THE BOX MODEL

The Amateur

When I first began writing software (12 years ago), much of the fun was in debugging code, trying to figure out why something did not work the way I wished.

There was no greater pleasure than spending hours or days fixing a complex problem and taming the code to my will.

And there was no greater frustration than realizing that the code would never work, that I would have to start over with a new approach.

Looking back on those years, I now know that the joy of debugging is a characteristic of amateur programmers.

The Professional

A professional programmer takes no joy in debugging.  He knows that spending more than 5 minutes debugging code is a clear sign that his approach was flawed from the start.  He takes a certain pleasure in ruthlessly deleting giant swaths of code in favor of some new idea.

The Takeaway

So when I see admissions offices promote complicated approaches that might result in small increases in applications or deposits, it feels so abhorrently wrong that I immediate distrust it.

I can’t help but think that if the best they can do is make such minor improvements, then it’s time they change their recruitment approach entirely.

Blogging, text messaging, Facebook, podcasts, variable printing, personalized e-mails, etc.

When part of a larger strategic vision and done with a deliberate purpose, these approaches can be effective.

But when done to wrangle some tiny competitive advantage, they are completely inadequate.

When you reach that point, when you start believing small tweaks will have "big payoffs," then it’s time to stop.

At that point, you’re debugging a failed approach, and it’s time to start over.

Of all the assertions I make when criticizing the Enrollment Funnel, I get the most arguments over the one I’m most convinced is true:

Contact does NOT measure interest.

I believe this is true for 3 reasons:

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My institution relied on an external search vendor for over a decade.  We gave them hundreds of thousands of dollars, trusted them to purchase the best names from the 4 major list sources, let them completely run our first point of contact with students, and asked almost no questions along the way.

Eventually, thank God, that changed.

But it wasn’t easy.  Here are 5 tough battles we fought with this particular vendor:

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When was the last time you saw a conference session on technology — topics like blogging, podcasting, and predictive modeling?

Right.  Probably the last time you attended a conference.  Tech sessions are everywhere.

But when was the last time you saw a session about process improvement?  Probably never.

That’s a huge problem.  Here’s why:

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(The following story was adapted from my conference presentation.)

Enrollment Funnel Recruitment

You and I walk into a local pub hoping to relax and down a few pints.

For some bizarre reason, there’s a giant brick wall, floor-to-ceiling, halfway between us and the bar.

It looks like there’s a tiny gap in the wall, just large enough for one person to fit through.

We join the crowd of confused people milling around, waiting for someone to take our order.

Suddenly, giant hands appear out of nowhere and begin pushing everyone toward the hole in the wall.

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Via Boing Boing: Two CIA agents presented a 1944 sabotage manual at a recent business conference.

Section 11 discusses how to sabotage organizations.  Read it here.  Then read my post on Indiana Jones and compare notes.

It’s disappointing that what used to be considered sabotage is now considered standard business practice…

Admissions is about conversations

Conversations should be challenging and engaging.  (Otherwise, it’s either small talk or soliloquy, neither of which convert.)

That means your communications should encourage dialogue, not avoid it.

Sometimes that means challenging students.  Even provoking them.

Unfortunately, that often means challenging the status quo, too.

You have to push to progress

Another way to say it: if you want to stand out, you have to take a step forward.

Here are some real examples of provoking students—despite campus opposition—and the subsequent results:

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Someone from a communications department at a major university once told me their president won’t let them do anything unless Harvard has done it first.

I suppose there are 2 approaches to positioning your school:

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Here’s a snip from a recent meeting I had with one university’s senior leaders:

Person A

I agree things need to change. We should form a committee to discuss it.

Person B

But who would we invite?

Person C

Well, we definitely need X to be there.

Person B

Sure, but if we’re going to invite X, we should also invite the CIO.

Person A

Hey, I think they’ve done something similar — we should ask them to present!

Person B

Great idea! No wait, hold on, do we have a mission statement?  Before they present, we’ll need a mission statement.

Person A

Of course, a mission statement, definitely.

Person C

Whoa whoa whoa, guys. We’re getting way ahead of ourselves. Before we define a mission statement, what’s our vision?

At this point, disgusted, I shouted, “If you keep going like this, it will take at least a year to accomplish anything!”

To which one of them replied, “Hey, a year! That’s pretty good!”

And another quipped, “I hope it takes five years, ’cause I’ll be gone by then,” while the others laughed and nodded.

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Part 5 of 5
The Enrollment Funnel, Summarized

Part: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

The problems with the enrollment funnel, again, are:

• Students who do not progress to the next stage of the funnel are often ignored or discarded as institutions concentrate their resources on those who demonstrate the greatest perceived interest.
• A desire to push students through specific stages of the funnel (the focus on high response and conversion rates between stages) can lead to an incoming class that does not reflect the institution’s original enrollment goals.
• The focus on well-understood funnel stages and historical response and conversion rates limits an institution’s willingness to look beyond its previous approaches–deviation from the funnel is seen as costly and dangerous.
• Over time, the funnel has become less and less accurate; it is no longer useful as a model.

These problems exist because the funnel is predicated on two incorrect beliefs: that institutions control student decision making because they control communications, and the best way to measure interest is through contact.

Next Time: A New Recruitment Model

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