Mystery Shopping Assessment

With enrollments declining and budgets shrinking it is understandable that nonessential expenses be trimmed, cut, or completely slashed. However, you must be careful when deciding what is “nonessential.” And Mystery Shopping definitely is not on that list. Join us for a review of some shopping wins that we have witnessed, and then continue on and explore a 7 steps checklist

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Fall has just started, and the new season is already painting our trails in beautiful autumn colors. As we travel the country making our visits, we’re witnessing the passing of summer and the weather getting colder. Unfortunately, not everything we find is as magical as autumn leaves and pumpkin spice lattes! During our travels, we’ve encountered many uncomfortable situations when

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Every good in-person interview should include a tour of the campus. It’s an invaluable chance to more casually interact with the visitor and showcase the facilities and technology. Even in online/phone interviews, there’s an opportunity to introduce prospective students to the online classrooms, which is a great way to answer questions about the platform and ease potential concerns about the

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This summer is off to a hot start…almost as hot as the topic of institutional accreditation! It’s important for representatives to understand and accurately represent the school’s accreditation, including the full name of the accreditor and what exactly being accredited means. From our trail stops, we’ve learned that prospective students are all too often given partial or inaccurate info.  

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Tales from the Trail: June — Warmer weather was upon us in most (but not all!) of our travels this past month and we unfortunately faced a number of uncomfortable situations! Our typical admissions interviews (using our College Mystery Shopping) will include information about the school, program, curriculum, and facilities. Conversations eventually turn to taking the next step in the

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College Mystery Shopping: May Tales from the Trail — Ever wished you could be a fly on the wall during your competitors’ admissions interviews?  Prospective students now have access to more online information than ever before and teams of virtual and in-person representatives eager to help them enroll.  Prospective students no doubt compare each school, beginning with that first phone call,

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Mystery Shopping Tales from the Trail Spring is starting to bud! As seasons go, the name ‘spring’ can be misleading when (depending on where you call home) spring days are sprinkled with rain, chances of snow or sleet and furnaces running. How deceiving!   Just as April showers bring mayflowers, misrepresentations bring misunderstandings.  In our trail travels, we find a

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Throughout the year, we know campuses have a multitude of events, from open houses to orientations to staff meetings.  While these important occasions are going on, prospective students still need attention!  We’ve found that schools handle these circumstances in a variety of ways, including refusing to accept appointments and turning away walk-in visitors.   What can happen when a visitor

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Though Valentine’s Day has passed, love still lingers in the air for our Mystery Shopping evaluators!  Our team of evaluators is traveling the country at this very moment, talking with representatives in one-on-one meetings.  While a strong admissions representative knows that building rapport is critical to understanding the unique needs and circumstances of a prospective student, they can sometimes cross

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Back to Basics:   Importance of Second Appointment Vince Norton, January 2016 While our talented enrollment solution professionals are busy helping admissions teams and our creative department is rolling out clever collateral our mystery shopping personnel shared some staggering statistics last month. 2 out of three prospects leave their interview without a follow-up visit scheduled For the mathematically inclined, that’s 65%.

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