nothing you want to read or look at
39. Expectations Managed
- Easy to find “Visit” information on
websites “1-2 clicks?”
- Email, phone, or mail confirmation
- Explaining how long to be on
campus and what all a visit entails
- Engaging pre-tour experience in office
40. It’s like parking in Heaven
- Easy to find visitor parking
- Tons of visitor parking
- Wayfinding signage Southern
New
Hampshire
- Close to Admissions
Occidental Occidental
41. I’m not at the Doctor’s office!
- Authentic look and feel
- Bright, comfortable Admissions Offices
or Visitor’s Centers
- Indirect and pendant lighting
- Furniture clustered in groups
- Music, computers, refreshments
- Stuff you want to read or look at
46. Not a Doctor’s office!
Eckerd
Birmingham-Southern College
47. Not a Doctor’s office!
Eckerd
Birmingham-Southern College
48. Not a Doctor’s office!
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
49. Not a Doctor’s office!
Hobart and William Smith
Hobart and William Smith
50. Not a Doctor’s office!
Hobart and William Smith
Hobart and William Smith
See more at: and William Smith
Hobart
http://picasaweb.google.com/ExperienceEvangelistCollegeAdmissionAndVisitorCenterImages
62. Hendrix College
- SACAC school in Conway, Arkansas and member of
Associated Colleges of the South
- United Methodist
- 1100 students, 11-1 faculty ratio, 100% Ph.D
- Top Tier National Liberal Arts college
- $192 million endowment
- $33,198 annual estimate (Princeton Review Best Buy)
- 0 Fraternities and Sororities
- Loren Pope’s CTCL, “...most beautiful campus...”
63. Welcome to Ellis Hall
1,500 Individual Day and 15 Hendrix Experience Days
Text
76. What Makes the Experience?
- VP “who gets it” not afraid to challenge status quo
- Rethought people and positions
- Re-appropriated funds and budget
- Director of Campus Visits, no travel, 24/7
- It didn’t happen overnight
- Tweak, refine, and refresh the experience
- Took a perceived negative cue (geography) and
made it work in their favor - longer time on campus
- Keep it real and authentic
77. The Hendrix HEAT
- Six Admission Interns (Sheriffs)
- 70 member Hendrix Heat
(Hendrix Experience Admission Team)
based on personality and schedule
not all give tours:
airport transport walkers
overnight hosts visitor center sitters
residential walk lunchers
- “Gatekeeper Mentality”
- Prospective students interact with several students
78. The Experience IS
the Marketing!
After one year (currently in third year):
- Largest and brightest freshmen class
- First time out-of-state went over 50% (55%)
- Significant cross-app with out of region schools
- Lower discount rate
- Freshmen herald “The Hendrix Experience”
- 70 freshmen applied to be members of HEAT
79. The Experience IS
the Marketing!
Individual Visit increases 48.8%
Yield Total Visits App. Visits Yield
2003 1008 574 28.7%
2004 1157 674 33.6%
2005 1229 614 30.6%
2006 1408 718 35.8%
2007 1500 754 37.6%
80. Challenges You Face:
- That’s how we’ve always done it! Status Quo.
- There’s no budget available
- Fear of change
- What will happen if we reduce travel or publications?
- We don’t have the staff available
- Our tour guides won’t cooperate
- We can’t get support from rest of campus
- Is this just another admissions fad or trend?
81. Overcoming Challenges:
- Like branding initiatives, publications, and website,
creating an experience doesn’t happen overnight
- Revisit staff responsibilities and budget
- Draft a strategy and timeline
- Develop phases to implement experiential ideas
- Educate and get buy-in campus wide
- Start with easy to implement ideas and add gradually
- If something “fails,” drop it and move on
- Keep it real and authentic to your school
82. It takes an entire campus:
“Whatever we accomplish belongs
to our entire group. A tribute to
our combined effort”
- Walt Disney
“People may not remember what
you did or said, but they will
always remember how you made
them feel.”
- Jeff Kallay
83. Recommended reading
TargetX Knowledge Center
targetx.com “click knowledge center”
The Experience Economy & Authenticity
Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore
Brand Sense
Martin Lindstrom
The Experience Evangelist Blog
